Bennelong Foundation’s Grant supporting Organisations and Community Projects in Australia

Deadline: 9 August 2019

The Bennelong Foundation is currently inviting applications for its grant program with an aim to enhance community wellbeing and provide opportunities for positive and lasting change in community.

The Bennelong Foundation provides support to a number of organisations and community projects across Australia, which in turn enables these organisations to deliver a broad range of initiatives to support the community in which we live.

Focus Areas

Education Training and Employment

Programs providing access, equity and inclusion opportunities to Education and Training or that support and build Pathways to Sustainable Employment
- Build numeracy and literacy skills for pre-school, primary school and secondary school students
- Build numeracy and literacy skills for adolescents and adults
- Building STEM capabilities for pre-school, primary school and secondary school students
- Supporting student wellbeing and fostering school engagement
- Scholarship, Internship or Bursary Program
- Building interpersonal, employability and life skills for adolescents and adults (personal grooming, interview skills, and other workplace skills)
- Mentoring and Coaching
- Access to vocational training opportunities for adolescents and adults
- Building learning skills through art or music programs
- Programs providing access to entrepreneurial and business foundations

Community Health and Wellbeing

To assist organisations that conduct programmes with the express purpose of improving the physical health, nutrition, and well-being of the Australian community.
- Programs promoting participation in physical activity and sport
- Improved nutrition intake
- Programs promoting social inclusion and cohesion
- Empowering communities and community development
- Settlement and transition support for new Australians
- Programs promoting cultural identity
- Programs supporting family preservation
Exclusions: programs with the main focus on disability, mental health, and healthcare (i.e. programs directly addressing illness and disease) are not current priority areas for the Bennelong Foundation.

Target Communities

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
People with a refugee background, newly arrived migrants and culturally and linguistically diverse communities
Communities/groups experiencing socio-economic disadvantage

Principles and/or Criteria

Innovation and proactivity: The foundation seeks to support programmes that respond to an identified area of need in the community that are presently not being addressed, or that take a new approach to problem solving. Ideally, such programmes, if successful, should be able to be replicated in other locations or contexts.
Change not charity: A focus on prevention is one of foundation’s main criteria. The foundation endeavors to fund projects that address the causes of problems, rather than treat the symptoms. Longevity and sustainability – foundation supports projects and programmes that will continue to have an impact over the long term and beyond period of support. The foundation also encourages programmes that are able to become financially self-sustaining.
Project-based and goal-orientated: The programmes that they choose to fund must have strong and identifiable outcomes and key performance indicators over both the short and long term.
Partnerships: To maximise the impact of foundation’s grants, they look towards organisations that are able to combine funding with other sources. The ability to leverage financial support from other trusts, foundations, governments, businesses and volunteers is seen as important criteria. Administration – They look to make grants to organisations that have low administration costs and solid and proven administrative backing. Organisations with a strong volunteer programme are also highly regarded.
Bennelong Foundation involvement – They try to support organisations that have the capacity to allow their staff to become involved in their organisation/projects, should they choose.
Low government or institutional support: The foundation’s preference is to assist organisations that receive little or no government funding and are not currently the benefactor of substantial philanthropic support.

Exclusions

Programs with the main focus on disability, mental health, and healthcare (i.e. programs directly addressing illness and disease) are not current priority areas for the Bennelong Foundation.
Areas considered a direct responsibility of governments.
General fundraising projects or appeals.
Travel, study or conferences (unless incidental to a project being funded).
Individuals.
Other foundations, trusts, and philanthropic organisations to fund their general objectives.
General maintenance or overhead expenses (unless part of a specific project).
Applications with a religious, political or sectarian purpose.
Funding deficiencies.