The Yulgilbar Foundation Fund
The Yulgilbar Foundation Fund will support communities in the Clarence Valley and surrounding regions who have a desire and need to strengthen their capacity and resilience in response to the 2019/20 bushfires, flooding and continued challenges across the region.
It will help to:
- Build organisational and community capacity;
- Develop or extend education and employment pathways;
- Leverage artistic endeavours; and
- Support locally-led environmental sustainability initiatives.
Proudly supported by
Future rounds
The is the final funding round for this program.
Round 2 is now open.
Applications close 5pm AEDT, 21 February 2023.
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?
Kim McInnes
1800 170 020
k.mcinnes@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?
The aim of the program is to support communities in the Clarence Valley and surrounding regions of NSW who have a desire and need to strengthen their capacity and resilience in response to the 2019/20 bushfires, flooding and continued challenges across the state.
Is this grant available in my area?
This program will support communities in the Clarence Valley and surrounding regions in NSW. Priority will be given to projects that support communities in the Clarence Valley Shire, and neighbouring Local Government Areas (please refer to the Guidelines for further details).
How much funding is available? Are there priority areas?
These grants are available thanks to the generous support of The Yulgilbar Foundation. There will be approximately $350,000 available in Round 2. Eligible organisations are invited to apply for grants of up to $50,000. While all requests will be considered, our priorities for funding are outlined below.
Priority will be given to:
- Projects that support communities in the Clarence Valley Shire and neighbouring Local Government Areas, being:
- Richmond Valley Shire; Kyogle Council; Tenterfield Shire; Glenn Innes Severn Council; Bellingen Shire; Coffs Harbour City Council; Armidale Regional Council; Nambucca Valley Council; and Kempsey Shire Council;
- Projects that have broad benefits, are optimistic and forward-looking; and
- Projects initiated and delivered by local community groups and not-for-profits.
What can be funded?
A broad range of charitable projects will be considered under this program, including:
- Delivering, or providing activities, events, programs and services;
- Purchasing or hiring equipment and materials;
- Community infrastructure projects;
- Organisational capacity building;
- Community resource development.
What can’t be funded?
There are several areas that FRRR can’t fund through this program. If in doubt, please contact us.
- Projects that will incur expenditure before the program’s announcement date – FRRR cannot grant retrospectively for activities that have already occurred.
- Projects that support core business and areas of responsibility of Federal, State or Local Governments;
- Ongoing core organisational operational costs (e.g. rent, utilities, regular wages, loan repayments);
- 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;
- Overseas travel and overseas projects;
- Prizes, gifts, trophies or awards;
- Political lobbying;
- Projects that primarily benefit private business or private interests;
- Projects solely focused on animal welfare.
Is my organisation eligible?
To apply, you must meet the following criteria:
- Applicant organisations must be a not-for-profit organisation with either an Incorporation Certificate and/or an ABN. If you are unsure if your organisation is a registered not-for-profit (for example, if you are a Co-operative, Other Unincorporated Entity, Public Company or Trust), please contact FRRR;
- Project must offer clear public benefit (i.e. has a charitable purpose);
- Not-for-profit organisations with or without DGR-1 endorsement are eligible;
- Organisations can submit one application per grant round; and
- Projects must be in a remote, rural or regional area.
Please note, you will be considered ineligible if the:
- Application is submitted by individuals, sole traders, private or commercial businesses (as per the submitted ABN);
- Application is submitted by an organisation that is not a legal entity, without the written consent of the governing / partnering body who holds the ABN / Incorporation number;
- Application is submitted without required financial documentation (see additional information on the second tab);
- Final report/s from any FRRR grants awarded in the previous seven years have not been acquitted (delivery organisations should check with legal organisation to see if there are any outstanding final reports);
- Application is for a project or activity that has already occurred / is occurring prior to the announcement of funding;
- Application is incomplete. NOTE: Due to the volume of applications received, applications are assessed based on the documentation received at the time of application. FRRR is unlikely to follow up missing documentation after applications have been submitted.
If you need to share this information with others, you can download the guidelines above.
Gather information to support your grant application
Please review the below information as it sets out critical, additional information that we will require and explains why it is important.
Please contact FRRR if you have any questions about the following information.
Your grant application MUST include:
Clear project information
A clear description of exactly what the grant funds will be used for, when and where the project will happen, who will benefit and who will be involved in delivering the project, why the project and grant funds are needed, how funds will be spent and how the activities and success of the project will be recorded, evaluated and shared.
Where possible, also indicate that your community is ready to deliver the project and if required, can support the initiative ongoing – i.e. awareness of need is widespread, appropriate leadership, resources, skills and knowledge exist in the community.
Why is this important?
FRRR needs to clearly understand your project to assess its merits. Applicants should focus on addressing the what, when, where, who, why and how of the project, as this is the best formula to clearly communicate the details of the project.
A ready community is best placed to achieve the aims of your project, so during assessment, our staff look for information that tells us that good leadership, skills and awareness exist in your community to support the project now and in the future.
Helpful resources:
Financial information
Applications received without the requested financial information are ineligible. Providing incorrect information on financials is currently the most frequent reason why applications are not considered.
- For organisations that have audited financials: Attach the most recent annual audited statements;
- For organisations that do not have audited financials: Attach the most recent 12 months Income and Expenditure Statement. If you have a Balance Sheet, please also submit;
- For organisations less than one year old: Provide Bank Statements for the period you have been operating.
Please note:
- If financial documents are more than 18 months old, please provide an explanation as to why the organisation does not have more recent documents;
- Bank Statements are only acceptable as financial documentation if your organisation has been operating for less than one year;
- Explain any deficits and steps to sustain the organisation financially;
- Provide a brief explanation of any large financial surplus or current assets and reasons why FRRR funds are still required;
- Income and Expenditure statements must cover a full 12-month period;
- FRRR conducts a broad range of due diligence queries when reviewing applications, such as: reviewing current and past incorporation, DGR and ACNC status. If your organisation has happened to have their incorporation status, DGR status or ACNC status changed or ACNC registration revoked or voluntarily withdrawn, please let us know the reasons for this.
- Please contact us if you cannot provide required financials or you are unsure about what to provide.
Why is this important?
FRRR uses this information to understand your organisation’s ability to manage the grant funds and its financial viability.
Project budget
You must include a project budget that clearly shows the items that FRRR grant funds will be used for and shows all income and expenses related to your project.
Budgets should be realistic and must add up – i.e. total expenditure must match total income.
Applicant contributions in cash or in-kind are highly regarded. Quotes or detailed rationale for items over $1,000 are required, where possible. Note: FRRR suggests costing unskilled volunteer labour at $41.00 per hour.
Why is this important?
A clear budget helps FRRR to understand the size of your project, exactly how FRRR funds will be spent and helps demonstrate community support for your project through in-kind contributions either from your organisation or partners / community members.
Helpful resources:
Eligible legal entities
Every application needs to include an organisation that holds either an ABN or Incorporation Certificate. If your organisation doesn’t have that, FRRR could still fund the project (with your organisation as the delivery organisation) but you need another organisation’s support, which we refer to as the ‘legal organisation’.
Even though your organisation may complete the application (and will be doing the work), it’s the overarching organisation’s legal and financial information that needs to be provided. They also need to provide a letter of support, confirming they are willing to play this role.
This situation often occurs often when the organisation delivering the activity or project is a branch of an overarching organisation – such as a local CWA or YMCA branch.
Why is this important?
This program is only able to distribute funds to not-for-profit organisations with an ABN or Incorporation number, and FRRR needs to know that the organisation with that ABN / Incorporation number understands and agrees to carry out their responsibilities in relation to your project, if successful.
Supporting materials
FRRR strongly recommends that you provide supporting materials such as letters of support, community plans, survey results, photographs, media clips and research reports that can show the wider community support and partnerships involved in the project.
Large documents should be referenced and explained in the application.
Why is this important?
FRRR seeks to fund projects that are well-supported by the broader local community, are locally led and delivered, show good partnerships and benefit multiple parts of the community. As FRRR is not always familiar with your community, our staff consider support material as evidence toward understanding level of community need, benefit and support.
Helpful resources:
Focus area
For this program, we have grouped the kinds of projects eligible for funding into five areas, which we call the Activity Tree:
1. Building community resilience
2. Developing organisational resilience and capacity
3. Enhancing environmental sustainability
4. Fostering cultural vibrancy
5. Lifelong learning and education
We ask you to nominate one of those five areas when you apply. So, before you lodge your application, download the Activity Tree to help you identify your focus area.
Why is this important?
FRRR makes grants to communities, but we also need to be able to demonstrate to our funding partners where communities need support.
Need some more help?
We have a large selection of resources on our Grant Seeker Resources Page to help you along the way.
Submit your full grant application via the Grants Gateway.
Please contact FRRR if you have questions about any aspect of the Grants Gateway online application form.
Before you submit your application via the online Grants Gateway, please ensure you have:
Helpful resources:
It is time to submit your application. If it is helpful, you can download a sample copy of the application form.
Please read the instructions on how to use the Grants Gateway How-to Guide, and have your questions answered with our Grants Gateway FAQs.
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
Inspiration – Past projects
Explore some of the projects FRRR has previously funded to see how other organisations have helped their community thrive.
New technology helps Clarence Landcare stay connected
In 2019, Clarence Landcare received a $5,000 grant from FRRR through the Small Grants for Rural Communities program, thanks to support from The Yulgilbar Foundation, to update their office furniture and technology.
Maintenance work keeps community hub alive in Baryulgil
The Baryulgil Charity Sports Club received $5,000 from FRRR’s Small Grants program, funded by The Yulgilbar Foundation, to complete maintenance works to ensure the local community could enjoy the hall for many years to come.
Gather in the Glen – supporting rural women in tough times
A $3,000 grant from FRRR’s Tackling Tough Times Together program enabled the organisers at GLENRAC Incorporated to subsidise registrations for 12 women to attend the event, thanks to the generosity of The Yulgilbar Foundation.
