Cost of living pressures spark record grant requests

GEELONG Community Foundation (GCF) has received an unprecedented level of requests for financial assistance, reflecting the significant impact of cost-of-living pressures.

In its 24th year, the foundation’s grant program has seen requests totalling over $3 million, marking a record in its history of supporting local community organisations.

GCF chief executive officer Gail Rodgers reported that the foundation is processing around 86 applications, asking for nearly $3.5 million in support.

“It kind of gives you a sense of the extent of the challenges existing in our community right now, and that’s why we exist, to have a positive impact on some of the programs being delivered to support those doing it tough at the moment.”

GCF’s Main Grants are granted to community organisations who apply for financial assistance in accordance with the foundation’s four grant streams, with grants ranging from $1,000 to $100,000.

With the application period closing recently, the foundation’s next steps involve a careful review process to allocate approximately $1.4 million in funding.

Successful applicants will be announced in May, with funds being distributed from July to support a variety of community initiatives.

Ms Rodgers said the next challenge for the foundation would be reducing the applicant pool.

The GCF board will meet at the end of the month to determine how much funding will be allocated, which Ms Rodgers estimated at about $1.4 million.

Successful grant applicants will be notified in mid-May and will be invited to the foundation’s annual grant reception on June 6.

The delivery of grants will start from July 1.

“Our organisation has grown significantly, and it’s really the corpus which is the key aspect of the foundation,” Ms Rodgers said.

“We never spend our donors’ money; we always invest it.

“Our corpus at the end of the June 30 last year was $33 million, so our main objective is continuing to grow that.”

For more information on GCF’s grants, click HERE