Small Grants eligibility, objectives and conditions

To be eligible for a Small Grant, your organisation must:

• provide direct benefits to residents of the City of Boroondara (local organisations are prioritised)
• be not-for-profit, as classified by the Australian Tax Office in the Income Tax Assessment Act (1936)  
• be a registered legally constituted entity (e.g. a co-operative, incorporated association or company limited by guarantee) or have an auspice (unless requesting less than $1,000)   
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN), or complete a Statement by Supplier form, or hold an exemption from registration
• have a committee of management that accepts responsibility for the administration of the grant
• hold an adequate public liability insurance policy to cover the staff, members and the general public, as appropriate
• not have its own grant giving program or fundraising program that provides money to finance another organisation's community initiatives
• have satisfactorily accounted to Council for the expenditure of any previous Council grants (if relevant)
• comply with all other relevant Australian and Victorian legislation, including: accounting and auditing requirements; equal opportunity and anti-discrimination laws; human rights laws; privacy, confidentiality and freedom of information laws; registration or accreditation of professional employees; and preparation and dissemination of annual reports
• have an adequate risk management plan in place (as required).

The points below are provided to assist in guiding your responses. Please refer to the Small Grants Guidelines for more information.

Objectives

In your online application, you’ll be asked to choose the stream your project/activity best fits into. In your application, there will be questions based on the objectives of that particular stream.

To see the objectives in each grant stream, download the Small Grants 2024 Guidelines.

Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria scores applications to a maximum total of 100%.

Explain how your project, activity or equipment purchase meets each Stream and Grant objective you have chosen (33%)

• Choose one Community Strengthening Grants Program objective.
• Choose one of the relevant grant stream objectives.

Who will benefit from your project, activity or equipment purchase? (33%)

Tell us:

• Who will be involved in your project or activity.
• How the project fills a community need.
• How the project will benefit Boroondara residents.

How will you deliver your project, activity or equipment purchase? (33%)

• Explain how your organisation will plan, deliver and evaluate the activity.
• A project budget that shows how the funds requested will be spent.

Exclusions

The following applicants are ineligible for funding:

• individuals and private profit-making organisations
• groups or organisations that have an operating budget over $1 million annually (organisations acting as an auspice and neighbourhood houses are exempt from this rule)
• professional fees (e.g. labour, salary, wages) and administration costs (e.g. phone calls, correspondence, stationery)
• organisations or groups that own or operate poker machines, explicitly promote sports betting, or meet in venues that promote gaming
• primary or secondary schools (Council encourages partnerships between schools and community organisations, but the community organisation must be the applicant.)
• registered political parties.

The following criteria make an application ineligible for funding:

• repeat applications in consecutive years for the same projects, activities and equipment 
• funding requests that Council considers are the funding responsibility of other levels of government
• religious projects or activities run by (or involvement with) religious groups seeking to promote their spiritual beliefs
• projects that seek to lobby the local, state or federal governments about particular laws, policies, practices or decisions of governments
• projects or activities that have already started or have been completed (no retrospective funding)
• funding of competitions, prizes, sponsorships, donations or gifts
• new building works, capital improvements, facility maintenance or fixed assets (e.g. air conditioners, shade sails, cubby houses and sheds)
• projects that have been or are being funded by other parts of Council
• operational expenses such as insurance and rental subsidies
• interstate or overseas travel.

Conditions of funding

• The project must be completed within 6 months of receipt of the grant.
• Successful applicants and organisations auspicing applications will be required to become a signatory to a standard funding agreement that lists all grant conditions and agreed performance outcomes/measures. This must be signed before grant funds are issued. 
• Auspice fees are not accepted and must not be included in the budget.
• Acknowledgement of the City of Boroondara and the Rotary Club of Balwyn must be made in any promotional material or publicity features. 
• Successful applicants will be required to provide a written evaluation of the activity on completion of the project or activity. All evaluation reports will be required to be completed online via SmartyGrants. A link to the online form will be emailed to applicants.
• Successful applicants will be required to provide an expenditure budget or a financial statement (audited if required) at completion of the funding period. 
• If Council’s grant funds are not spent, all remaining funds must be returned to Council.
• Council may make funding conditional on other specific conditions being met.
• If the project/activity or timeframe needs to be varied, the applicant must contact Council to discuss.