P500 Grant Round

Applications Now Open

Applications for the 2025 P500 Grant Round are now open.

This year’s P500 Grant value will be $88,000. The Foundation invites organisations to apply for activities across each of the four Foundation grant streams. For more information on our grant streams click here.

Applicants can apply for grants that support organisational activity, new and existing program delivery, new and existing projects and capacity building initiatives. Grant funding can be used for operational, salary and capital expenditure, or a combination of these. Grant funding cannot be used for expenses that have already been incurred.

Activities must be delivered within the City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast Shire and Golden Plains Shire. Activities can be delivered over a 1 or 2 year period.

Grant eligibility requirements

Grant applicants must be endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient 1 (DGR1) or have a confirmed auspice arrangement with an organisation that has DGR1.
Grant applicants (or confirmed auspice organisation) must be registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission (ACNC) with current and up-to-date reporting on the ACNC register.
Only organisations with an annual revenue under $3.5 million (excluding income for capital projects) are eligible to apply.
Previous recipients of the P500 grant are not eligible to apply (within past 5 years).
Shortlisted applicants from the 2024 P500 program are not eligible to apply.
The grant application must be for the delivery of an activity within the City of Greater Geelong, Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast Shire and Golden Plains Shire.
Applications must be submitted for the full grant amount of $88,000 with only one grant available.

Grant Assessment

Grant Applications will be reviewed by the P500 Grant Review Panel. The panel consists of members of the Foundation’s Grants Committee, P500 Committee Members and P500 donors. Applications will be assessed in line with the Foundation’s grant criteria and scoring matrix.

The three strongest applications will be shortlisted to pitch their application to donors at the P500 Pitch and Vote Night. Shortlisted organisations will be informed mid-October.

The P500 Pitch and Vote Night will be held on 13 November 2025 at Geelong West Town Hall. At this event, donors will vote for their preferred application. The organisation with the most donor votes will be announced on the night and will receive the grant to deliver their activity in our community.

The other two shortlisted applicants will have the opportunity for their application to be rolled into the Foundation’s 2026 Community Grant Round that will open for applications in December 2025, with funding provided in June 2026.

Key Dates

Applications open Wednesday 13 August 2025
Applications close 11:59pm Sunday 14 September 2025
Shortlisted organisations will be notified of outcome Monday 13 October 2025
Shortlisted organisations will be supported to prepare for the Pitch and Vote Night from mid-October to mid-November. A video regarding your organisation will be developed as part of this process and also provided to your organisation for your own future use
2025 P500 Pitch and Vote Night Thursday 13 November 2025
Funding provided December 2025
Grant delivery timeframe 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 (1 year) or 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027 (2 year).

2025 P500 Grant Application Instructions

To apply for the 2025 P500 Grant you will need to complete the online Application Form.

Before you complete the application form you should review the 2025 P500 Grant Agreement Terms and Conditions to ensure that your organisation will be able to comply with the requirements of the grant.

Below are a number of documents to support you to complete your application:

We recommend that you download the word version of the Grant Application Form and that you prepare your response within the word document. You will then be able to cut and paste your answers from the word version into the online application form when you are ready to submit. You are also required to submit the Budget, Narrative and Activity Work Plan as part of your application.

Please refer to the Grant Application Form Guidance document for tips on how to respond to each question in the Application Form and the Budget, Narrative and Activity Work Plan.

If your organisation does not have DGR1 status you will need to have an auspice arrangement in place in order to apply for the grant and you will need to upload an Auspice Confirmation as part of your application.

In order for your application to be accepted, you are required to contact Charlotte Walker, Program and Impact Manager, to discuss the alignment of your application prior to Tuesday 2 September.

Please note, due to staff leave, if enquiries aren’t received before this date, we will be unable to accept an application.

The Foundation will host an online P500 Grant Information Session on Tuesday 19 August at 1pm to discuss grant eligibility, the application and assessment process and the grant application form and other application documentation. To join please use the following Zoom link.

If you require any further information or would like to discuss your grant application, please Charlotte Walker on 0478 435 236 or grants@geelongfoundation.org.