4ST Partnership Fund
The 4ST Partnership Fund mobilises the social service sector to co-develop solutions that improve the quality of life of service users. It offers two funding tracks: Seed funding for turning innovative ideas into working prototypes, and Grow funding for scaling proven solutions to reach more users. Grow track projects also receive a separate evaluation budget and must adopt NCSS Service Standards and the Sector Evaluation Framework.
Eligibility Criteria
- 01
Seed: SSAs, social enterprises, or ground-up groups collaborating with another entity. Non-charities must declare the project is not-for-profit and serves local communities
- 02
Grow: Lead applicant must be an NCSS member with IPC status, collaborating with another entity or individual
- 03
Non-NCSS members including social enterprises and ground-up groups can apply as co-applicants
- 04
Organisations without charity status must declare the project is not-for-profit
Frequently Asked Questions
A fund that supports social service projects through two tracks: Seed funding (up to $50k for prototyping) and Grow funding (up to $400k/year for scaling proven solutions), with a separate evaluation budget.
Seed is for turning an innovative idea into a working prototype and testing feasibility (up to 1 year, $50k). Grow is for further developing, validating, or scaling a proven solution to reach more users (up to 3 years, $400k/year plus $80k evaluation budget).
Yes. For Seed, social enterprises can apply directly. For Grow, they can apply as co-applicants alongside an NCSS member with IPC status.