Grant rounds

Grant Level	2-Stage Application Process and Dates	Decision
Capacity Building Grants $20,000 – $50,000 For small to medium size organisations working specifically in at least one of the Trust’s Focus Areas and matching the Trust’s funding criteria.  See below for funding criteria A limited number of 16-20 grants are offered each year in this rolling grants round until the distribution target for Capacity Building Grants is fully expended.	Check your organisation’s eligibility. Check that your project aligns to all aspects of the Trust’s Grants Strategy Submit a Capacity Building Enquiry Form. Review by the Grants Team to determine match against criteria and impact goals. Shortlist advised. Dates for submission and decision discussed in follow-up conversation. Applications submitted online.	Decision dates align with scheduled meetings of the Grants Advisory Committee.
Major Grants Multi-year grants up to $400,000 See below for funding criteria	Check your organisation’s eligibility Check that your project aligns to all aspects of the Trust’s Grants Strategy EOI open: 29 April – 18 May 2021 (12pm midday) Follow-up and review by the Grants Team against criteria and impact goals Shortlist advised Online Application by invitation 1 June – 18 June 2021 (12pm midday)	August 2021
FY22 Special Interest Grants – Women and Girls Multi-year grants up to $150,000 See below for funding criteria	Check your organisation’s eligibility Check that your project aligns to all aspects of the Trust’s Grants Strategy EOI open: 24 Jan – 15 Feb 2022 (12pm midday) Follow-up and review by the Grants Team against criteria and impact goals Shortlist advised Online Application by invitation 22 Feb – 10 Mar 2022 (12pm midday)	April 2022
* All dates may be subject to change.

What we look for…

Capacity Building Grants – $20,000 to $50,000

Capacity Building Grants will only be considered for requests that aim to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of for-purpose organisations whose work strongly aligns with HMSTrust’s strategic framework. Priority will be given to small and medium size organisations^* undertaking strategic initiatives to deliver long-term goals:

• Strategic planning initiatives to clarify mission, goals, and performance measures;
• Financial sustainability planning and implementation, including diversification of revenue streams, resulting in embedded fundraising/development skills, tools and resourcing;
• Critical early support to incubate initiatives, including project development, research, scoping and piloting;
• Evaluation of an initiative to enable scale;

Requests need to be fully scoped and costed. Projects are normally completed within one year, but can extend over a longer period.

*HMSTrust follows the ACNC classification of charity size

FY22 Special Interest Grants – Women and Girls – $51,000 to $150,000 in total

In FY22, this grants round applies a gender lens across our strategy, with a focus on women and girls.

Requests need to align strongly to the HMSTrust strategy framework with the additional requirement that the target beneficiary group be ‘Women and Girls’.

Special Interest Grants can be up to three years in duration. Multi-year requests require detailed annual budgets, expected outputs, outcomes and potential impact across annual milestones. Grant payments are made in annual instalments dependent on receipt of a satisfactory progress report/s and financial acquittal.

Special Interest Grants have a rotating focus determined annually. This flexibility ensures that we can be responsive and relevant to changing social, economic and environmental needs.

Major Grants – $151,000 to $400,000 in total

Major Grants of up to four years in duration are considered for significant initiatives that clearly demonstrate positive long-term social impact with the potential to contribute to systems change, or change sector practice. Typically, projects are evidence-based, fully scoped, piloted and ready to roll out on a larger scale, and are designed to have wider benefits beyond the direct participants and the life of a project. It is expected that the initiative addresses a gap and does not duplicate or replicate existing programs or services.

Grants at this level are highly competitive and Grants staff are available to discuss your proposal. It is expected that only 4-6 grants will be awarded in this grants round.

The type of activities that may be considered include those that will result in benefits across multiple organisations and/or communities; have substantial reach and/or influence; or take a new approach to a sector issue and/or community need.

Applications are required to include:

• Sustainable business model;
• Robust business plan support by substantiated data;
• Clearly defined outputs and outcomes;
• Potential to deliver against the Trust’s long-term impact goals;
• Milestones for each year of funding;
• Confirmed partnerships and collaborations;
• Measurement, evaluation and dissemination plans;
• Detailed project budget.

This grant level is not appropriate for small one-off projects. We do not fund ongoing programs.

Submission of an Expression of Interest is essential. Grants staff will assess all Expressions of Interest, and a shortlist of requests will be invited to submit a full application. Application is by invitation only.

Grant payments for all multi-year grants are made in annual instalments dependent on receipt of satisfactory progress report/s and financial acquittal.