More Australian communities are being impacted by natural disasters as our climate changes. NAB Foundation Community Grants fund local projects that help communities prepare for natural disasters, support long-term recovery and build resilience against future disasters. 

We provide support for community-led projects that fall under one or more of the following categories: readiness, recovery and future-proofing.

Readiness

Helping communities (people, environments and infrastructure) prepare for natural disasters.

Prioritised funding areas

  • Preparedness and resilience tools and training for households, communities and businesses
  • Disaster response tools and equipment
  • Future-proofing community infrastructure
  • Mental health and wellbeing programs that prepare people for natural disasters
  • Future-proofing natural environments
  • Future-proofing wildlife

Recovery

Helping communities, landscapes and fauna rebuild and rehabilitate after natural disasters.

Prioritised funding areas

  • Initiatives that rebuild community cohesion after a natural disaster
  • Rebuilding community infrastructure
  • Community recovery planning
  • Mental health and wellbeing recovery
  • Rehabilitation of natural environments
  • Wildlife recovery and rehabilitation

Future-proofing

Reducing the risk of future natural disasters by cutting a community’s carbon emissions.

Prioritised funding areas

  • Food co-operatives
  • Urban greening
  • Efficient waste recovery and recycling
  • Low-carbon transport and supporting infrastructure
  Prioritised funding areas
Readiness: helping communities (people, environments and infrastructure) prepare for natural disasters.
  • Preparedness and resilience tools and trainings for households, communities and businesses
  • Disaster response tools and equipment
  • Future proofing community infrastructure
  • Mental health and wellbeing programs that prepare people for natural disasters
  • Future-proofing natural environments
  • Future-proofing wildlife
Recovery: helping communities, landscapes and fauna rebuild and rehabilitate after natural disasters.
  • Initiatives that rebuild community cohesion after a natural disaster
  • Rebuilding community infrastructure
  • Community recovery planning
  • Mental health and wellbeing recovery
  • Rehabilitation of natural environments
  • Wildlife recovery and rehabilitation
Future-proofing: reducing the risk of future natural disasters by cutting a community’s carbon emissions.
  • Food co-operatives
  • Urban greening
  • Efficient waste recovery and recycling
  • Low-carbon transport and supporting infrastructure

How to apply for a Community Grant

Applications for the Community Grants program are currently closed. If you’d like to be notified when applications are open again for funding that will be awarded in 2024, please email nabfoundation@nab.com.au or check this page for updates. 

Read more about our previous Community Grant recipients.

 Successful applications

If you succeed in obtaining a Community Grant, we’ll contact you via email to arrange the next steps, which will involve signing a grant agreement and arranging payment into your nominated bank account.

Grants will be paid at the end of the grant round. Your completed grant agreement must be returned to the NAB Foundation before funds are paid. You will also be required to fill out an acquittal survey once the funded activity has been completed.

Other information about applying

  • Applications are assessed by the NAB Foundation team and NAB leaders in relevant regions. 

    A grant will be assessed on its own merits and final amounts will depend on the nature and needs of the successful applicant. Community grant recipients eligible for impact grants from the $200,000 funding pool will go on a shortlist, and NAB colleagues will vote to decide the recipients.

  • Eligibility criteria

    NAB Foundation Community Grants are open to:

    • Charities that are registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for Profits Commission (ACNC). 
    • Social enterprises (not-for-profit and for-profit) or start-ups with social or environmental impact at the core of their business. 
    • Groups or organisations (not-for-profit and for-profit) that hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have a charitable purpose
    • Local government or government-funded facilities (such as a school or childcare centre) seeking funding for a program that furthers charitable purpose.

    Your organisation doesn’t need to have Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status. 

    If your organisation is not a registered charity or social enterprise with the ACNC, it must have documentation that demonstrates its charitable purpose. You’ll be asked to certify this and upload supporting documentation in the application form.

    If you are a government entity (local government or council), you will be asked to certify that the funds will be used solely for the charitable purpose outlined in your application, and not recorded as a donation to a government or political party, or as a political donation.

    Here are some other important points about applying:

    • You don’t need to be a NAB customer.
    • You don’t need to be a registered charity to apply.
    • Your organisation doesn’t need to operate Australia-wide. 
    • You can apply for a NAB Foundation Community Grant if you’ve successfully applied for grants from other organisations. You can only apply for and receive one NAB Foundation Community Grant each calendar year. 
  • Applications won’t be accepted for the following: 

    • organisations or programs outside Australia
    • organisations that don’t have an ABN or those that don’t hold a charitable purpose 
    • individual applicants or personal expenses
    • programs that don’t align to the categories of the Community Grants program
    • activities that may be deemed harmful to the community or the environment
    • recurrent costs or continued funding (grants and impact grants are one-off) 
    • government entities (with the exception of local government or government-funded facilities such as a school or childcare centre)
    • retrospective requests, general fundraising appeals or commercial sponsorships
    • business as usual activities, including marketing and fundraising activities
    • religious or sectarian education (programs by religion-based organisations that support a non-religious purpose are eligible to apply)
    • political support or political organisations
    • bequest programs
    • foundations that are grant-making bodies.
  • NAB Foundation recognises that our community investments can contribute to broader global movements, both in our grant-making and partnerships. We therefore will look favourably on applications that align the outcomes of their project, program or initiative with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, opens in new window (SDGs). There is an optional question in the application about alignment to the SDGs.

  • A charitable purpose (also called a mission or objective) may be the reason an organisation has been set up and the activities implemented towards achieving this purpose. This purpose is usually set out in an organisation's governing documentation. There are 12 charitable purposes set out in the Charities Act 2013 (Cth) (section 12(1)): 

    • advancing health
    • advancing education
    • advancing social or public welfare
    • advancing religion
    • advancing culture
    • promoting reconciliation, mutual respect and tolerance between groups of individuals in Australia
    • promoting or protecting human rights
    • advancing the security or safety of Australia or the Australian public
    • preventing or relieving the suffering of animals
    • advancing the natural environment
    • other similar purposes ‘beneficial to the general public’ (a general category)
    • promoting or opposing a change to any matter established by law, policy or practice in the Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or another country (where that change furthers or opposes one or more of the purposes above).
  • Projects, programs or initiatives must be focused on one or more of the program’s focus areas.

    Some examples include:

    • emergency response equipment for community service organisations
    • rebuilding or future proofing community infrastructure
    • community preparedness tools and training
    • mental health and wellbeing programs (including telephone and online services)
    • wildlife recovery support in areas impacted by natural disasters
    • energy storage solutions, solar panels and batteries to mitigate climate risk and future natural disasters
    • reducing communities’ carbon footprint
    • strengthening the environment to be more resilient to natural disasters
    • temporary infrastructure and housing (small housing)
    • community cohesion and resilience programs.

    Grants may be available for initiatives such as:

    • education
    • training
    • emergency systems
    • preparedness plans
    • mental health support
    • infrastructure
    • equipment
    • business resilience
    • household resilience
    • urban greening
    • biodiversity protection
    • reducing climate risk and more.
  • Our grant agreement sets out the terms and conditions of our grants. Grants are only to be used for the purposes for which they are given. In our application form, we ask you to confirm that you’ll be able to enter into our grant agreement. The NAB Foundation reserves the right to accept or reject any applications in its sole discretion.

  • The NAB Foundation intends to prioritise funding for smaller organisations with an income of $3 million or less per annum, and organisations that receive less than 40% of their annual funding from government. While the NAB Foundation will prioritise funding for smaller organisations, larger organisations can still apply, if they have a local project or initiative that meets local needs, and can demonstrate the funds will be used at that local community level.

  • We’ll advise you via email if your application isn’t successful. 

    We don’t review unsuccessful grant applications. The NAB Foundation has complete and final discretion in relation to awarding a grant and these decisions are final. Due to the high volume of applications, we can’t provide feedback on individual applications. 

Important information