Community Impact Grants

What are the program objectives?

The Community Impact Program is designed to support not-for-profit organisations to deliver local projects and activities that will broadly result in strengthened social capital, wellbeing, and connectedness to prepare for and build social resilience to drought.

The Community Impact Program Element has two parts:

• Community Impact Grants (delivered by FRRR), and
• Community Impact Leadership Activities (delivered by ARLF).

It is part of the Australian Government’s commitment through the Future Drought Fund to support Australian agricultural communities to build drought resilience.

Community Impact Program grants are designed to result in the following outcomes with clear linkages to how the project will help the local community in future droughts:

1. New, expanded or diversified community-based networks.
2. Improved communication, social connection and collaboration.
3. Increased skills, knowledge and understanding of drought.
4. Improved access to and use of services, resources, infrastructure and facilities.
5. Greater diversity of community members and organisational participation.
6. Improved implementation and effectiveness of place-based practices.
7. Strengthened individual leadership capacity and capability.

In the long term, projects and initiatives will contribute towards:

1. Stronger connectedness and greater social capital within communities, contributing to wellbeing and security.

Is this grant available in my area?

The Community Impact Program is available in 12 defined regions across remote, rural and regional Australia to enhance drought preparedness.

Please review the list of regions and LGAs that are supported by this program.

How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?

The program will provide grants up to a maximum of $150,000 in 12 regions across Australia. A total of $900,000 is available for each region through a collaborative grantmaking process.

Priorities for program investment, which will be used to inform decisions about which applications receive support, include:

• Projects that primarily support social resilience outcomes.
• Activities and initiatives that focus on long-term social connection, capacity building and an increased capability for people and communities to adapt to change over time.
• Activities and initiatives that can make a clear and distinct linkage to building drought preparedness in local communities.
• Initiatives that are tailored to meet local needs and the unique geographical, climatic and community context.
• Where relevant, projects that are identified in a Regional Drought Resilience Plan (RDRP) within the region.
• Initiatives that build upon learnings, sustain momentum and deepen impact of previously funded FDF projects.
• Demonstrated community readiness to support the project at a local level;
• Collaboration of a diverse range of community-based organisations (non-agricultural focus) who play an active role during drought.
• Initiatives that specifically engage local young people and First Nations people or communities.
• Projects that do not duplicate other Future Drought Fund investments, or other community resilience initiatives.

What can be funded?

Locally based not-for-profit organisations within each region will work collaboratively with FRRR and a facilitator to design and agree upon a series of community driven projects or initiatives that will help the local community to be better prepared for drought into the future. All projects will be recorded in an agreed ‘Roadmap’ of local initiatives.

Where relevant, a key influence will be the projects, initiatives and/or social resilience themes identified in the adopted Regional Drought Resilience Plan (RDRP), as these will form the basis for initial discussion.

Projects may include:

Networks: Initiatives to strengthen the capacity, capability and collaboration of professional, social or community networks and/or locally based not-for-profit organisations.

Community Events: Field days, conferences, forums, summits and seminars that facilitate professional, social and community connection to build understanding of drought and climate related risks.

Training: Initiatives to improve skills, knowledge and capacity in community risk management, planning and project delivery in relation to drought.

Small Scale Community Infrastructure: Projects that improve local community meeting places, including purchase of minor equipment, to support increased usage, social connectedness and community wellbeing.

Development and Learning: Initiatives to facilitate professional, personal and leadership related development and learning to support drought preparation.

What can’t be funded?

There are a range of areas that we cannot fund through this program, including:

• Projects that are not located in remote, rural and regional Australia;
• Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State and Local Governments;
• Activities that primarily result in economic or environmental outcomes relating to drought preparedness, not social outcomes;
• Utilising funds to re-grant to other organisations;
• Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club, and clear linkage to drought resilience. This is because the encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law;
• Prizes, gifts, trophies, or awards;
• Projects solely focused on animal welfare;
• Activities that do not directly support agriculture-dependent communities;
• Activities that do not directly strengthen community networking, wellbeing, drought preparedness, or reduce the risk of social isolation associated with drought;
• Activities that duplicate existing projects or services in a particular community;
• Activities where costs have already been incurred because the activity has already been undertaken or will have been undertaken prior to the start of the activity;
• Activities outside of Australia or involving overseas travel;
• Activities that provide private and/or commercial benefit rather than not-for-profit or social enterprise activities that enhance the public good in agriculture-dependent communities;
• Business activities where the primary purpose is for profit;
• Activities already funded through another Australian, state or territory, or local government program;
• Provision of funding to any person or organisation who have outstanding final reports from a prior Australian Government grant of financial assistance;
• Any costs that are not directly related to carrying out the activity such as:
  – Preparation of grant application materials;
  – Protecting or patenting intellectual property;
  – Activities of a distinctly commercial or proprietary nature that are aimed at selling or attracting investment;
  – Developing, building, or producing commercial prototypes to commercialise a research project outcome;
  – Creation of new institutions;
  – Establishing new commercial ventures;
  – Core business expenses not directly related to carrying out the activity, including administrative, overhead (and infrastructure not specified in a project budget) costs, staff salaries (unless directly engaged in delivering the Funding Program) and relocation costs, travel and living allowances;
  – Financial support for feasibility studies, or master plans;
  – Alcohol;
  – Hospitality and catering beyond reasonable costs for providing refreshments at activity-related events such as workshops or field days;
  – Purchasing of infrastructure not specified in a project budget;
  – The conduct of activities that could be considered part of normal business or ongoing operations, unless integral to the delivery of the activity;
  – Purchase or acquisition of land or buildings;
  – Capital expenditure;
  – Activities involving political advocacy;
  – Production of clothing, equipment, or merchandise for distribution;
  – Subsidy of general ongoing administration of an organisation such as electricity, phone and rent; and
  – Major construction or large capital works.

If unsure, please contact us to discuss your eligibility prior to lodging your application.

Please note: Staffing and reasonable program delivery costs to support the coordination and delivery of planned activity or project are considered an eligible expense.

Is my organisation eligible?

Applications are invited from groups that have been actively involved in the development of the Roadmap. Projects must align to the initiatives identified in the Roadmap.

To apply, your organisation must meet the following criteria:

• Applicant organisation must be a not-for-profit organisation with an ABN or Incorporation Certificate.
• Organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible.
• The proposed project must be for charitable purposes and offer clear public benefit.
• Applicant organisation must be identified in the Regional Roadmap as:
  1) a contributor to the development of the Roadmap; and
  2) as the organisation agreed to fellow contributors to apply for the project described in the application.
• Organisations can submit one application per grant round, unless otherwise agreed with FRRR.
• Projects must benefit communities in remote, rural or regional Australia that are agriculture-dependent.

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 not a legal entity (i.e. a registered not-for-profit), without the written consent of the governing / partnering body who holds the ABN / Incorporation Certificate.
• Application is submitted without required financial documentation (see below).
• Overdue Final Report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the past seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with 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.