Frequently Asked Questions

1. What is the Fonterra Grass Roots Fund?

The Fonterra Grass Roots Fund is a community grant program focusing on the dairy communities where our people and farmers and their families live and work.

2. What does the Fonterra Grass Roots Fund aim to achieve?

Fonterra is dedicated to supporting communities where we operate. Our community goal in Australia is to make a valued difference to the social wellbeing, nutritional health and long term sustainability of the communities that support our business and allow it to prosper. The aim of the Fund is to support communities to get their projects, ideas and initiatives underway.

3. What has the programme achieved since it started?

Since 2011 we have supported over 400 initiatives that focus on bringing communities together, caring for the environment and promoting healthy lifestyles and dairy nutrition. Our sponsorship funding has helped to build school vegetable gardens, supported sports, community and surf lifesaving clubs, and aided the purchase of essential equipment for emergency response services.

4. What types of initiatives and activities are supported by the programme?

We are committed to programs which share our vision, values and cooperative spirit. Specifically, initiatives must fall into one of three categories:

• Bringing Communities Together.
• Caring for the Environment.
• Promoting Healthy Lifestyles and Dairy Nutrition.
  

5. How much can groups apply for?

Support is provided from $500 to a maximum of $5,000 per application.

6. Can groups apply more than once within a year?

There aren’t any restrictions on the number of times groups can apply for different initiatives. However you can only submit an application for a particular initiative once within a year. If it is unsuccessful, you must wait until the following year to re-submit it.

7. Who decides which applications are successful?

There are Fonterra Grass Roots Fund committees at each of our seven sites which manage, approve and support local initiatives for their local communities. They assess applications against key criteria and guidelines. The committees are made up of Fonterra people representing factory to farm gate.

8. How do we apply?

Please complete the online application form on our website. Applications will only be accepted via the Fonterra Australia website. If you need any assistance with the online process, please contact your local champion whose contact details are outlined in Q17.

9. What kind of proof will I need to supply for my bank account details?

For the bank account that you nominate you will need to supply either:

• A scanned copy of a printed bank deposit slip.
• A screenshot of your online bank account showing the account name and number.
• A scanned copy of your bank statement showing the account name and number.
  

10. What format should I use for attachments?

Your attachment needs to be a PDF, Word document or JPEG (image). It needs to be under 10mb.

11. How will we know that you have received our application?

You will be sent a PDF copy of your application, if you don’t receive this within a few minutes of submitting your application then please check with us. – See question 18.

12. When are applications reviewed?

Applications can be submitted any time throughout the year, however there are only two times a year that these are reviewed. To make sure you get reviewed during these two periods make sure your application is in by 31 March or 31 August. This process usually takes up to six weeks.

13. How will we know if we’ve been successful?

You will be contacted by email confirming whether your application has been successful or not. If successful, they will detail next steps around the grant process.

14. If I’m not successful can I find out why?

We receive a large number of requests for support each year, and unfortunately we can’t support them all.

We aren’t able to respond to queries regarding an application, but if you think your application meets all of the criteria you do have the option to reapply.

15. What makes a good application?

Here are a few tips.

• Make sure your application fits within one of the three criteria and make sure you read our Fonterra Grass Roots Fund Guidelines to check your organisation is eligible.
• Clearly outline how you will use the grant if successful.
• Keep it short and concise.
• Source a costing quote for the equipment/work to be done (include the cost of including the Fonterra Grass Roots Fund logo if this is possible).

If requesting funding as part of a larger project please include information on what other support you have raised and how our support will help you reach your goal.

Please let us know if there is an opportunity for our people and farmers to come and help out on the project.

16. How do we promote our project/event when we’ve received our grant?

We would love you to promote our support of your initiative, whether it be on social media, your local community noticeboards or with the local media – just let us know.

We also want to hear about how your project is going so we can share it with our staff, farmers and local community. You can share your stories with our Communications team via hester.philip@fonterra.com   

17. Which regions are covered by the program?

We will consider applications from the regions in which our sites operate. These are: Darnum, Stanhope, Dennington, Cobden, Bayswater, Spreyton and Wynyard.

17. How do I contact the Fonterra Grass Roots Fund if I have other questions?

The best way to get in touch with us is by going direct to your closest site and via email.

Alternatively, you can contact Hester Philip from our Fonterra Communications Team at hester.philip@fonterra.com