We connect people and communities to tackle challenging social and environmental problems in the Northern Rivers. We are in it for the long haul, our funding model of investing donor money means we (and you) have a lasting impact on disadvantage. The more you donate, the more impact we can have.
In a standard charity you might raise a million dollars in one year, and give away $700k, but then you have to raise the money all over again the next year. This does not happen at NRCF. Your donations are invested in our perpetual fund, and we only give away the interest and dividends from those investments in the form of grants.
Community foundations are the fastest growing form of philanthropy in the world today.
NRCF has one of the largest footprints of any community foundation in Australia; we cover areas from Tweed to Grafton, from the ocean all the way up past Kyogle, Woodenbong and Casino. We have about 300,000 people in our region and encompass seven local government areas.

NRCF is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of those less fortunate in our community, either from economic circumstances, mental illness, disability, learning difficulties or drug/alcohol addictions.
Our grants touch on issues such as people’s right to health, employment, higher education, happiness and creative expression, and the challenges of living in a regional community. Broadly we operate across five areas:
- Youth
- Disability
- Health and Wellbeing
- Environment & Conservation
- Aged Services
We are a community-based independent foundation where donations are invested to build a capital amount of money. We then invest this wisely in ethical funds, and the interest and dividends from these funds go towards our annual grant program. This means we can provide a permanent source of funds to the community year after year. As you continue to donate, so our grant funding grows and so does the investment fund.
Put simply, the more money we receive, the more impact we can keep on having.