City of Melbourne’s Community Services grants are open for projects taking place in 2011. Community Services grants are available to organisations seeking to undertake projects that align with Council priorities.
The City of Melbourne works to ensure Melbourne is a city for people – a great place for people to live in and visit. This means the City of Melbourne seeks to provide useful and affordable services, promotes the health and safety of its community, and creates opportunities for community members to enjoy city life together.
The City of Melbourne’s Community Services Grants program creates more opportunities for our community to join in and enjoy city life. Our grants support community organisations whose work contributes to Melbourne’s safety, health and happiness.
Community Services Grants are available to organisations with projects that support the City of Melbourne’s goals and objectives, as detailed in the Melbourne City Council Plan 2009-2013.
Eligibility
To be eligible for a Community Services Grant, you must:
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be a not-for-profit constituted body, such as an incorporated association, or be sponsored or auspiced by one
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be located within, or offer a project within, the City of Melbourne municipality, primarily for the City of Melbourne community (minimum of 20 per cent of the participants must be City of Melbourne residents).
Exclusions
Community Services Grants are not available for:
- commercial activities and organisations
- fundraising activities
- completion of an accredited course of study (except for organisation volunteers doing a course such as a food safety course)
- organisational operating costs such as funding for permanent staff members, insurance and utilities (only applicants to the Active
- Community Participation category can apply for operating costs)
- interstate or international travel costs
- projects that duplicate existing services and programs
- projects with a sole religious purpose
- applications submitted by an individual (unless auspiced by an organisation)
- competitions, prizes, and award exhibitions
- ongoing activities or projects that rely on recurrent City of Melbourne
funding (except within the Active Community Participation category).
Assessment criteria
The City of Melbourne’s Community Services Grants program assessment panel will assess each application using the criteria outlined below. To give your application the best chance, ensure the information you include in your application ad
dresses these criteria.
What will the project achieve? (30 per cent weighting)
- Are the project’s aims and outcomes clearly outlined?
- Is the project well planned and achievable with clear timelines?
- Does the project strengthen the local community; build capacity of the organisation or local community members?
- How sustainable is the project? (Environmental sustainability, project
sustainability and others as relevant) - How is the project evaluated?
Does the project reflect City of Melbourne’s future directions? (20 per cent weighting)
- Does the project support the key directions outlined in City of Melbourne’s strategic documents or the themes identified in these guidelines?
- Does the project align with the Council Plan?
Community need (20 per cent weighting)
- Is there a clearly identified need for this project?
- Does the project fulfil this need? How is this project an effective response to the issue or need?
- Have local people, participants, members or service users been
involved in identifying this need?
Access and equity (15 per cent weighting)
- Does the project target a particular sector of the community?
- Is the project and organisation accessible and inclusive?
- Does the project address issues of disadvantage?
- Does the project respond to special and unique circumstances?
Budget (15 per cent weighting)
- Does the budget reflect the scope of the project?
- Have other funding sources been identified?
- Is the project financially viable and demonstrate sound management?
Some grant categories include additional eligibility and assessment criteria. All applicants must address all relevant assessment criteria within their applications.
Essential attachments
Applicants must provide the following:
- proof of not-for-profit status such as an incorporation number
- a certificate of currency for public liability or other relevant insurance, or a risk assessment document identifying risks associated with their application and explaining how these risks will be managed.
To see the types of projects that have received funding in the past visit 2010 grant recipients.