BankSA Celebrates its 170th Anniversary with a $170k Grant

In celebration of Bank SA’s 170th Anniversary, the Bank SA Foundation is offering its biggest ever grant of $170 thousand to charities in South Australia or the Northern Territory.

The grant will complement two other community grant rounds offered by the foundation.

BankSA Foundation manager Olivia Thomas said they had been offering grants for a long time.

“We have been providing grants of up to $50,000 to organisations for some time and have found that there are many worthy ongoing and direct intervention projects or programs that need sustainable sources of funding,” Thomas said.

The BankSA Foundation, which is now in its 77th year, aims to provide assistance for smaller community organisations in South Australia and the Northern Territory whose financial needs often increase to meet growing demand in the community.

It aims to help them towards a brighter future by assisting charities facing socially, economically or physically disadvantaged communities.

“The charities we fund attract little assistance from the government and are not able to generate significant fundraising income of their own,” Thomas said.
“We want to support small charities with big ideas to help make a lasting positive impact in our community.”

BankSA Foundation also announced it will continue to offer this grant every two years. The grant will be awarded to one applicant each year with the monies distributed to their organisation over a three year time period.

“We are seeing a high volume of repeat applications from organisations seeking funds for projects we have previously funded,” Thomas said.
“This highlighted to us a need for BankSA Foundation to provide a more sustainable funding model and three years was the agreed timeframe.”

Thomas explained that they get approached by many incredible projects every year, yet feel that their future longevity remains uncertain beyond its first year without adequate funding.

This new grant is structured to tackle these financial challenges in the hopes of sustaining these collectives and equipping them with the means to set themselves up indefinitely.

“We are dedicated to truly helping these organisations to make a lasting difference and this funding will provide a boost to one of so many of the deserving organisations that are seeking funding,” she said.

Recipient hopefuls are urged to submit an Expression of Interest form before 1 June, from which a select few will be invited to submit a full application by 2 July.

The successful applicant will be notified sometime in September or October.

For more information, see the website.