Your Questions Answered

Come to our Information Session on 15 July 2024. We’ll be talking about our community investment program, where funds come from, how to apply and we’ll run a forum for asking questions. If time permits, we can workshop ideas from participants. When: Monday 15 July 2024 Time: 7pm Where: Buninyong Community House (Emery Room) This session will be recorded and you can re-watch it here afterwards.

The program will be guided by the following dates. • Monday 15 July – Community Group Information Session • Monday 15 July – Online Applications Open • Sunday 8 September – Online Applications Close • Monday 30 September – Finalists Notified • Tuesday 12 November – SparkTank Community Event (with live pitches) Funded projects will be delivered throughout 2025 with a completion date of December 2025.

Don’t get hung up on the formal status of your group. Your group should simply be a community organisation doing good things in our community and with a great project proposal. You may be a for-purpose, NFP or community group registered as an incorporated association. You may have an ABN, but not compulsory. Alternatively, you may seek a registered group to auspice your project.

Applications open Monday 15 July 2024 and close Sunday 8 September 2024.

SparkTank will see up to a maximum of $50,000 of Community Investment funding distributed by Community Bank Buninyong (Buninyong & District Financial Services Ltd). The total distribution of Community Investment funding will depend on the amounts requested by successful applicants, the quality of applications and the community need for specific projects. It’s our intention to distribute the full amount of Community Investment funding subject to quality applications. BDFSL reserves the right not to distribute funding if applications do not meet the selection criteria.

It’s possible to receive up to 100% of your grant application, however all applications will be assessed based on the impact they deliver and measured against the selection criteria. Other factors will also determine how much funding you are eligible to receive, such as the quality of applications, the value of the proposition and your ability to deliver a meaningful community project. The Assessment Team will review your application with a formal measurement tool to ensure equity and robustness. The key criteria the Assessment Team will be measuring against includes: • Impact (40%) – how impactful the project is? • Merit (30%) – does the project have merit? • Innovation (20%) – how innovative is the project? • Legacy (10%) – is there a legacy creation? The questions in the online application form will lend to addressing the criteria above if answered correctly and completely. The Assessment Team will recommend the final organisations to pitch at the SparkTank event on 12 November 2024.

Applications open 15 July 2024 and close 8 September 2024. Our Assessment Team will review applications and will announce ten final (approx.) selected applicants to pitch live at the SparkTank event on 12 November 2024. The selected groups will all receive $1000 for making it to this stage. All presenting organisations will receive funding, however the final amount will be announced at the SparkTank event on 12 November. Successful groups will be issued a standard Community Investment Agreement for completion. On completion of the Community Investment Agreement, funds will be paid to your eligible organisation on presentation of a Tax Invoice.

You’ll have 12 months to deliver your project as proposed in your application. Any unused funds or funds used for purposes other than the project will need to be returned to BDFSL within 60 days after the project end date. Successful applicants will be required to sign a formal Community Investment Agreement with BDFSL.

No. Funds will be disbursed to successful applicants for a specific project as detailed in the application. If the goalposts change, you’ll need to speak to us.

Unfortunately, no. Your application will be assessed just the same as all applications for Community Investment funding we do throughout the year. Only the final ten (approximately) applicants that are asked to pitch at the SparkTank event on 12 November will receive project funding, with the final amount to be determined on the night.

Yes, this is important to note. Our SparkTank event on Tuesday 12 November 2024 is being photographed and filmed for Community Bank Buninyong. By appearing in images or footage you indicate consent. Please advise if you don’t wish to participate. By attending an event or program of ours (Community Bank Buninyong/ Buninyong & District Financial Services Ltd) you are entering an area where photography, audio and video recording may take place. By attending you understand that all photography, filming and/or recording will be done in reliance on this consent. If you do not agree, please do not enter the event premises or notify our photographer or videographer in person.

If you have specific questions, you can contact our Community Partnerships Lead Kelly Bevan on partnerships@bdfsl.au Kelly is your best contact for general queries. She cannot advise you on the outcome of your application, this will be subject to independent review.