Deadline: 27 April 2020
The Mercy Foundation’s Social Justice Small Grants Program provides seed funding to assist communities and organisations to build capacity that will help create structural change and bring about greater social justice in Australia.
The Mercy Foundation seeks to create greater social equity and inclusion in the Australian community.
Focus Areas
Each year, the program has a particular focus. The focus for 2020 is ‘Justice in the digital world’. Please note that projects addressing other social justice issues will also be considered for funding.
Digital technology has transformed the way they communicate today. However, according to the Australian Catholic Bishop’s Social Justice Statement for 2019-2020, some disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in the community are excluded from online communication as a result of age, income, geography, cultural background and living with a disability.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, both in urban and rural areas face lower rates of digital inclusion. Older people face higher rates of exclusion than the young, largely driven by differences in digital abilities. Many low-income families and people who are long-term unemployed are without the technology that is now essential for accessing basic services and finding work.
Priorities
Projects that address these issues will be prioritised in the 2020 Social Justice Small Grants program. This may include projects that:
- Provide access to the digital world for people who are currently excluded.
- Protect vulnerable groups from being exploited or manipulated online.
- Promote genuine human encounter in online neighbourhoods.
- Address social exclusion by helping people stay connected with family and friends using online technology.
- Address cyber bullying particularly for young people.
- Projects that address the issue of online child exploitation will also be considered.
Funding Information
Grant amounts range from $1,000 to $10,000.
Social Justice Small Grants are not available to fund:
- Core (normal) operating costs of applicant organisations;
- Vehicles;
- For-profit organisations;
- Private individuals;
- Projects that require recurrent funding;
- General fundraising appeals;
- Research;
- Deficit funding;
- Duplication of existing services;
- Organisations that have, or have access to, significant government or other funding;
- Government entities;
- Projects that do not meet the identified goals and priorities of the Mercy Foundation.
Criteria
The following criteria will be used to assess Social Justice Small Grant applications:
- Innovative projects that require seed funding to increase social equity and inclusion and challenge unjust structures and systems will be prioritised. The focus for 2020 is on projects that promote inclusion and protect vulnerable groups in the digital world.
- The Mercy Foundation prioritises projects that target disadvantaged women and/or women with children, regardless of the annual social justice focus issue.
- Applications are accepted for projects that are run wholly within Australia, by community based groups or organisations based in Australia.
- Organisations applying for funds must be a legal entity (or auspiced by a legal entity), not-for-profit and therefore exempt from income tax, but are not required to have Deductible Gift Recipient status.
- Small to medium organisations with a turnover of less than $500,000 with limited access to other funding sources are prioritised.
How to Apply
Please download the application form via given website.
For more information, visit https://www.mercyfoundation.com.au/social-justice-grants/social-justice-small-grants/