Lord Mayor's Charitable Foundation - Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE) Grant

At a glance

GRANT TYPES

Tier 1 Grant: Up to $200,000 over 2 years ($100,000 a year)

Tier 2 Grant: Up to $500,000 over 2 years ($250,000 a year)

ELIGIBILITY

Tax Concession Charity (TCC), DGR1 entities registered in Australia (see ‘How to Apply’ for full list of exclusions).

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST OPEN

3 July 2023

WEBINAR

11 July 2023

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST CLOSE

21 July 2023

FULL APPLICATION INVITED

August 2023

APPLICANTS NOTIFIED

October 2023

The Work Integration Social Enterprise (WISE) Grant is a new grant program that will provide up to $4 million to social enterprises that exist to create jobs and employment pathways for Australians facing barriers to mainstream employment.

**Expressions of Interest for the WISE grant have closed. Please ensure you are subscribed to be notified about future grant opportunities.**

Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation is the Initiative Host and WISE Grants funds are held in the Foundation’s WISE Collaboration Giving Account.

The WISE grant is a collaboration between eight partner organisations Paul Ramsay Foundation, Westpac Foundation, Macquarie Group Foundation, and Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation, Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation, Minderoo Foundation, and English Family Foundation. MinterEllison are providing invaluable pro bono advice on the grant program’s governance.

These grant partners recognise the economic and social value of WISE and have pooled funding to help create a more accessible and streamlined approach to supporting WISE seeking to build their financial resilience and impact.

The grant program is offering two types of multi-year grants available to fund “core” costs to build the organisation’s capacity to create meaningful jobs and employment pathways for disadvantaged job-seekers.

Tier 1 grants
Valued at approximately $200,000 over two years ($100,000 a year) to support WISE at “the experienced start-up and survival stages” to develop their impact and business model towards greater financial resilience.

Tier 2 grants
Up to approximately $500,000 over two years ($250,000 a year) to support WISE at the “stable and early sustainable stages” to strengthen and prepare them for future growth based on a stable and proven impact and business model.

How to apply

Click on each of the steps to learn more.

Step 1. Read the background document

This document includes information regarding WISE Grant governance, Theory of Change and rationale.

WISE Grant Background Document

Download now
Step 2. Check that you meet the eligibility criteria
If you are currently receiving a major grant (approx. $400,000+) from one of the philanthropic organisations partnering on the WISE Grants, please reach out to your contact at that funding organisation to discuss your eligibility.

If you can meet each of these requirements, you are eligible to submit an expression of interest:
- My organisation is based in Australia with TCC and DGR 1 status. Aboriginal Controlled Organisations with TCC and DGR1 are encouraged to apply. Auspicing arrangements cannot be considered.
- We are a social enterprise with a mission to help create “award wage or greater” jobs and employment pathways for Australians facing barriers to mainstream employment in one or more of the grant’s target groups.
- We are either a stand-alone social enterprise or social enterprise within a non-profit (the non-profit must be able to provide separate financials and a business plan for the social enterprise).
- We are not requesting funds for any of the following exclusions: charity works outside of Australia, sponsorship or fundraising activities, or retrospective activities.
Step 3. Assess your suitability for a WISE Grant
Please review the social enterprise stages matrix to find which stage best describes where you are at now. Thanks to the CSI Swinburne University and SEFA for contributing their knowledge to the development of this Social Enterprise Stages table.
- If you are mostly As and Bs it is most likely you are suited to the Tier 1 grant.
- If you are mostly Cs and Ds please consider applying for the Tier 2 grant.
- If you are mostly Es, we do not recommend you apply for these grants as you are out of scope for this grant round.

Step 4. Check that your enterprise meets the criteria for the job and financial outcomes for a Tier 1 or Tier 2 grant.

TIER 1: For the Experienced Start-up and Survival Stages	TIER 2: For the Stable and early sustainable stages
APPROXIMATE SIZE AND GRANT DURATION
Up to $200,000 over 2 years ($100,000 a year)	Up to $500,000 over 2 years ($250,000 a year)
PURPOSE
Foundational support for your social enterprise to develop and refine its impact model and build trading revenue towards greater financial resilience.	To strengthen and prepare your enterprise for future growth based on a stable and proven impact and business model
JOB AND FINANCIAL OUTCOMES Flexibility will be applied to these employment and financial outcomes for regional and rural social enterprises
An early-stage business model or start-up business plan The enterprise aims to create a min of 5 FTE “award wage” jobs for people with complex needs annually The enterprise aims to generate trading revenue of up to $500,000 within the next 2-3 years. The enterprise has a goal to increase its financial sustainability over time, including its % of income through trade.	A proven business model and business/strategic plan The enterprise aims to create a min of 10 FTE “award wage” jobs for people with complex needs annually. The enterprise has been trading at least 2 years with trading revenue of $500,000+ per annum. The enterprise is focused on increasing its financial sustainability, including its % of income through trade, and to attracting impact investment in the next 2-3 years.

Step 5. Submit an Expression of Interest

**Expressions of Interest for the WISE grant have closed. Please ensure you are subscribed to be notified about future grant opportunities.**

Further Enquiries

We are expecting a high level of interest in this grant program and do not have the resources to manage general phone call enquiries. However, if you have a question that cannot be answered by the material provided in the documentation or if you are having technical difficulties, please send us an email and we will endeavour to respond quickly.

We have prepared a FAQ sheet available below: