What is the RAS Foundation Community Futures Grant?
The RAS Foundation (RASF) is offering an opportunity for applicants to be awarded up to $30,000 in funding for a community project in their local area.
Taking part is easy:
- Identify a need in your rural NSW community
- Partner with a local community organisation
- Create a project plan for your initiative
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible applicants must be:
- A resident of the rural NSW community the project will benefit.
What types of projects are eligible?
The RAS Foundation invites ideas that deliver strong community benefits and result in enhanced economic and social outcomes for your community. Projects that involve collaboration between people in your town and deliver sustained and broad community benefit will be highly regarded. Applicants should be passionate about rural and regional NSW, and have a good understanding of issues affecting their community.
Infrastructure for local showgrounds and show societies are eligible. The improvements must demonstrate that they go beyond benefiting just the local Show Society, but also enable broader use by other community groups to run on-going projects or programs.
What projects are not eligible?
While the criteria for this program are broad, the RAS Foundation does not fund wages, consultant’s fees, one-off events, operational and administration costs, travel or accommodation expenses.
What is a Partner Organisation?
A Community Partner can be any local agency or group that delivers a service, provides a benefit or whose purpose is charitable in nature. For example, educational organisations, your local show society or service club (Rotary, The Lions Club, Apex etc).
Closing Date for applications is midnight, Friday 12 December 2025.
Judging and selection
Applications will be judged on merit by a selection panel, including representatives from the RAS Foundation Board. Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview via phone or Zoom video conferencing in late January/early February 2026. The application/s judged to be the most considered, achievable and provide the greatest community benefit will be awarded up to $30,000.
The RASF Community Futures Grant will be paid in two equal instalments with the first instalment paid in March 2026 and the second instalment in May 2026 once a project progress update has been received.
The selected projects must be implemented through the local community agency or group nominated by the applicant as their Community Partner Organisation.
The successful applicant/s will be announced at the Sydney Royal Easter Show on 2-13 April 2025 and a representative of the organisation must be available to attend the presentation event at the Sydney Royal Easter Show.
Further information
If you have any enquiries about the eligibility of your project idea or about the RAS Foundation Community Futures Grant initiative, please contact the RAS Foundation by phone on (02) 9704 1234 or by email foundation@rasf.org.au.
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