You’ve been successful in receiving a grant from the CBF – congratulations! We proudly partner with community media to help bring stories to life across Australia. We recommend getting your project started sooner rather than later so once you’re confident with the details below, get started!
1. Grant Agreement
Your Grant Agreement contains your legal obligations. Read it and understand it! If you’re unsure, please contact our Grants Support Team. The important things to take note of:
- Reporting due dates – note the report due dates in your calendar. The CBF withholds payments for new funds if existing grant reports are overdue.
- Reporting requirements – note what you need to keep track of during the project.
- Approved grant budget – use your Grant Agreement as a budget reference, rather than your original application as these may be different.
Keep your agreement in a centralised location where colleagues can find it, e.g. CBF grants folder in hard copy, an electronic version on the station’s network/computer/cloud. Make sure relevant contacts at your organisation have access to your grant information, e.g. Board, Committee, station staff, relevant broadcasters, technicians or treasurer. Some stations table all grant offers in Board meetings. Others pin a photocopy on the station noticeboard.
Remember that your original application is available in SmartyGrants and includes the original grant guidelines if you need them.
2. Read your Grant Report form
A grant report form will be available in SmartyGrants when you receive your grant funds. Review the Grant Report before starting your project to make sure you can provide everything you need. Any grant covering the purchase of equipment will require an Asset Register, so make sure your organisation has one. Download our Small Asset Register or Major Asset Register template if you need it.
3. Keep records as you go
Make sure you gather reporting requirement information for your Grant Report as your project is rolled out.
Keep receipts and invoices on-hand as you’ll need to account for the expenditure of grant funds as stated in the approved grant budget of your Grant Agreement. You’ll also need to report to your treasurer and depending on how much your organisation receives in grants, potentially an independent auditor.
4. Complete your Grant Report
Your Grant Report keeps us updated, documenting your achievements and what you learned. Your report is an opportunity to celebrate your project so please send us photos, videos and audio samples. We’d love to share your story to inspire other community broadcasters. Even if the project doesn’t work out, we want to know why so we can also learn from your experiences.
You will need to report on the expenditure of your grant funds, so make sure you have those amounts itemised as per your approved grant budget in your Grant Agreement.
Someone with authority to sign legal documentation from your station (usually your Station Manager or treasurer) will need to certify that the information provided in the Grant Report is true and correct. Read more about grant reporting.
5. Variations
We understand that unexpected events can occur such as discovering a better solution or a team member leaves. The best thing to do is pick up the phone and let us know asap! We’ll let you know what we can do. It’s too late to tell us this in your Grant Report – we may ask you to return your grant funds.
6. Personnel changes
People move around community broadcasting organisations, so if you’re leaving make sure someone else at the station can complete the grant project for you. This includes submitting the Grant Report and having all the information needed and setting up access to the SmartyGrants login.
We encourage you to view our other Frequently Asked Questions and learn more about Successful Grant Recipients, Tips to Apply, Acknowledging the CBF and other funding opportunities.