Parliament of Victoria

Finding Community Grants Workshop

Sally Cummings

Client Support Librarian

Workshop Objectives

In this 2 hour workshop you will –

• Gain an understanding of the range of funding avenues available

• Learn how to find relevant funding information

• Learn how to locate the most suitable grants for your constituents and community groups

• Learn how to assist constituents and community groups with grant applications

Workshop outline

• Funding avenues available to community groups

• How to find community grants• How to find relevant community grants• Easy Grants search example• Preparing grant applications • What can EOs do with this information?• Easy Grants subscriptions• Discussion and questions

Funding avenues available to community groups (1)

• What types of funding arrangements are available?– Community grants– Sponsorships– Partnerships with business– Donations– Fund-raising assistance

Funding avenues available to community groups (2)

• What are the sources of grants funding?– State Government– Federal Government – Local Government– Non-Government Organisations

• Philanthropic – charities, philanthropic foundations, not-for-profit organisations

• Corporate – profit-making companies

Funding avenues available to community groups (3)

• What types of organisations can apply for grants?– Community groups, sports clubs, schools, health

services, historical societies, welfare organisations– Incorporated association and/or Deductible Gift

Recipient (DGR) status may be required– Grants funding is less likely to favour individuals,

government agencies and political organisations.

• Consider aligning with an umbrella (auspice) organisation

How to find community grants (1)

• It can be difficult and time-consuming to search individual funding sources

• OurCommunity Easy Grants service brings them all together– Commercial service– Grants from wide variety of sources in one place– Descriptions, requirements, links, closing dates– Searchable database

How to find community grants (2)

• Other information sources include websites, databases, directories, newsletters, media releases, newspaper advertisements …

• See Appendix 1 of your workbook for a listing of online information resources (also available on the Parliamentary Library website)

How to find relevant community grants

• Use Easy Grants funding categories

• Consider the community/ies that the project will benefit

• Check eligibility criteria

Activity

• Have a look at your project example.

• Highlight the Easy Grants funding categories that you could use in a search, by considering which communities would benefit from the project being undertaken.

• Use the examples of ‘questions to consider’ on the activity sheet to assist in your brainstorming.

Easy Grants search example

Let’s do a search of Easy Grants using the following example:

The Gould Group is looking to start a new school garden project in an area with a high proportion of Vietnamese-born residents, as part of their Multicultural School Gardens project.

Project Description: “Multicultural School Gardens combines community volunteering, multicultural understanding, gardening and cooking into a unique and enriching whole school environmental education project.”

• Communities that may benefit include:– Children and Family– Multicultural– Environment Conservation and Heritage – Education, Employment and Training– Community Services and Development

Let’s narrow the search, using:

• Keywords, eg. garden or school– Search tips are provided for using keywords

effectively. These include phrases (“”), wildcards (*) and combinations (+)

• Searching one funding category at a time

• Timeframe (1, 3, 6, 12, 12+ months)

Other useful sites for searching

• Grants and Services Finder– Searches grants for cultural organisations

from local, state and federal government as well as private sources

• Grants@DPCD– Searches DPCD grant programs

• GrantsLINK– Searches Commonwealth grant programs

Preparing grant applications (1)

• Understand the grant application process

• Prepare and assemble documentation ahead of time

• Do some research on the funding body

• Tailor / customise each grant application

• Consult others, make it a team effort

Preparing grant applications (2)

• Demonstrate the need for the project

• Be specific when describing the project

• Write clearly, concisely

• Display ability to budget / spend money efficiently

• Demonstrate community support

What can EOs do with this information? (1)

• Provide grants information to community organisations on request

• Promote targeted grants information to community organisations

• Ensure that restrictions on redistribution of Easy Grants material are considered

What can EOs do with this information? (2)

• Provide letters of support from MPs

• Help community groups learn about the grants process– what grants are, how to find grants, how to

prepare applications, what training is available, etc.

Easy Grants subscriptions• The Parliamentary Library can provide subscriptions to

the Easy Grants service for each MP, free of charge.

• You need to be registered by the library as a subscriber to get full access.

• Note: Only one subscription is allowed per electorate office – this may be sent either directly to the MP or to an Electorate Officer.

• Newsletters are delivered monthly to the nominated email address.

• The subscription includes full access to the Easy Grants searchable database.

Review of Workshop Objectives

In this 2 hour workshop you will –

• Gain an understanding of the range of funding avenues available

• Learn how to find relevant funding information

• Learn how to locate the most suitable grants for your constituents and community groups

• Learn how to assist constituents and community groups with grant applications

Questions?