Grants and Funding

Applications for the 2025 program are now open. 

Applications are made through Council's SmartyGrants portal

FUNDING GUIDELINES 

2025 Community Grant guidelines - click here(PDF, 320KB)

Community groups/organisations are eligible to submit multiple applications for this round of funding.

Auspice Agreements

If your application is going to be auspiced by another organisation, an Auspice agreement form is required to be completed and submitted with your application.  

If you require a printed copy of the Auspice Agreement form, please contact Council on 5450 9333, email grants@gsc.vic.gov.au or click here to print a copy of the form. 

Local Community Plans 

Residents located in six small communities spent 2023 working with Council to develop community plans that reflect their uniqueness and priorities. 

As part of your grant application preparation, applicants are encouraged to take note of these plans to understand community goals and aspirations that may connect with any potential applications. 

The plans are available to view here

To support interested applicants, Council hosted a Community Grants Forum online in 2021. This forum was designed to support our community to better understand the process of applying for a Community Grant, as well as support you to feel more confident in sourcing and applying for grants from a range of organisations. Council has not yet hosted a another forum, however the content of the 2021 forum is still current. 

To watch a recording of the forum please click this link: 2021 Gannawarra Community Grants Forum

FURTHER SUPPORT AND RESOURCES 

Council have developed a 'help sheet' to assist potential applicants in developing their applications.

To view this, please click here(PDF, 211KB). 

WHAT DOES A BUDGET NEED TO LOOK LIKE?

One of the most common mistakes is applications containing incorrect budgets. To assist in making this area a bit easier to understand, please refer to the budget example help sheet. This document contains an example of what a budget might look like for your application.

Budget Help sheet - click here(PDF, 130KB)

PAST RECIPIENTS

To learn more about past projects supported by Council's Community Grants Program, please click on the links below:

• 2024 program recipients 
• 2023 program Community Support stream recipients
• 2023 program Community Events stream recipients
• 2022 program recipients
• 2021 program recipients
• 2020/21 Major Projects Grants recipients
• 2020 Community Grants program recipients
• 2019/20 Major Projects Grants recipients
• 2019 Community Grants program recipients

 The Gannawarra Community Flood Recovery Grants Program has supported not-for-profit community groups and organisations hosting various small activities that promote social connectedness, and mental health and wellbeing across flood impacted communities.

Easter 2025 event funding

Funding is available for community groups and organisations hosting events during the 2025 Easter long weekend.

Applications for this program are currently open, and close at 5pm Friday, 21 March.

For more information and to apply, please click on the image below:

This funding opportunity is supported by the Victorian and Commonwealth Governments under the Commonwealth-State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) as part of the Gannawarra Community Flood Recovery Program. 

The Victorian Government's grants and programs website lists various grants programs community groups, organisations, businesses and individuals can seek funding from. To view this resource, please click here.

The Australian Government's Community Grants Hub lists grants available from various government departments. To view this page, please click here.

Regional Development Australia - Murray's website has a range of resources available, including grant opportunities. To view this resource, please click here.

Defibrillators increase the chance of survival by 62 per cent if a person in cardiac arrest is defibrillated by a bystander before an ambulance arrives.

Council encourages all community groups to install a Defibrillator and consider applying for a grant where possible.

We encourage those who successfully receive funding for a defibrillator to register with Ambulance Victoria within two months of receiving funding.

Please subscribe to Council's email list via mailchimp to receive updates about external grant opportunities available.

The Community Defib Project team is available to guide you through every step of the process of installing community accessible defibrillators, from introducing the project, to fundraising, to planning, to installations, education and then of course the ongoing maintenance and support to keep these units ready for community access. Click here for more information.

Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) strengthens rural, regional and remote communities working in partnership with philanthropy, government and business.

FRRR often have a range of available funding opportunities available to communities, and they are outlined online or by phoning 1800 170 020.

Sport and Recreation Victoria provides various grants to support sporting clubs and organisations.

To see what grants are available and to apply, please click here.

Sustainability Victoria offers grants for sustainability initiatives. Click here for more information and to see which grants are currently available.

Regional Arts Victoria offers a number of funding opportunities for artists, art organisations and presenters of arts projects.

Any groups or individuals who have creative ideas are encouraged to make contact with Lorraine Little who is the Manager of the Swan Hill/Gannawarra region for Regional Arts Victoria via email or phone 0476 353 856.

To see current funding opportunities available through RAV please visit www.rav.net.au

This program aims to provide support for groups or individuals undertaking projects that will make a positive difference to the natural living environment, in land, sea or air, rural or urban.

Grants between $1000 and $10,000 are available.