Heritage Bank rolls out grant to hard-hit charities

The Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation has announced that it will provide a total of $90,000 in grants to small charities hit hard by the COVID-19 crisis.  

Heritage’s COVID-19 Kick-Start Grant Round opens on Wednesday, 24 June, providing nine grants of $10,000 to successful applicants.

To be eligible for a grant, 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
• operate in one or more of the Heritage Bank geographic regions
• have had a significant reduction in fundraising income due to the COVID-19 restrictions
• 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 2019 (based on their latest audited report) of under $10 million
• obtain less than 70 per cent of their annual income from government sources

Charitable Foundation executive officer Paul Olds noted that many charities are experiencing financial hardship at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has increased demand for their services. 

“I’m thrilled to announce that our commitment to making the foundation a real force for good in Australia has taken a significant step forward with the launch of our first grant funding round,” Mr Olds said.

“At the Heritage Bank Charitable Foundation, we understand the important role the non-profit sector plays in supporting and strengthening the communities we live in. This is why we have accelerated our grant program to deliver support in this time of need.”

He continued: “While we have moved quickly to implement this grant round, we have still done our due diligence on how we can best assist the sector.

“Research shows charities with a turnover under $10 million and minimal government funding are the hardest hit by the pandemic. We have deliberately decided to support existing programs that have a history of delivering successful outcomes – we need to help ensure these programs stay in operation.

“We also want to take a very hands-on approach with the charities we support. Our goal is to harness the collective strength of the Heritage Bank community to help our charity partners achieve their objectives.”

The grant round close on Friday, 31 July.

[Related: Heritage introduces digital VOI service]