Making a grant from your Fund is simple. You can request a grant at any time through your Fund Portal or by contacting our Grants Team.
đź’ˇ Reminder: Granting is not available for Gumnut Accounts.
Request a grant from your Fund Portal #
Log in to the Fund Portal using your email address and password and go to the Grant Requests tab. There are three ways to complete your request:
- Choose from grantees you have given to previously
- Search for other grantees in our database
- Enter grantee information manually
In your Fund Portal, you can also view a list of all grants requested from your Fund including their status. To view your Fund’s granting history, navigate to the Grants tab.
Request a grant by email or phone #
You can also request a grant by contacting our Grants Team at [email protected] or on 03 9412 0412, and providing the following details:
- Your Fund name
- Recipient organisation (and project if relevant)
- Grant amount ($)
- Organisation contact (if known)
Our Grants Team will then be in touch to finalise. If the request has been made by phone, confirmation in writing is required.
More about granting #
Guidelines #
Our guidelines regarding grantmaking include:
- Minimum grant amount is $500. There is no maximum limit on grant value provided your Fund’s balance does not fall below $10,000.
- A minimum of $10,000 must be retained in your Fund at all times. At its discretion, ACF may decide to not approve a grant request if it takes the Fund’s balance below this threshold (unless the grant is associated with closing the Fund).
- The decision to provide grants remains the discretion of the Trustee. Grant requests under $100,000 are considered and approved by the CEO, who has delegated authority from the Board (Trustee). Grants over $100,000 are approved by the Philanthropy & Impact Committee with delegated authority from the Board (Trustee).
- If you are unsure of an organisation’s eligibility to receive a grant, contact us. Our Grants Team always checks eligibility before advising an organisation that a grant has been recommended.
- You are not required to make a minimum distribution each year. Australian Communities Foundation is obliged to grant a minimum of 4 per cent of capital but this is calculated for the Foundation overall and we exceed this minimum each year as a matter of course. This means you have the flexibility to grant as much as you like or choose to grow your Fund without making grants in a given year.*
* In the highly unlikely event that the Foundation does not meet the 4% distribution requirement in a given year, the Trustee may require Named Funds that have not made any distributions that year to make a grant.
Grant process #
At Australian Communities Foundation, we distribute grants on behalf of our Fund Advisors every fortnight.
Each grant follows the below steps. Fund Advisors only need to provide the information required in Step 1 and then ACF takes care of the rest.
1. Fund Advisor submits a grant request via ACF online Fund Portal. Required details: recipient organisation (and project if relevant), grant amount ($) and organisation contact (if known).
2. ACF conducts compliance checks and confirms eligibility, i.e., charitable purpose, registration with The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC), and DGR1 status where required.
3. ACF contacts organisation team to let them know they have been nominated to receive a grant. For grants over $10,000, ACF provides a grant agreement for review and signature.
4. Grant is sent for approval by CEO/Committee. A grant is only ready for approval once the recipient has provided payment details.
5. Grant is paid. Grant payments are made every fortnight, one week after a grant approval.
6. ACF notifies Fund Advisor when grant has been made. This email will be sent from [email protected].
7. For grants over $10,000, ACF requests a grant acquittal report from organisation 12 months later (unless otherwise instructed by the Fund Advisor), and report is shared with the Fund Advisor. We do not request specific reports for general purpose grants.
Interfund transfers #
Fund Advisors can request a grant from their Fund to another ACF Fund (known as an interfund transfer) either through the Fund Portal or by email/phone.
Looking for granting inspiration? Go to Granting Advice and Support