Grant Application FAQ's

Grant applications were open for the 2022 Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation Grants program until 5PM(AEST) 30 September 2022. Check back later this year to see the recipients of our latest grants.

The 2022 Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation Grants open on Monday 15 August 2022 and close at 5pm on Friday 30 September 2022. Applications will go through a thorough selection process and we hope to announce recipients by mid November 2022. Grants will be provided to successful applicants shortly following the announcement.

To be eligible to apply for a Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation Grant, applicants must:

• Be a non-profit with deductible gift recipient (DGR) status item 1.
• The funding request must be for an existing program/service in one of the following focus areas: 
  •Positive educational and alternative pathways to help at-risk children and teenagers;
  •Health care services for vulnerable Australians and their families; and
  •Support for the economic and social wellbeing of people in regional, rural and remote communities, including in times of natural disasters. 

• You must be able to show reliable evidence of success of the program/service to date.
• The program/service must have clearly defined outcomes and include means of measuring, evaluation and reporting its outcomes/impact.
• Be clearly able to demonstrate the number of people who will be positively impacted by provision of the grant.
• A clear and well defined budget.
• Have an annual income for 2021 (based on your latest audited report) of under $10 million.
• Obtain less than 70% of your annual income from government sources.
• To apply, organisations must have been registered with the ACNC for a period of more than 2 years, except by invitation following discussion with the Foundation.
• You may not apply for the same program/service if you have previously applied and your application was unsuccessful, without first speaking to the Foundation.
  
   

Preference

Preference will be given to applicants whose program/service:

• Covers multiple Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation focus areas. 
• Demonstrates the utilisation of partnerships or collaboration.
• Is very clear on the issue/s it is trying to solve/support, the desired outputs and the program’s role in helping create long-term change through clear outcomes.

We are wanting to help fund an activity (program/service/project) you are already providing that clearly shows it has a positive impact on people within the Foundation’s core focuses and geographical reach.

A Heritage Bank staff committee assesses eligible applications against the assessment criteria. 

Preference will be given to applicants whose program/service:

• Covers multiple Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation focus areas. 
• Demonstrates the utilisation of partnerships or collaboration.
• Is very clear on the issue/s it is trying to solve/support, the desired outputs and the program’s role in helping create long-term change through clear outcomes.

Highly recommended applicants are interviewed by the Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation’s Executive Officer.  Successful applicants will then be selected by the Board of the Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation. 

The Foundation’s Board will allocate grants based on which organisations align best with the Foundation’s purpose and grant criteria.

Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status is granted by the ATO. It allows entities or funds to receive tax deductible gifts and ensures that gifts and contributions are used appropriately to benefit the community. As well as holding DGR status, your organisation must also be covered by Item 1 of the table in section 30-15 of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (Cth), from the time of the application until the end of the term.

Organisations without DGR status item 1 are not eligible to apply for a grant.

Successful grant recipients must spend all funds within twelve (12) months of receiving the grant funding. See our Partners.

The maximum amounts that can be applied for in the 2022 Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation Grants are: 

Our Shout Workplace Giving Grant – 1 x $25,000 grant

Growing Stronger Communities Grants - 4 x $15,000 grants

From time to time, the Directors may choose to increase the size of the grant on a program that addresses an issue they deem to be of potential benefit to many individuals.

Only an authorised representative of an eligible organisation can apply for a grant.

No. It is not a requirement for grant recipients to bank with Heritage Bank.

If you'd like to learn more about Heritage Bank's products and services for charitable organisations, visit heritage.com.au. 

No. Organisations can only apply for one grant per round. 

To prepare your questions in advance, download our Grant Application Questions and Examples document.

Unfortunately, no. Due to the expected high volume of applications we have limited certain free text fields.  Please write your answers in point form to reduce the characters. 

Please email charitablefoundation@heritage.com.au if you require assistance during your application.

If you missed the application deadline, we encourage you to apply for a grant next year.