Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities
Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities is a grant program initiated by the Bayer Fund, in partnership with FRRR. The program gives cotton farmers the opportunity to support their communities by nominating a local not-for-profit organisation to receive a $5,000 grant to enable them to undertake projects and activities that offer clear public benefit.
Proudly supported by
Future rounds
To be confirmed.
This program is currently closed.
How to apply
Please read the information on each of the three tabs below to make sure this is the right grant for your project.
If you want to explore other grant options, please go to Find Funding Now.
I have a question, who can I talk to?
Jacki Dimond
1800 070 020
cotton@frrr.org.au
Confirm you are eligible to apply for this grant
To make sure this is the right grant for your community, please read the grant information below carefully. Click on each headline to reveal the detail.
What are the program objectives?
Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities gives farmers the opportunity to support their communities by nominating a local not-for-profit organisation for one of thirty $5,000 grants on offer.
The program, presented by the Bayer Fund in partnership with the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), aims to support local communities in cotton growing regions by providing a total of $150,000 in grants per year.
Is this grant available in my area?
Cotton farmers who wish to nominate a not-for-profit organisation to receive a grant must be located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed below:
Queensland:
- Darling Downs
- Central Highlands
- St George
- Dawson Valley
- Dirranbandi
- Macintyre Valley
New South Wales and Victoria:
- Lower Namoi
- Gwydir Valley
- Macquarie
- Southern Valleys (Lachlan/Murrumbidgee)
- Upper Namoi
- Mungindi Water Users
- Walgett
- Darling River Food and Fibre (Bourke)
Northern Australia:
- Northern Australia, north of latitude 21.15 degrees south
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
Thanks to the generous support of the Bayer Fund, the Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities program is supporting cotton-growing communities with grants totalling $150,000 in 2020.
What can be funded?
Nominated projects to be delivered by not-for-profit community groups must:
- Have a charitable purpose (i.e. address a need in the community and not benefit an individual);
- Demonstrate clear community support;
- Have a good prospect of longer-term viability and impact;
- Involve partnerships or leverage financial and/or in-kind contributions;
- Be differentiated from projects already in existence;
- Be supported by viable project management arrangements (and a financially sound organisation);
- Offer value for money;
- Demonstrate innovation.
What can’t be funded?
There are several areas that we can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.
- Projects that benefit an individual, rather than a community;
- The encouragement or advancement of sport, recreation and social activities are not considered charitable activities under Australian law. Applications from sporting organisations need to clearly demonstrate charitable outcomes and benefit to the wider community that are above and beyond the sporting activities of the club;
- Scholarships or endowments;
- Projects outside of the 15 eligible Cotton Grower Association areas;
- Underwriting deficits;
- Religious, politically partisan, or similar groups.
Who can make a nomination?
To submit a nomination, you must meet the following criteria:
Cotton Farmers aged over 18 years and actively engaged in farming cotton in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas in Qld, NSW, Vic and Northern Australia and have held a Technology User Agreement (TUA) with Bayer in any of the past 4 seasons may nominate a community project.
An eligible not-for-profit organisation is one which:
- Supports projects and activities that offer clear public benefit for communities in rural, regional and remote locations in Australia;
- Contributes to rural and regional renewal, regeneration and development in Australia in social, economic, environmental, health, education, or cultural areas; and
- Is located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed above.
Not eligible to participate:
Community groups themselves are not eligible to apply – they must be nominated by a cotton farmer.
FRRR, as the Program administrator, is not an eligible Organisation for this Program. Additionally, the following individuals and the persons with whom they are domiciled are not eligible to enter or participate in this Program:
(i) officers, directors, and employees of the Bayer Fund, or of any of its representatives or advertising/promotion agencies;
(ii) officers, directors and employees of Monsanto Australia/Monsanto Company/Bayer Australia, or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates;
(iii) officers, directors and employees of any Bayer Technology Service Providers;
(iv) officers, directors and employees of FRRR, or of any of its subsidiaries or affiliates; and
(v) spouses or immediate family members of any of the officers, directors or employees listed in (i) through (iv) above.
FRRR retains absolute discretion in determining the eligibility of the farmer and the nominated Organisation.
Who can be nominated?
An eligible not-for-profit organisation is one which:
- Supports projects and activities that offer clear public benefit for communities in rural, regional and remote locations in
Australia; - Contributes to rural and regional renewal, regeneration and development in Australia in social, economic,
environmental, health, education, or cultural areas; and - Is located in one of the 15 Cotton Grower Association areas listed above.
Not eligible to participate:
Community groups themselves are not eligible to apply – they must be nominated by a cotton farmer.
If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines above.
Submit your nomination via the Grants Gateway
Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Grants Gateway online nomination form.
Before you submit your nomination via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
Helpful resources:
It is time to submit your nomination. If it is helpful, you can download a copy of the nomination form.
Please read the instructions on how to use the Grants Gateway: Grants Gateway How-to Guide
Grants Gateway FAQs
Start a new nomination here.
All nominations must be submitted through the online Grants Gateway.
Return to an existing nomination here.
If you have significant issues accessing a stable internet connection, please contact our team to discuss an alternative way of applying:
Ph: 1800 170 020 or Email: info@frrr.org.au
“It’s grants like this through The Bayer Fund and FRRR that we’re able to be successful in providing a well-equipped kindergarten for country children, like children in the city have.”
Naomi Black, Jandowae Kindergarten President
ACFGC 2019 recipient
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects we’ve previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
North Star’s life-saving grant
An Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities grant, funded by the Bayer Fund, has enabled the North Star Sporting Club in northern NSW to purchase a defibrillator and three first aid kits.
Improvements to Thallon’s War Memorial
A $5,000 Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities grants, funded by the Monsanto Fund, enabled the TPA to embark on another stage of the project, bringing them closer to completing this special memorial that will ensure those from the Thallon district who served in battle will never be forgotten.
St George’s safe haven for those in need
A disused unit attached to the meeting rooms of the St George branch of the Queensland Country Women’s Association is now a haven for families in need thanks to an Aussie Cotton Farmers Grow Communities grant.
