ANZ Seeds of Renewal

The ANZ Seeds of Renewal program focuses specifically on helping to build vibrant and sustainable rural communities and ensure the ongoing prosperity of regional Australia. It is built on two key tenets:

• Vibrant communities are diverse and inclusive with strong social capital, where everyone can participate and build a better life.
• Sustainable communities innovate, expand, and create opportunities that will deliver demonstrable medium to long-term economic benefit to the community, contributing to economic sustainability.

The ANZ Seeds of Renewal program is focused upon supporting projects that align to one of ANZ’s four focus areas:

Grants are awarded across remote, rural and regional Australia.

Through the Seeds of Renewal program, ANZ commits $250,000 which is distributed through grants of up to $15,000 to community organisations for projects that will help their community thrive.

All requests will be considered with a focus on the priority areas listed below:

• Projects that will deliver demonstrable medium to long-term benefit to a regional Australian community;
• Projects that benefit a large number of people from a diverse range of social groups;
• Projects that encourage inclusion and participation of under-represented or marginalised groups;
• Projects that demonstrate co-contributions (either in-kind or from other funding sources) and broad community support will be looked upon favourably – it is highly recommended that you include these within your application.

Note: Where structured volunteering by ANZ staff would add value to the project, ANZ is keen to facilitate this in-kind support but it is not a requirement.

A broad range of charitable projects aligned to the program themes are considered under this program including:

• Delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
• Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
• Community infrastructure projects;
• Developing the resources of the community including volunteers and items that will enable participation in projects.

There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.

• Federal, State and Local Government organisations and their projects;
• Political organisations;
• Religious or sectarian organisations involved in purely religious / sectarian activities;
• Primary and Secondary Schools;
• Ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
• The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law.
  Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are beyond the sporting activities of the club.
• Overseas travel and overseas projects;
• Prizes, gifts, trophies or awards;
• Projects that primarily benefit private business, a sole trader, or private interests;
• Projects solely focused on animal welfare.

To apply, you must meet the following criteria:

• Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible;
• Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure if your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (for example, if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company or Trust), please contact FRRR;
• Project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit;
• Organisations can submit one application per grant round;
• Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural or regional Australia.

Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:

• Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
• Application is submitted by an organisation that is a non-legal entity and the nominated legal governing/partnering organisation has not provided written confirmation of their willingness to assume responsibility for management of the funds and acquittal of the project;
• Application is submitted without required financial documentation and quotes or rationale for budget items over $1,000 (see additional information on the second tab);
• Overdue final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with the legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
• Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred/is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
• Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of application. FRRR is unlikely to follow up missing documentation after applications have been submitted.

Opportunities may also be made available for ANZ staff to provide further in-kind support by volunteering their time to assist successful organisations.

Note that this is not part of the grant process and answering ‘no’ will not negatively influence the assessment of applications.

Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR may still fund the project but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’ (with your organisation being the delivery organisation). This situation often occurs when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch. In this case, the CWA or YMCA would be the legal organisation.

Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the ‘legal organisation’s’ legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter of support, confirming they are willing to play this role, with a template available here for your convenience.

FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.

Applications from ACNC and/or unincorporated associations are required to submit their organisation’s Constitution.

Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect financial information is currently the most common reason why applications are not able to be considered. You must include the organisation’s:

• Annual income (total income in your financial year);
• Annual expenditure (total expenses in your financial year);
• Current assets (from your audited financials, or bank balance minus any debts).

Please note:

• Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
• If financial information is more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
• Please explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially.

Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.

You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds would be used for and that also shows all income and expenses related to your project.

Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.

Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $45 per hour.

For more info on costing volunteer labour, visit: https://explore.fundingcentre.com.au/help-sheets/valuing-volunteer-labour.

Helpful resources:

• How do I cost labour in my project?
• Preparing your budget

FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, evidence of permission from the property owner, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show broad community support and partnerships involved in the project. For more information on supporting documentation, watch this recording.

Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.

Helpful resources:

• Tips on taking great photos

A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.

Where possible, we encourage you to make it really clear that your organisation is ready and able to deliver the project and, if required, provide ongoing support for the initiative.

Helpful resources:

• Tips for great applications
• Project Planning Tool Download

We have grouped the kinds of projects communities commonly ask us to help fund into seven areas, which we call the Activity Tree:

1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
6. Economic strength
7. Improving community health and social wellbeing

We ask you to nominate one of those seven areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.