Environmental Grants

Environmental Grants
Native Nature Nook at McAuley Catholic Primary School - Environmental Grant Recipient

When will the Environmental Grants open for 2025?

Our next grant round is expected to open in early April 2025. 

Small Grants of up to $3,000 and Large Grants of between $3,001 and $7,500 will be available.

If you are interested in applying for a grant in our 2025/26 round, please fill out the Grants Expression of Interest form and we will add you to our grants promotions list.

The key dates for 2025/2026 are:

  • Early April 2025 - grant applications open
  • Early May 2025 - grant applications close
  • Late June 2025 - grants announced
  • 1 July 2025 - grant projects can commence

What support can I get to help write a good application?

  1. Join our Grants and Sponsorship Information webinar on Tuesday 11 March: 12pm - 1pm. Book here.

  2. Building Community Projects in Woollahra - in person Workshops Thursday 20 March:
    • Part 1: Maintaining the momentum, succession planning, using your community strengths, developing & sustaining partnerships and making local connections. 11am - 12.30pm - Book here
    • Part 2: Identifying collaborative opportunities, funding opportunities, volunteer management & effective community leadership. 1 - 2.30pm - Book here

Who can apply?

Our Environmental Grants are open to schools, non-profit early learning centres and non-profit community organisations only. 

Individuals and businesses are not eligible for this grant stream.

What types of projects can be funded?

There are many types of projects that may be suitable for environmental grant funding. Council has an ongoing focus on climate change action and we encourage projects that help reduce carbon emissions and minimise waste.

Examples of projects that may be considered for Environmental Grants include:

  • Energy saving initiatives e.g. solar installations or LED lighting upgrades
  • Water saving initiatives e.g. smart sprinkler systems or water tanks
  • Waste minimisation/recycling initiatives e.g. reusable plates and cups for canteens
  • Habitat support e.g. clean-up activities on beaches or in reserves or bush regeneration
  • Biodiversity projects e.g. small bird habitat gardens, bush tucker gardens or native bee hives, and
  • Cooling your school through tree planting.
  • Active transport projects e.g. installing bike racks for student use.

Policy and Guidelines

Our Grants Policy(PDF, 899KB)(2023) and Grants Guidelines(PDF, 292KB) (2023) provide the important details you'll need about eligibility, funding streams and selection criteria. 

3 top tips when applying for an Environmental Grant

  1. Projects with clear, measurable environmental benefits have the greatest chance of success. A key question to answer well is:

    How will your project protect and/or enhance the local environment? 

  2. Check you are eligible. Businesses and individuals are not eligible for this grant stream. You cannot apply for funds to cover staff wages. Check the Policy(PDF, 899KB) and Guidelines(PDF, 292KB).

  3. Ensure your project is well planned.
  • Liaise with key people early to plan your project and check you have permissions to do what you want to, where you want to.
  • Create a realistic budget that covers all important elements eg. don't forget to budget for soil if you are doing a garden project.
  • Provide relevant data and information such as how much energy you will save, how many trees you are putting in or how many kilograms of waste you are keeping out of landfill. For planting projects it is best to have a mud map sketch of the planting area with approximate dimensions and a species list for what you will plant.

Other support information when applying

More information

Contact our Sustainability Team on 9391 7095 or sustainability@woollahra.nsw.gov.au if you have any questions.

Double Bay Public School Rooftop Solar
Double Bay Public School Rooftop Solar

Successful projects from previous years

You can see the list of previous successful applicants and their projects below.

Group picking up litter
Splash without the Trash, supporting beach clean-ups at Rose Bay Beach

Enquiries

For more information, please contact:

Environmental Education Officer
Telephone: 9391 7095
Email: sustainability@woollahra.nsw.gov.au

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