Community Participation Grant - for groups 2024-2025

Welcome to the Merri-bek City Councils online grant application service, powered by SmartyGrants.

Community Participation Grants
Community groups and organisations needing support with quick response funding for programs and activities designed to build participation in the community includes projects that fall outside of the annual grants timeframes. Applications for this category must be submitted at least 4 weeks prior to the planned activity starting. 

You must Read the Guidelines and have discussed your application with a relevent Council Officer
   •  Why speak with Council? To get with feedback; help with developing your funding idea and link you with other groups and networks. 
   •  Contact the community grants team via e-mail communitygrants@merri-bek.vic.gov.au with details of your grant idea to be linked to the relevent Council Officer.
   •  After contacting the grants team, you will be provided with contact details for a relevent Council Officer (staff) to further discuss the project, please indicate the staff members you were linked with and discussed the funding idea.

Help Sheets Preparing your application and Completing the budget can be viewed on Councils website. 

Use this application form to apply for the following category: 
  • Community Participation Grant - for groups (up to $3,000) 

Community Participation Grant - for Groups
Supports up to $3,000 for a one off small projects. Funding will be prioritised for activities which support for residents from at least one of these communities:
   • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,
   • Migrant and refugee communities
   • People with disability,
   • Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual plus, Transgender and gender diverse, Intersex, Queer, Asexual and Aromantic communities (LGBTIQA+),
   • Women,
   • Youth,
   • Children.

Activities or projects that support communities listed above to be healthier and participate in community life, including:
   • Community events
   • Leadership and development activities
   • Sports programs
   • Community projects
   • Relevant equipment that has long term relevance to the organisation/community

What funding can cover?
• Temporary staff costs to implement the project (e.g. project worker, instructor etc.)
• Printing, advertising, translation, promotional activities
• Equipment or community venue/meeting room hire (up to $500)
• Costs to encourage participation (e.g. Transport, disability support, interpreters)
• Catering and refreshments (up to $300)
• Volunteer expenses
• Small equipment that is useful long term to the community and is needed for the project and aligns with the Community Grants Objectives (Up to $500)
• Communications, media, advertising and marketing.

Read more about this category on page 16 and 'What we won't fund' on page 6 of the Guidelines. 

Assessment timelines

~ An application must besubmitted at least 4 weeks prior to the planned activity starting.
~ The timeline for assessment and processing of the appplication can be up to 4-6 weeks, once submitted and officers are comfortable all supporting documentation is appropriate for the application and funds requested, the application will be assessed against the criteria, and you will receive notification of the outcome.
~ If approved for funding support, you will be required to submit a funding agreement. Payment made in accordance with Council's payment terms, which is usually within 14 days of submitting the agreement
~ You may begin anywhere in this application form. Please ensure you save as you go.
~ For queries about eligibility, guidelines or questions in the form, please contact us on 9240 1111 during business hours or email the grants officer - communitygrants@merri-bek.vic.gov.au;  and quote your application number.

IMPORTANT: Please read information below to assist you in completing your application online.

Before you begin:

NAVIGATING (MOVING THROUGH) THE APPLICATION FORM
On every screen (page of the form) you will find a Form Navigation contents box, this links directly to every page of the application. Click the link to jump directly to the page you want. 
You can also click 'next page' or 'previous page' on the top or bottom of each page to move forward or backward through the application.

SAVING YOUR DRAFT APPLICATION
If you wish to leave a partially completed application, press 'save' and log out. When you log back in and click on the 'My Submissions' link at the top of the screen, you will find a list of any applications you have started or submitted. You can reopen your draft application and start where you left off.

You can also download any application, whether draft or completed, as a PDF. Click on the 'Download' button located at the bottom of the last page of the application form.

SUBMITTING YOUR APPLICATION
You will find a Review and Submit button at the bottom of the Navigation Panel. You need to review your application before you can submit it.
Once you have reviewed your application you can submit it by clicking on 'Submit' at the top of the screen or on the navigation panel. You will not be able to submit your application until all the compulsory questions are completed.
Once you have submitted your application, no further editing or uploading of support materials is possible.
When you submit your application, you will receive an automated confirmation email with a copy of your submitted application attached. This will be sent to the email you used to register.
If you do not receive a confirmation of submission email then you should presume that your submission has NOT been submitted.

ATTACHMENTS AND SUPPORT DOCUMENTS
You may need to upload/submit attachments to support your application. This is very simple, but requires you to have the documents saved on your computer, or on a storage device.
You need to allow enough time for each file to upload before trying to attach another file. Files can be up to 25MB each; however, we do recommend trying to keep files to a maximum of 5MB – the larger the file, the longer the upload time.

COMPLETING AN APPLICATION IN A GROUP/TEAM
A number of people can work on an application using the same log in details as long as only one person is working at a time. Ensure you save as you go.

SPELL CHECK
Most internet browsers (including Firefox v2.0 and above; Safari; and Google Chrome) have spell checking facilities built in – you can switch this function on or off by adjusting your browser settings.