Grant Guidelines

To be eligible to apply for a People First Bank Foundation grant round the organisation must:

 

• Be a non-profit with deductible gift recipient (DGR) status item 1.
• The funding request must be for an existing program/service supporting one or more of the Foundation’s focus areas.
• You must be able to show reliable evidence of success of the program/service.
• The program/service is very clear on the issue/s it is trying to solve/support and the program’s role in helping create change through clear outcomes.
• You must show evidence of “lived experience” contributing to the development of the program.
• The program/service must have clearly defined outcomes and include evidence of its success.
• Be clearly able to demonstrate the number of people who will be positively impacted by the provision of the grant.
• A clear and well-defined budget.
• Have an annual income for 2025/26 of under $10 million.
• Obtain less than 70% of its annual income from government sources.
• To apply, organisations must be 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.
• To be eligible for the People First Grant you must support people across the majority of the People First Bank and Heritage Bank footprint. 

Preference

Preference will be given to applicants whose program/service

• Demonstrates the utilization of partnerships and collaboration.

Assessment Criteria

The Foundation uses a People First Bank Staff Selection Committee to help select the recipients of the grants using the below assessment criteria:

1. The program/service aligns with the Foundation's focuses:

   • Supporting people experiencing challenges such as domestic violence, child abuse, homelessness, and food insecurity.

   • Supporting healthcare (physical and mental) services for vulnerable people and their families.

   • Supporting young people facing barriers to equitable education..

2. The program/service seeks to meet a critical “need/issue” within the community

3. All programs/services come with risks, are the risk identified by the applicant acceptable?

4. Truly understanding the needs of the target beneficiaries comes with accessing “lived experience”.  Is there evidence of people with lived experience contributing to the program/service’s development or delivery?

5. Can the applicant provide evidence of the program/service’s impact/success?

6. Is the program/service an effective use of resources (our grant contribution) regarding the people it reaches and the impact it creates on those target beneficiaries?

7. Does the charity collaborate/partner with other organisations to support the target beneficiaries?

8. The Foundation’s vision is “Growing stronger communities, together”.  In your view does the program achieve our vision?

What we won’t fund/funding exclusions

• Programs outside Australia
• Auspiced applications
• Sponsorship or fundraising appeals
• Events or commercial activities
• Small contributions to large capital program
• Programs of a political or religious nature
• Contributions to work that would normally be considered the responsibility of local authorities or government departments
• Requests to support individuals
• Recurrent operational costs such as rent and utilities
• Study or attendance at conferences or seminars
• Endowments, memorials, bursaries or named academic chairs
• Motor vehicles and buses
• Government entities
• Private schools
• Other PuAFs and PAFs
• Sport, recreation or social activities for their own sake.
• Programs which duplicate existing services
• Research
• Animal welfare

People First Bank and Heritage Bank Footprint

• New South Wales

o Western Sydney

 

• Northern Territory

o Greater Darwin

• Queensland

o Brisbane
o Darling Downs
o Gold Coast
o Ipswich
o Lockyer Valley
o Sunshine Coast
o Wide Bay Burnett

 

• South Australia

 

• Victoria

o Ballarat
o Greater Melbourne
o Warrnambool

For any further information please see the FAQs section, give us a call on 0448 438 794 or email charitablefoundation@heritage.com.au