Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account FAQs

FRRR’s Not-for-Profit Fundraising Accounts have been designed to help community organisations to partner with FRRR to fundraise for a particular cause. Donors receive a tax-deductible donation. Through the partnership, FRRR uses its special tax status to enable community groups to fundraise tax effectively and access philanthropic support for their overall capacity and / or agreed specified projects, in line with FRRR’s charitable purposes, in the areas of Arts and Culture, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Health and Wellbeing as well as Social Inclusion and Social Welfare.

If the project is approved by the FRRR Board, the partnering organisation enters a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FRRR. The MoU details the nature of the relationship between the organisation and FRRR, and sets out the obligations of each party for the term of the MoU.

All marketing collateral must be agreed upon before the local organisation commences fundraising.

Funds for the project accumulate in the Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account within the FRRR Public Fund and are then granted by FRRR to the partnering organisation for charitable activities in line with specific agreed projects / purposes of the account. Grants are issued IF reporting is up-to-date and specified use is not retrospective.

For identification purposes, Not-for-Profit Fundraising Accounts within the Public Fund are accounted for in separate management accounts.

The account partner is responsible for promoting their project and encouraging people to donate to and support their project. They must also provide six monthly updates to FRRR on activity related to funding received from FRRR, and financial statements of the organisation. At the conclusion of the partnership term, which is typically one-to-three years, the account partner must also submit a final report to FRRR, or request an extension and / or variation of the Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account for another period.

The Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account is owned and managed by the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), and funded by donor partner/s who wish to leverage FRRR’s special tax status and deep understanding, professional expertise and resources in funding rural, regional and remote communities.

It is important to note that Not-for-Profit Fundraising Accounts are not invested separately by FRRR, but rather the funds are pooled with other money that is in FRRR’s Public Fund, which we hold in a prudent manner.

Legally, all donations received by FRRR belong to FRRR for the distribution at the discretion of the FRRR Board. The Partnering Not-for-Profit Organisation can request a grant of funds from the account, however FRRR retains the overall responsibility for grant decisions. FRRR will always endeavour to meet a donor’s preference for causes, populations or geographies in line with FRRR’s charitable purposes and objects, however if a donor’s preferences cannot be met, such as when a project cannot proceed or an organisation is no longer viable, FRRR will direct funds toward charitable activities which FRRR considers to reflect as closely as possible the charitable purposes the donor wished to support.

Accounts with funds held by FRRR over $100,000 for any month are credited interest, which is paid quarterly.

The steps for working with FRRR to support a specific region, project or issue are:

1) Submit application

The project or issue needs to be charitable and within FRRR’s objectives of promoting rural and regional renewal, regeneration, and development in social, economic, environmental and cultural areas.

If the project aligns with FRRR’s objectives, then the community organisation can submit its proposed project to FRRR. Contact FRRR Philanthropic Services via [email protected], or call
03 5430 2399 to request a Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account Information and Application Kit.

2) Consideration by FRRR Board

FRRR is responsible for assessing all community–funded projects against the established FRRR criteria, and for ensuring that funded projects fall within the scope of FRRR purposes. So once submitted, the FRRR Board will consider the application.

If the FRRR Board approves the project, an account within the FRRR Public Fund will be set up for the approved partnership.

3) Creation of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

Once approved, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will be exchanged with the head of the partnering community organisation detailing the terms and conditions of the agreement with FRRR.

The community organisation will then develop its publicity material / donation form utilising the templates provided by FRRR. All donations must be made directly to FRRR for deposit into the FRRR Public Fund.

4) Project Funding

Monies raised towards the approved project will be held by FRRR until a request is made by the community organisation for the release of funds to the project. These will be paid as grants.

Subsequent releases of funds will be subject to adequate reporting having been provided by the community organisation on the expenditure of previous funds granted. The funding must be assessed as charitable within FRRR’s purposes, must be in alignment with the purposes of the account as determined by FRRR, and cannot be for retrospective activities.

FRRR partners with organisations benefiting remote, rural, and regional communities who demonstrate strong support from their communities and donor network, and have a well-considered fundraising plan for their project and/or activities. We recommend a Fundraising Account for organisations seeking to raise $30,000/year or more from their supporters. If you expect you will raise less than this, please refer to our various grant programs for other funding options.

FRRR will deduct a 5% fee up to a maximum of $5,000 per donation. This means that if a donation of $1M is made to a Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account, FRRR will still only retain a maximum of $5,000 in fees for this donation. This is in accordance with the commitment of keeping fees at a reasonable level. FRRR deducts the fee from each donation received at the time of receipt. There are no other transaction, ongoing or annual partnership management fees. FRRR reserves the right to vary the fees but will keep the fees reasonable.

These fees help defray the costs associated with:

• Confirming the project or organisation complies within FRRR’s objectives;
• Establishing and managing a Not-for-Profit Fundraising Account within FRRR’s Public Fund;
• Reviewing / advising on designing donation forms;
• Receipting tax deductible donations via EFT, cash, credit or invoice;
• Issuing receipts to donors; and
• Governance and compliance, including reviewing charitable purposes of grants distributions and reports from not-for-profit partners.

FRRR’s Not-for-Profit Fundraising Accounts enable organisations to fundraise tax effectively and access philanthropic support for FRRR to fund their overall capacity (only if a charitable organisation) and / or agreed specified projects, in line with FRRR’s charitable purposes, in the areas of Arts and Culture, Economic Development, Education, Environment, Health and Wellbeing, as well as Social Inclusion and Social Welfare. 

FRRR can fund a wide variety of undertakings from these Accounts, including but not limited to the operation of programs, the provision of infrastructure, and for charitable organisations, to build the capacity of the organisation as a whole, through activities such as: purchase of buildings, support organisational planning, evaluation, communications or fundraising capacity, upgrade IT, professional development of staff / volunteer skills & capability – almost everything charities need support to do! 

FRRR can also fund region-wide issues requiring a longer-term, more flexible response via projects / programs, such as collective impact projects, community planning processes and engagement, outreach and education activities.

Exlore the list of current Fundraising Accounts to see how other groups have used these Accounts to fundraise for local projects. And if you have any questions about whether you can use one of these accounts to fundraise, call FRRR.

FRRR cannot support projects that are for sport – unless there is a broad community benefit beyond competitive or team sports. However, a group that is able to help communities to fundraise for sport using their DGR status is the Australian Sports Foundation (ASF). The ASF program enables tax deductible donations in support of a sport-related project – an area not normally considered charitable for philanthropic funders.

The ASF works with sporting clubs, sporting organisations (regional, state and national), government and independent schools, councils, government agencies and community groups to increase opportunities for Australians to participate in sport, and/or excel in sports performance. You can find out more from their website.