Women’s Giving Circle Grant 2023

The NRCF team will be available to support you throughout the application process.

The Empowering Women & Girls grant program will offer funding to a project that focuses on: 

• Helping vulnerable and disadvantaged women and girls in our community by addressing their social and economic wellbeing
• Empowering women and girls in our communities to play a bigger role, gain recognition and use their skills in the region
• Supporting women’s financial stability by creating or promoting diverse and flexible job opportunities
• Offering diverse representation to women and girls, boosting confidence, and encouraging engagement - you can’t be what you can’t see!

Funding Amount:

NRCF funding will contribute up to $25,000 of total project budget.

The Empowering Women & Girls grant is funded by the Women’s Giving Circle’s collective contributions and our wonderful network may match funding. If for the grant pool increases, we will let applicants know.

The program can fund projects that:

• Deliver activities, events, programs and services
• Purchase equipment and materials
• Provide community infrastructure
• Strengthen and build capacity of your organisation to deliver outcomes

We cannot fund projects that:

• Are ongoing
• Request one-off emergency relief assistance
• Request 100% of project resourcing (e.g. project must include other funding, in-kind support, and/or volunteer hours in the budget)
• Promote religion or a political party
• Already exist or are being run by another organisation

NRCF only accepts one application per group/organisation.

Application is via our online grant portal. All eligible grants are assessed by a panel of community representatives and NRCF board members, who are knowledgeable and experienced in relevant local issues and grant giving. Grants will be assessed on criteria including: 

• Community need: clearly explain the need for change and how it’s been identified.
• Measurable impact: paint a picture of your project, describe its goals clearly, and detail how you will measure the impact.
• Project viability: provide an accurate budget with realistic costs.
• Organisational viability: What is the history and experience of your organisation?
  Show that the organisation can support core operations and demonstrate community support and partnerships via letters of support (emails accepted).

Ineligible applications include:

• Incomplete applications
• Applications that miss the submission deadline
• Applications without required supporting documentation
• Requests for funding that include prizes, gifts, awards or trophies
• Projects or activities that have already happened / commenced
• Projects that take place outside the Northern Rivers of NSW
• Projects from political parties

Our grants rounds can be competitive, and we recognise that there is a huge need in our community with a limited pool of funds to grant. If you are unsuccessful, you will have the opportunity to receive feedback on your application and project from NRCF. 

Successful Applicants

• We will let you know by mid-July, and finalists will begin mentoring sessions with project partner Sourdough Business Women to refine your pitch.
• On 14 September 2023 there will be an event where you will pitch your project in the supportive space of the Women’s Circle, and the women who fund the grant will vote on a winning project. 
• We will partner with you through a Grant Funding Agreement. This will cover key details including use of grant funds and reporting requirements.
• If your organisation is auspiced, the sponsor will also need to sign the agreement, and grant funds will be paid to the auspicing organisation. We want to ensure that all parties involved are committed to our partnership and achieving the shared goals.

You can preview the application here.

Our friendly grants team will support you with your application before it goes to the assessment panel. We will work with you to make sure you have the right documents uploaded and we may ask for clarification about your project. Talk to us early and we may be able to help you resolve any challenges.

Learn more about NRCF here https://nrcf.org.au/about/

Accessibility

We have worked to make these guidelines and our grants platform easily accessible to everyone in our community. However, we understand that there may still be challenges that we are unaware of. If you experience difficulties accessing our forms or guidelines, please get in contact with our friendly team. 

If you have any questions about the Women’s Circle Grants Program 2023, please contact Kyla or Jen on 0499 862 886 or grants@nrcf.org.au  (Monday to Thursday).

Apply now: Application - Grant Lifecycle Manager (grantinterface.com.au)