FRRR Grants 2026: Open Rounds, Amounts and Real Odds

Grantsights' grant search covers United States funding only, so there's nothing on this page an Australian group can buy from us, and every application route below goes to FRRR itself. If you'd like a note when we add Australian funders, add your name to the Australia list.

What FRRR Is and Who It Funds

FRRR is a national charity, registered with the ACNC since 3 December 2012, that turns donations from companies, foundations, families and governments into small grants for country communities. According to the Australian Government's ABN Lookup record for FRRR (opens in a new tab), its ABN has been active since 1 March 2000, its main business location is in Victoria (postcode 3550, Bendigo) and its public fund has held item 1 deductible gift recipient (DGR) status since 11 January 2001. That last detail matters for donors, not applicants: you don't need DGR status to apply for its main grants.

FRRR's homepage counter, in an archive copy from 30 June 2026, gave these lifetime figures:

Source: FRRR homepage counters, Internet Archive copy of 30 June 2026.

Grantsights checked these counters against the recent recipient lists below, and two numbers set expectations. The median grant of $9,995 says FRRR is a small-grants funder: most awards are around $10,000. And 16,057 grants from 43,784 applications works out at about 37% funded over FRRR's history, while the $213 million granted is about 40% of the $537 million asked for.

FRRR isn't a government body, so its rounds don't appear on GrantConnect the way federal rounds do; our Community Grants Hub guide covers the federal side.

Who it won't fund. FRRR's Find Funding Now page says it supports only not-for-profit groups, organisations and charities, not individuals or private businesses, and only charitable projects with broad community benefit. An individual or a business with a good idea is told to take it to a local incorporated group that could apply.

FRRR Grants Open or Coming Up in Late 2026

Most FRRR programs open once a year for a few weeks; only SRC runs all year. Here's the status of each program as FRRR's own pages showed it in the latest archive copy Grantsights could read.

The practical reading: if you need money in the next few months, SRC is the only FRRR door that's reliably open. In a Good Place and Community Led Climate Solutions have opened early in the calendar year in 2026 (the In a Good Place round listed on 11 April 2026 ran from 14 January to 19 February 2026, and Community Led Climate Solutions round 4 from 10 February to 12 March 2026), so watch for 2027 rounds from January.

Strengthening Rural Communities, Stream by Stream

SRC funds the most groups of any FRRR program, and in rounds 25 to 27 it paid out between $763,234 and $1.2 million a round. It has two streams, and you can put in only one application, in one stream, per round.

General Support stream (up to $10,000, or $50,000 for targeted projects)

FRRR's Prepare & Recover page labels this stream "General support", which is the name used here; on FRRR's site its own page has a longer title starting "Small &". The page, as archived on 26 June 2026, offered grants of up to $10,000 that prioritise communities with fewer than 15,000 residents and FRRR's focus areas: outback, remote and very remote places, next-generation transitions, disaster resilience, climate solutions and First Nations self-determination. Donor preferences add priority for adult digital skills and online safety, inclusion and equality, reducing loneliness among older people, health, education, housing and employment projects in Victoria, and environmental projects in grain-growing council areas of WA, Victoria, NSW, Queensland and SA. Projects should be delivered within 12 months.

The larger tier, up to $50,000 with 18 months to deliver, is targeted. It covers projects that improve adults' digital skills, confidence and safety, and climate, environment and wellbeing projects within 100km of Carwarp, including the Mildura and Swan Hill shires. FRRR asks applicants for the Carwarp area to phone the granting team first.

Prepare & Recover (up to $25,000)

Prepare & Recover funds community-led projects that help places get ready for future climate-related events or recover from past disasters, generally 1 to 10 years after the event, according to the page archived on 14 October 2026. It's national, and it says groups without DGR status are welcome. The round 27 list shows the kinds of events funded: the 2025 Queensland floods, Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Tropical Cyclone Jasper, the 2019-20 bushfires and general preparedness.

Rules that apply to both streams

• You must be an Australian not-for-profit with an ABN or an incorporation certificate. An unincorporated group can apply through a legal organisation that signs a letter agreeing to hold the money.
• The project must be charitable, give a clear public benefit and benefit a remote, rural or regional community.
• You must give your organisation's annual income, annual expenditure and current assets, and explain large surpluses, deficits or figures more than 18 months old.
• Quotes or a clear explanation are expected for items over $1,000.
• You're ineligible if a report on any FRRR grant from the past 7 years is still outstanding, or if the project has already started.
• FRRR won't fund core government responsibilities, ongoing running costs such as rent and wages, sport and recreation for its own sake, prizes or scholarships, overseas travel, projects that mainly benefit a business, animal welfare alone, or repairs that insurance covers.

Who Got SRC Grants: Grantsights Analysis

FRRR funded 242 SRC projects worth $2,944,860 across rounds 25, 26 and 27, according to Grantsights analysis of the recipient tables in FRRR's own media releases. The median grant was exactly $10,000, and 103 of the 242 grants (43%) were for that amount, the General Support cap.

Grantsights analysis of FRRR's published SRC recipient tables, Internet Archive copies read 30 October 2026. Stream splits are FRRR's own figures from each release; the round 27 General Support total is the release total minus the other two streams.

Grant sizes

By state

No ACT group appeared in the 3 lists. Victoria's lead fits the Victorian donor preference in the General Support guidelines.

What the lists show:

The $50,000 grants went mostly to digital inclusion. FRRR's releases describe the larger targeted grants in rounds 25 and 26 as closing the digital divide for adults and older people. For example, Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance in Batemans Bay received $50,000 in round 25 to train older and vulnerable residents in digital skills and build a volunteer mentoring network, and Eden Community Access Centre received $50,000 in round 26 for a similar peer-led program across the Bega Valley. Karrayili Adult Education Centre (Aboriginal Corporation) in Fitzroy Crossing got $50,000 in round 25 to upgrade digital equipment. If your idea isn't about digital skills or the Carwarp area, plan for $10,000.

Remote First Nations groups feature strongly. In round 26, Laynhapuy Homelands Aboriginal Corporation in Yirrkala received $50,000 for a refrigerated shipping container to store bulk food for very remote Yolŋu homelands, and Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair Foundation received $50,000 for digital training across remote art centres. In round 27, Wuggubun Aboriginal Corporation (listed at Kununurra) received $50,000 for a two-year disaster preparedness project, which is double the $25,000 Prepare & Recover figure on FRRR's page, so larger disaster grants are possible in some cases.

Small asks do get funded. The smallest grant in the 3 rounds was $1,340, to Tully and District Senior Citizens Club in Queensland (round 26). Mann River Mens Shed in Glen Innes got $3,700 in round 27 for a fireproof rainwater tank with free community access, and Eastern Park Community Garden in Warragul got $1,500 in round 25.

Halls, sheds and schools are the backbone. Read through the lists and the typical project is a hall floor, a kitchen upgrade, a generator for an evacuation centre, a community garden or a youth program. A case in point: Burringbar District Sports Club got $10,085 in round 27 to upgrade amenities so its clubhouse can serve as an evacuation centre, which is how a sporting club fits FRRR's charitable test.

The odds are roughly 1 in 4 per round. FRRR said it received 331 applications for round 26 and funded 78, which is 23.6%. The round 25 and 27 releases didn't give application numbers. Round 27's release also said demand for SRC "continues to exceed" the money FRRR has.

What FRRR Doesn't Tell You

FRRR's pages are detailed about eligibility, but some things only become clear when you set the program pages beside the recipient lists.

The real ceiling is usually $10,000. The headline figures ($25,000 and $50,000) apply to narrower slices. Of 242 SRC grants, 203 (84%) were $10,000 or less. A common mistake is writing a $25,000 General Support budget for a project that isn't in a priority group; size your request to what the lists show.

Missing paperwork sinks applications. FRRR says that because of the volume of applications, it assesses only what you send and is unlikely to follow up missing documents. Applications without the required financial figures "cannot be considered". This is the most avoidable way to fail, and it's why an auspicing letter, current financials and quotes should be ready before you start the form.

Old reports block new money. An unacquitted report from any FRRR grant in the past 7 years makes you ineligible, and that includes grants your legal organisation auspiced for another group. Check with your auspice before you apply.

Recipient lists don't come with a state column. FRRR's tables list a town, and in the archived copies Grantsights read, the stream and state headings sit in a block above the rows rather than beside them, so you can't easily filter by state. Search the page for your nearest towns instead.

Lifetime odds look better than recent odds. The homepage implies about 37% of applications have been funded over FRRR's history; round 26 funded about 24%. Expect the recent figure, and keep a second funder in mind: state gaming funds such as Queensland's Gambling Community Benefit Fund take similar projects.

One round, one stream. If you send applications to both General Support and Prepare & Recover in the same round, FRRR treats the extra as ineligible. Pick the stream that fits and wait a quarter for the next idea.

Who Shouldn't Apply (and Better Routes)

• Individuals and businesses. FRRR doesn't fund either. A business with a community idea should partner with a local not-for-profit, and businesses looking for their own money should start with our Queensland small business grants guide or the federal business.gov.au grants finder (opens in a new tab).
• Groups in capital cities. Projects must benefit remote, rural or regional communities, and General Support prefers places under 15,000 people.
• Projects already under way. Anything that's started before funding is announced is ineligible, so with a mid-March 2027 decision for round 31, don't book work for February.
• Running costs. Rent, utilities and regular wages aren't funded. FRRR wants a project with a start and an end.
• Federal grant seekers. If you need more than $50,000 or a government program, the Community Grants Hub guide explains how federal community rounds work.
• Arts and gaming money. Arts groups should read the Creative Australia grants guide. Queensland groups can also look at the Gambling Community Benefit Fund, and NSW groups at ClubGRANTS.

How to Apply for an FRRR Grant

FRRR's application process has 6 steps, and the paperwork in steps 3 to 5 takes the longest.

1. Pick the program and stream. Use FRRR's Find Funding Now page, which lets you filter by state and project focus, and read the program guidelines PDF for the current round.
2. Talk to the grants officer. For SRC, FRRR lists state-based officers: Amanda Gunders for Queensland, the NT and Tasmania; Jaclyn Troy for NSW and the ACT; and Brie Larsson for Victoria, SA and WA, on 1800 170 020.
3. Confirm your legal entity. If your group isn't incorporated and has no ABN, line up a legal organisation and get its signed letter of support using FRRR's template. Unincorporated associations and ACNC-registered groups must also attach their constitution.
4. Prepare the numbers. Annual income, expenditure and current assets from your latest financials, a balanced project budget with cash and in-kind contributions, and quotes for items over $1,000. FRRR suggests valuing unskilled volunteer labour at $45 an hour in its In a Good Place guidance.
5. Gather support material. Letters of support, property owner permission if you're working on someone else's land or building, community plans, photos or survey results.
6. Apply online before 5pm AEDT on the closing day. On the archived pages, FRRR's Apply Now buttons led to its online grants portal (hosted on yourcausegrants.com). After funding, you'll report on the project; for In a Good Place the report is due within 3 months of finishing.

Realistic timeline: SRC round 31 closes 3 December 2026 and funding is due by mid-March 2027, about 14 weeks. In a Good Place round 12 closed on 18 August 2026 with funding due in December 2026, about 4 months.

Sources Checked

FRRR's site refused access on 30 October 2026, so its pages were read from Internet Archive (web.archive.org) copies on that date, with the capture date shown:

• FRRR, SRC Prepare & Recover (opens in a new tab) (captured 14 October 2026) and the SRC General Support stream page (captured 26 June 2026)
• FRRR, In a Good Place (opens in a new tab) (22 July 2026), ABC Heywire Youth Innovation Grants (opens in a new tab) (14 May 2026), Community Led Climate Solutions (opens in a new tab) (30 June 2026), Investing in Rural Community Futures (opens in a new tab) (15 September 2026), Tackling Tough Times Together (25 March 2026), Find Funding Now (opens in a new tab) (11 April 2026) and the FRRR homepage (opens in a new tab) (30 June 2026)
• FRRR media releases with recipient tables: SRC round 25 (opens in a new tab) (26 August 2025), SRC round 26 (opens in a new tab) (27 November 2025), SRC round 27 (opens in a new tab) (10 March 2026) and Community Led Climate Solutions round 4 (opens in a new tab) (30 June 2026)
• Australian Government, ABN Lookup record for the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (opens in a new tab), read live 30 October 2026
• Australian Government, business.gov.au grants and programs finder (opens in a new tab) and Community Grants Hub grants listing (opens in a new tab), for the alternative routes named above