Apply for a community grant

All applicants must apply two months prior to enable time to process.

For example, if you require the grant for attendance to a leadership workshop in October, you must apply by August. 

Please note:

• No grant will be funded retrospectively
• One application per individual each year
• Parents/guardians will need to apply for those under 18 years old.

Arts and culture applicants
Open to creative performers or artists.

Community leadership
An example for this category could be that you're attending a leadership development opportunity to support your community.

Sports and recreation competitions
Open to individuals 25 years old or younger.

Sustainable environment initiatives
Open to all individuals. Those aged under 18 years old must have a parent or guardian apply on their behalf.

Individual grants are available monthly for up to $1,000.

The following items are eligible for individual grant funding:

• Registration fees.
• Course fees delivered by a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).
• Travel and accommodation - up to $500 per application.
• Clothing or uniforms.
• Materials and equipment.

In addition to the items on page six of the guidelines, grants are excluded from funding: 

• Computer equipment.
• School, TAFE or university fees.

Priority will be given to applications with all supporting documentation included. Our team will contact third parties to verify details of your application where required.

The following supporting information is needed:

Arts and culture

• Artist’s CV and/or
• Evidence of the opportunity relevant to their art or cultural practice. 
  
  

Community leadership

• A demonstrated history of volunteering, participation and taking leadership in the community/ community group.
• Evidence of the leadership development opportunities to support their community.
• Courses that are delivered by a Registered Training Organisation. 

Sports and recreation competitions 

• Evidence of financial need (e.g. Health care card holder).
• Evidence of selection in the event/ competition.
• The list of costs to participate. 
  
  

Sustainable environment initiatives
In line with the Sustainable Environment Vision, the applicant must provide:

• a project plan of the initiative they want to achieve and its objectives
• impact of the initiative
• list of costs.

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for an individual grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

Small, medium and large grants offer support to social enterprises, not-for-profit community groups, organisations and businesses to undertake activities that have a broad community benefit.

Eligible applicants are encouraged to apply for grants to deliver projects and events that have a community benefit in line with the Whittlesea 2040 vision:

• Connected Community.
• Liveable Neighbourhoods.
• Strong Local Economy.
• Sustainable Environment.

All small, medium and large grants have three sub-categories:

• Council programs
  Council will offer programs because of identified need in community through community planning and feedback. e.g. female Participation in Sport.
  
  
• Projects
  Community groups, social enterprises and businesses can apply for grants to deliver projects that contribute towards the Whittlesea 2040.
  
  
• Events and/or festivals
  To celebrate our diverse community, eligible applicants are encouraged to apply to run events or festivals that celebrate who you represent in the City of Whittlesea. Applications for events must ensure it meets all the Festival and Events requirements including:
  • traffic management strategy
  • health and safety considerations and permits where applicable
  • risk management strategy
  • communications and/or media plan.

The following eligibility requirements must be met to apply for grants:

• be a registered Not-for-profit classified by the Australian Tax Office
• incorporated groups
• social enterprise
• businesses
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN) or qualify to submit a Statement by Supplier
• hold current public liability insurances appropriate to the proposed project or event
• provide all supporting documentation to support your application
• provide legitimate quotes showing ABN from potential supplier for items $500 or more
• applicants must apply three months in advance for their proposed event to ensure it meets all requirements for the Festival and Events approval.
• events applied for must be delivered in the following quarter.

In addition to the items on page six of the guidelines, the small, medium and large grants are excluded from funding:

• individuals
• projects, activities or events that are political in nature
• gifts vouchers, gifts, prizes, trophies, scholarships, donations, other grant programs
• projects already underway, completed or committed to prior to applying
• activities or events that do not comply with relevant government orders of the day
• air travel or accommodation
• events, activities or projects that are not open to the public or where access is restricted.

Up to $3,000 in grant funding will be allocated monthly. 

Grant applications will be assessed on the criteria below.

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for a small grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

Up to $20,000 in grant funding will be allocated quarterly for medium grants.

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for a medium grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

Up to $40,000 in grant funding will be allocated quarterly for large grants.

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for a large grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

Applications for the unincorporated grants must fulfil the following eligibility requirements:

• the group has been meeting on a regular basis for at least six months at the time of application
• the group has a minimum of six members
• a minimum of 50% of members reside in the City of Whittlesea
• the group is established in the City of Whittlesea
• the group has Rules of Association of a Statement of Purpose or a Mission Statement
• unincorporated groups can only apply once for this grant.

Unincorporated group grants are available quarterly for up to $1,000. 

In addition to the items on page six of the guidelines, grants are excluded from funding:

• public Liability Insurance to cover organisation/group
• incorporation costs
• materials and equipment to support organisation set-up
• group promotion and member recruitment
• costs for regular meeting venues not listed in the ‘what won’t be funded’ section below
• costs to set up a webpage
• facilitators to support development of strategic plans, governance systems.

The following won't be funded for unincorporated grants:

• groups of a political nature
• groups already incorporated
• incomplete applications
• costs for meeting venues that are located in:
  • a place promoting gambling and serve alcohol
  • a Council owned venue.

The following documents are needed as part of your application:

• quotes for costs associated with setting up your group
• a business plan showing the proposed start up social/business enterprise
• evidence supporting your proposed business plan or project - this could include (but not limited to) minutes of a meeting confirming proposed move to start up a social/business enterprise. 

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for an unincorporated grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

Emergency grants are open to:

• not-for-profit community groups
• incorporated organisations
• social enterprises
• businesses.

Emergency grants are up to $1,000 in total.

Emergency grants are for:

• reducing financial impact of emergency and unforeseen events
• enabling eligible applicants to continue to operate or quickly return to normal operations. 

In addition to the items on page six of the guidelines, emergency grants are excluded from funding:

• emergency initiatives already delivered in the community by other key organisations of the State
• insurance excess for covered event.

The following supporting documents need to be included with your application:

• quotes
• evidence of current financial status
• other documents relevant to the proposed emergency project or activity.

Emergency grant applications are assessed by the following:

• Impact on normal operations
  Applicants need to show evidence of how the event occurred and its detrimental effect on normal operations. 
  
  
• Financial hardship or risk fee will create for the applicant
  Applicants need to describe how the fees incurred due to the emergency event will create financial hardship or risk. Applicants will need to provide evidence of their financial status by means of:
  • bank statements
  • proof of loss
  • recent copy of financial accounts or
  • letter of current standing from a financial account.
    
    
• How the community will be impacted if normal operations are interrupted
  Applicants need to describe how their normal services/activities help their local community. 

Our online grant application service is powered by SmartyGrants.

Apply for an emergency grant

If you have any questions about the grant application process, email the Community Grants team on community.grants@whittlesea.vic.gov.au or phone 03 9217 2170.

We anticipate a 6-week turnaround from when grant rounds close and when we will notify you of the outcome of your application. We expect your project or event to be delivered the following quarter.

If your project falls over multiple quarters, we expect you to start delivering it by the following quarter after you receive your funds. For example, if you apply on 1 July for a $10,000 grant, it will start to be assessed after 31 July and we will aim to notify you of the outcome by mid-September. We would then expect the project or event to be delivered by 31 December (or started by this date if the project falls over multiple quarters).

Yes, you can use part of your grant to cover traffic management.

Traffic management plans will need to be submitted as part of the event approval process. Council does not provide event traffic management as part of our services.

Community grants cannot be used for building projects, capital works or facility maintenance.

Anything that is not yearly or part of your core or usual business would be considered a regular event.

A media pack is being designed by the Communications Team. Notification about your acknowledgement level will be provided in your Conditions of Grants form.

If your organisation is registered for GST it will be paid on top of the grant amount. If it is not registered for GST, it will not be included.

You can add additional contacts if you are partnering with another organisation so that people at the other organisation can enquire about or take actions on the grant.

An example of in-kind contributions can be staff or volunteer hours, venue hire, or donated goods and services, funding received from other bodies – must not be double dipping and this will need to be demonstrated.

Volunteer hours are calculated at $42 per hour for in-kind contributions.

At this stage there is no waiver process for grant recipients hiring Council venues. Incorporating this will be considered in the future.

Not at this stage. Upon application, you were approved for the event to be run in the City of Whittlesea.

We may consider out of area venues in the future. 

All staff, volunteers, contractors or consultants are required to declare their conflict of interest when applying for grants.

There are a few levels to conflict of interest:

• Actual conflict of interest (e.g. the person applying for the grant is a staff member, volunteer, contractor or consultant with City of Whittlesea).
• Potential conflict of interest (e.g. someone on the team works with Council but they’re not the person applying for the grant).
• Perceived conflict of interest (e.g. a third party may perceive a conflict of interest by your involvement both in the group and with Council). 

If in doubt, please err on the side of caution or contact the Grants team if you need more assistance on 03 9217 2170.

Grants assessors will be from a range of teams across Council.

Assessors will consult with subject matter experts in the field before finalising their assessments.

Grants are open all year around and will not close. The dates provided are the dates that the assessment process will begin.

It is highly unlikely that the grants budget will be used up in the first quarter.

The grants budget at Council has been increased by 33% and all applications over $3,000 will be approved by a group of senior leadership and executives.

There will be no direct feedback for acquittals unless it is requested.

Project or event outcomes will be summarised, collated and reported to Council with others in the same quarter.

Aside from State Government regulations, fundraising permits do not need to be obtained except for collections on public land (e.g. highway collections).

Further information on fundraising permits

You can apply for an Australian Business Number (ABN) online.

Visit the Australian Business Registry to apply for your ABN.

The auspice letter should include:

• auspice organisation name and ABN
• applicant name
• grant type
• project or event name
• grant amount applied for
• be signed by the correct delegate in the auspice organisation. 

Download an auspice letter template(DOCX, 21KB)

Grants are assessed by: 

• adherence to City of Whittlesea's 2040 goals
• target audience
• not being previously funded
• areas of lower socio-economic indexes (SEIFA)
• budget.

Read more about the Whittlesea 2040 goals.

If you have an event in December you would want to apply for the grant for your project or event in Q2. Once the quarter is closed, it will go through the assessment process and you will be notified on the outcome within about 6 weeks. You would then hold the event by the end of December and acquit the grant the following quarter.