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Investing in Rural Community Futures Victoria

Investing in Rural Community Futures (IRCF) is a grassroots program that aims to build the capacity of not-for-profit (NFP) organisations.

After being piloted and delivered in eight NSW communities, beginning in 2018, the program is now coming to three Victorian communities, thanks to the support of four philanthropic organisations – Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, Jack Brockhoff Foundation, The Ross Trust, and William Buckland Foundation.

Run over five years, the program offers flexible and tailored support, including grants, workshops, and participatory planning processes, to strengthen the local NFP sector, so it can work collectively to more effectively advocate on shared issues, contribute to a thriving community and achieve long-term impact across agreed priority areas. You can learn more about the program below.

Proudly supported by
HMSTrust
The Ross Trust
William Buckland Foundation

How can we become a partner community?

After an extensive research and community engagement process, drawing on the learnings and successes from the NSW program, FRRR has identified five Victorian communities* as having the potential to achieve significant positive impact through the program:

Colac | Hamilton | Maryborough | Portland | Swan Hill

Each community is now invited to:

  1. Attend an online Community Information Session to learn more about IRCF and the opportunity to become a partner community.
  2. Submit an Expression of Interest responding to four questions, which is co-signed by multiple local NFP organisations and other interested stakeholders, such as the local council, business chamber, First Nations organisations, and so on. See further details below.

Media Releases and Resources:

I have a question, who can I talk to?

If you have a question about the program, EOI process or the Community Information Session, please don’t hesitate to reach out:

How IRCF works

IRCF offers a combination of a locally based Community Facilitator, community-led and informed grants (approximately $600,000 per community), participatory planning processes, skill building workshops to support individual and community capacity, local networking and collaboration on shared objectives.

The approach focuses on small to medium sized NFPs and is intentionally flexible, progressing at the pace of the community over five years. IRCF can support a range of priorities for NFPs, including but not limited to, governance capability and strategic planning, volunteerism, organisational systems & processes, and local partnerships.

Community-wide conversations are facilitated to identify and activate shared goals based on local priorities. This process creates a Community Roadmap that is revisited on annual basis and is readily accessible on the FRRR website alongside other relevant resources and program information. An evaluation partner helps track progress and guide next steps.

You are welcome to explore the Community Roadmaps for our NSW partner communities as well as other shared resources on the FRRR IRCF hub.

Program elements

These are the important program elements that together can strengthen NFP organisations in rural areas to achieve positive change in their community. The program provides an opportunity to explore each element with engagement from across the NFP sector, building towards a shared vision for the future and activation of ideas.

“Participating in the program helped us understand our mission, how we work as a business, how we need good governance to tell our story and be involved in the community.“
“The most significant change for our organisation is stronger partnership with other NFPs involved, and the ability for us to work from a place where we are all on the same page.“

NSW community partners

The Four Pillars

These four pillars guide the program and are the focus areas for investment to help strengthen organisational capacity, activate ideas, and achieve community-led change.

Some examples of the projects funded under each pillar in NSW communities are:

  • Systems: Cooinda Court Aged Care received $68,992 to modernise their systems installing new technology to improve the management of medication systems, clinical care records, and communication.
  • People: Mujaay Ganma Foundation Aboriginal Corporation received $38,443 to engage trainee coordinators and mentors to kickstart the Mujaay Ganma’s Yuraal Garden Project.
  • Strategy: youth organisation Shoretrack received $36,300 to develop a Management Operational System to build capacity and develop a strategic plan.
  • Efficiencies: Junee Community Power received $87,458 to introduce a circular funding model to allow local NFPs to install solar power on their premises, reducing their operating costs. They also accessed equipment to complete energy assessments on buildings which has become part of their service model.

Many more funded projects can be found on FRRR’s website.

Insights from our NSW partner communities

Recording the stories and voices of local people and leaders involved in the program is a fantastic way to share their experiences about what it’s like to be a partner community and what’s possible through the program.

Click on the picture to watch a short four-minute video.

If you’d like to learn more, we have recently launched an Impact Report sharing insights from Leeton, Junee, and Nambucca called Lessons and impacts from Investing in Rural Communities Futures pilot.

Read the report.

“There are better partnerships and collaborations between organisations in the community. We share a lot of our resources now. We used to be in competition with each other, but now we all talk more to each other. We didn’t do that before.”

NSW community partner