The recipients of the 2018 Bankwest Foundation Social Media Grants have been announced, with ten WA not-for-profit organisations each receiving over $10,000 to design and develop their social media strategies.
Fair Game, Helping Minds, Kidsafe WA, Ngala, Earbus Foundation of WA, Propel Youth Arts WA, Scitech, The Girls Academy, VisAbility and Zonta House Refuge Association have been announced as the recipients of the grants. The grants are made possible through the partnership between the Bankwest Foundation and the Australian Scholarships Foundation (ASF), which was formed in September 2014.
Earbus Foundation of WA CEO, Paul Higginbotham said he was excited to receive the Bankwest Foundation social media grant, which would be used to share stories of inspirational people and communities and the exciting work going on right across WA.
“We can’t wait to get started spreading the work about ears, ear health and the Earbus Foundation,” he said.
Scitech Communications Officer, Kaylee Martin said she was thrilled to take part in the Gain and Retain program with Hancock Creative, thanks to the Bankwest Foundation and ASF.
“Scitech has a number of audiences to target and incredible stories to share and with a lot of change of the horizon, we can’t wait to see how we grow in the digital world in 2018,” she said.
The grant program will be delivered by Hancock Creative, who will provide the recipients with ongoing media training, mentorship, development and support with the added aim of attracting and retaining a strong volunteer workforce.
Hancock Creative Director, Alecia Hancock said that whilst many not for profits are struggling with reduced funding from government and corporate partners, others are embracing digital communication and attracting supporters and donors from new audiences online.
“Social media is now used by eight out of ten Australians and not for profits who are not using these channels effectively are missing out on a huge potential audience,” she said.
“Social media has helped previous grant recipients Therapy Focus fill and even oversubscribe its volunteer programs and Lifeline WA to increase their fundraising for a campaign by more than 400%.”
The Bankwest Foundation will be offering another ten social media grants worth over $10,000 each, with applications open in October 2018. Interested applicants are encouraged to subscribe to the ASF newsletter to receive alerts about these grants and other scholarships offered by the Bankwest Foundation.