Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation provides a second round of $90,000 in grants for charities

16 June 2021

The Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation today launched applications for its second round of grants, which will see another $90,000 being made available to help charities continue their good work around Australia.

Applications for this round of grants open today and close on Friday, 30 July

The Charitable Foundation gave out $90,000 in its highly-successful inaugural round of grants last year, with nine charities receiving $10,000 each.

Foundation Executive Officer Paul Olds said the value of individual grants will be increased this year to amplify their impact, as a result of feedback received from applicants in 2020. This year there will be three levels of grants:

1. The Our Shout Workplace Giving Grant - 1 x $25,000 grant
   The Foundation gave all Heritage Bank staff who participate in the Bank’s “Our Shout” Workplace Giving program a chance to have a say about this grant. The staff voted for the grant to focus on positive educational and alternative pathways to help at-risk children and teenagers.
   
   
2. Growing Stronger Communities Grants - 4 x $15,000 grants 
   
   
3. Community Champion Donations – 50 x $100 donations

The Foundation has introduced a special new $5,000 funding pool this year that will enable the Foundation to chip in a $100 donation when a Heritage staff member donates at least $100 to an eligible charity. That means the Foundation will be able to make 50 x $100 donations to causes that Heritage Bank employees actively fundraise for.
Foundation Executive Officer Paul Olds said while the inaugural grant round had been extremely successful, he was confident the changes made this year will deliver an even greater impact.

“The results are clear that we got the selection criteria right.  Our nine charity partners are providing life-changing support for those in our community who need our help most,” Mr Olds said

“In our evaluation process we asked the charities how they would allocate $90,000. Overwhelmingly, the response was less grants at a higher dollar value.

“We also wanted to recognise, support and reward the philanthropic contributions many generous Heritage staff members provide.  It has been awesome to see how the Heritage staff have jumped at the chance to support the Foundation.”

Eligible not-for-profit organisations can apply here.

To be eligible, organisations must:

• be a not-for-profit with deductible gift recipient (DGR) status
• be able to show evidence of an effective existing program supporting one or more of the following areas:
  
  • Positive educational and alternative pathways to help at-risk children and teenagers; 
  • Health care services for vulnerable Australians and their families; and 
  • Support for the economic and social wellbeing of people in regional, rural and remote communities, including in times of natural disasters. 
• be clearly able to demonstrate the number of people who will be positively impacted by the provision of the grant
• have an annual income for 2020 (based on their latest audited report) of under $10 million
• obtain less than 70% of their annual income from government sources 

The grant round opens today (Wednesday 16 June, 2021) and closes at 5pm on Friday 30 July, 2021.

The Foundation will notify the successful recipients in early October 2021.

The Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation was established in 2018 with seed funding of $2 million from Heritage Bank.  The Charitable Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for people in need throughout our community.  The Foundation’s philosophy is provide support now whilst also building a strong corpus that will benefit and grow stronger communities well into the future.  

Heritage Bank funds all operational costs of the Foundation, ensuring all donations received and investment income generated is applied to helping those in need, now and into the future.