Parliament of Victoria

1. Parliament of Victoria Finding Community Grants Workshop Sally Cummings Client Support Librarian

2. 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

3. 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

4. Funding avenues available to community groups (1) • What types of funding arrangements are available? • Community grants • Sponsorships • Partnerships with business • Donations • Fund-raising assistance

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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)

9. How to find relevantcommunity grants • Use Easy Grants funding categories • Consider the community/ies that the project will benefit • Check eligibility criteria

10. 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.

11. 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.

17. 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

20. 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)

30. 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

41. 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

42. 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

43. 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

44. 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.

45. 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.

46. 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

47. Questions?