Volunteer Grant Round 2025/2026

Our team is pleased to announce that the Volunteer Grants Program 2025-26 is now open!

This national program, facilitated by the Department of Social Services, seeks to support the work of local community organisations by enabling the inclusion of vulnerable people and providing supports to increase participation in volunteering.

A total of $10 million dollars has been allocated to the Program, with each of the 151 federal electorates receiving $66,665.

Grants between $1,000 and $5,000 are available to eligible, not-for-profit community organisations to support the efforts of their volunteers. For further information about eligibility and criteria click here to view the guidelines.

If your organisation is interested in applying for this grant, please submit and expression of interest (EOI) using the online form below before Wednesday the 1st of April at 5pm. Please note that for the EOI applications, we will not be accepting supporting documentation such as photos, diagrams or support letters.

Our team will then convene an independent panel to assess the EOIs submitted before nominating selected projects to the Department for formal assessment.

We wish our community organisations all the very best with their EOIs.

2025-26 Volunteer Grants EOI Form - Mayo Electorate

Organisation Details

Organisation Address(Required)
Activity Address
*The activity address refers to the address where the volunteering activity occurs. If this is the same as the organisation address, this field can be left blank.
Primary contact(Required)
Secondary contact

Questions

All funding sought must directly benefit your organisation's volunteers.
Do volunteers make up 40% or more of your organisation's staff?(Required)
(between $1000 and $5000)
If applying under Category 1, which communication items are you seeking to purchase?(Required)
If applying under Category 2 only select N/A (note you can apply under more than one category)
If applying under only Category 1, write 'N/A' (note you can apply under more than one category)
If applying under only Category 1, write 'N/A' (note you can apply under more than one category)

Further Information and Next Steps

All Expressions of Interest (EOIs) will be assessed by the independent panel. After the EOI process has been finalised, MPs will nominate organisations. If your organisation is nominated, you will be invited to apply for a grant, which will then be assessed by the Department. More information on the application process is provided in Section 2 of the Guidelines. Please note that the grants are a one off payment, not ongoing. If your organisation is nominated to apply, your information will be shared with the Department.

Assessment

The independent panel will convene to assess all applications received in early April and applicants will hear if they are to be nominated shortly thereafter. Applicants should be advised that further assessments will be undertaken by the Department and that nomination by a local MP does not guarantee funding.

Multiple Nominations

An organisation can only be nominated by one MP. If an applicant submits duplicate applications through more than one MP office, the Department may withdraw the funding allocation. This may result in another eligible applicant missing out and the community ultimately losing access to that funding.

Important

If your organisation is an unincorporated association, an individual from your organisation must assume personal legal liability. The individual will be legally responsible for delivering the funded activity, managing expenditure, and meeting all obligations under the grant agreement. For more details, see Section 4 of the Guidelines.
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