Throughout 2019 and 2020 we reviewed City of Newcastle’s funding programs including Economic Development Sponsorship, Community Place Making Grant, Council Support for Arts and Cultural Organisations in Newcastle, Event Sponsorship Program, Recreational Facilities Grant and Youth Week Grants.
We consulted with our community through workshops and surveys, conducted staff interviews and workshops and researched best practice examples from other local government councils and relevant reports.
During the development of the draft Community Grants Policy and draft Sponsorship Policy, consideration was given to the core principles identified in the Grants and Sponsorship Review.
The principles are:
- Transparent
- Equitable
- Effective
- Efficient
- Collaborative
- Sustainable Outcomes
The draft Community Grants Policy and draft Sponsorship Policy have consolidated a number of existing policies and will provide consistency, transparency and a strong customer focus to City of Newcastle funding programs.
In response to community feedback, we’ve also established the Grant Guru portal to support local businesses and community groups to search, track, save and create alerts for grant funding opportunities of interest from other funding bodies.
The public exhibition period has now concluded and the Community Grants Policy and Sponsorship Policy were adopted on Tuesday 27 April 2021.
