Collier Charitable Fund Grants

The purpose of the Collier Charitable Fund is to continue the legacies of Alice, Annette and Edith Collier by striving to improve the lives of Victorians and other Australians by assisting those in need.

The Wills of the Collier sisters stipulate the areas to be funded and the proportion of income to be applied to each of the areas. The support provided focuses on Victorians in some instances, and in other instances it encompasses the wider Australian community.

The following provides an overview of the areas that are funded for the wider Australian community.

• Progressing Education & Training 
in Australia

  Funding in this area aims to progress education and training in Australia. The Will refers to "Public Educational Purposes in the Commonwealth of Australia". The area of public education and training is broad and the Fund supports schools, universities, research institutes and vocational training bodies.

• Furthering Faith and Religious
endeavours in Australia

  Funding in this area aims to further faith and religious endeavours in Australia. The Will refers to "Religious Purposes in the Commonwealth of Australia".

• Aiding OTHER Australian Charitable Causes
  Funding in this area aims to aid other Australian charitable causes. The Will refers to "the Relief of Poverty in Australia, the Australian Red Cross, the Education of children of deceased or incapacitated Sailors, Soldiers, or Airmen and any other charitable purposes". This area provides scope to fund areas not specifically identified in the Will.

The general funding practices currently adopted by the trustees are:

• To encourage organisations to seek funding that meets their own priorities, not those that may be thought to be favoured by the trustees.
• To be broad and flexible in their approach, within the scope of the focus areas.
• To fund a variety of organisations and initiatives rather than to make very large grants to fewer organisations.
• To be open to making limited multi-year grants.
• To be open to supporting organisations in collaboration with other grantmakers to maximise impact and eliminate duplication.
• To be open to supporting organisations that collaborate with other like-minded organisations to maximise impact and eliminate duplication.
• To be supportive of applications to build organisational capacity. This may include:
  • staff costs
  • staff training
  • costs to improve effectiveness through the use of technology, and
  • developing strategic capacity.

• Where funds available permit, being open to out-of-round applications for emergency relief or genuinely urgent matters.
• To limit each organisation to one application per sub-Fund.
• To limit the number of larger grants. The average grant over recent years has been in the $30,000 to $35,000 range.
• From time to time to make grants on the Trustees’ own initiative.
• Not to support the following applications:
  • initiatives that only benefit an individual or an individual's family
  • that seek contributions for the corpus of another grant making organisation.