Our Grantmaking

With the support of our members, each year we run two grant rounds to fund high-impact, strategic climate advocacy.

After organisations apply, our rotating grant-making committee of members shortlists all applications received down to 6-8 applications.

Once applications are shortlisted, all Groundswell members are invited to vote on which organisations receive funding. As our membership grows, so do our grants on offer.

How we handle conflicts of interest during shortlisting: Conflicts of interest from committee and advisory members must be disclosed at both shortlisting and voting stages. If a conflict of interest arises during shortlisting, the group can make a judgement call on whether or not the party in question is permitted to vote on or discuss the application with which they share a conflict of interest.

When conflicts of interest arise between First Nations led organisations applying and First Nations Groundswell members on our shortlisting committee, we encourage First Nations members to share their insights as we appreciate they can offer unique perspectives which are critical to the education of the rest of the committee as we work together towards climate justice.

In consideration of the need to balance both long and short term gains in our philanthropy, Groundswell grant rounds rotate between two types: 

• Project / campaign funding - funds to pay for specific climate advocacy projects carried out by people or organisations, such as an event, training, report, piece of polling, research or a communications tactic like advertising. Groundswell does project funding as part of our donors’ learning journey, because it’s an easy entry point into understanding climate advocacy.

• Core, unrestricted funding – the grant recipient has discretion to use the funds wherever they’re most needed. This often means paying for staff and costs related to them doing their jobs well, like budgets for communications, meetings, training and professional development, technology costs like constituent relationship management systems, media monitoring, and bringing in contractors to accelerate big pieces of work or react to opportunities that come up. 

Please reach out to arielle@groundswellgiving.org with any questions.

Information for Grant Seekers

We encourage our shortlisting committee and members to look at the following criteria when considering whether an application should be successful: 

• Well reasoned theory of change: why this, why now when not before (timing), and why us (why they’re the right group to do the work). 

• Impact on one or a number of our focus areas: movement building, changing the story, shifting the money, changing the politics.

• Strategic or political opportunity: is there a viable political opening/ opportunity for success for this organisation or project? E.g. is it within the realms of possibility given the current political and economic circumstances, including Covid-19? Is the strategy winnable over time, with the right support?

• Organisational capacity to deliver: is this the right organisation to carry out this work? Are they directly connected to the community or communities they are organising? Do they take a community organising approach, building people power and strengthening the power of the movement? Does the organisation have the right people for the task with the right skills and approach for what they’re trying to do – including staff, board, advisors and partners? 

• Vision, mission and values: Does the organisation align with Groundswell vision of harnessing the power of collective giving to create a healthy, just and sustainable world? Is the organisation or project led by, or directly engaged with, First Nations people? Does the organisation support just and sustainable solutions and transitions? Does the application directly address climate advocacy?

• Bang for buck: Do they have a convincing budget? Will our grant make a substantial impact on their organisation? Do they have financial and governance processes that are in line with ACNC requirements, including the ability to report where the money was spent? https://www.acnc.gov.au/for-charities/manage-your-charity/obligations-acnc/reporting-annually-acnc  

Due Diligence Guidelines

With reference to our grantmaking vision, our goal is to create a balance between having enough information to understand the application and grant-seeker’s capacity, but not asking for so much detail that it takes unnecessary amounts of time away from already under-resourced organisations to do their actual work.