FAQ's

The purpose of the scheme is to provide financial assistance to Community  groups engaged in activities which encourage community participation and promote the well being of communities in County Kildare and groups hosting a festival within County Kildare.

In order to be eligible under this scheme your group must be formally established and must be able to produce Articles of Association or Minutes of AGM/Meetings when requested.

The  group  must be engaged in activities which encourage community participation, volunteerism and promote the well-being of communities and all funded activities must be located within the County.

Community & Festival Grants are usually advertised at the end of January with a closing date in mid March

If you are registered on Kildare Participation Network (PPN) but do not know your number you can find same here.

If you are not registered, please visit the PPN website here and register your group now . It only takes 10 minutes.

The PPN is the main link through which the local authority  connects with the community/ voluntary, social inclusion and environmental sectors. For any group to qualify for Council supports it must quote its PPN registration number. This will assist to streamline grant applications and creates opportunities for exchange of information.

You can visit the grants section by clicking here and choose from the selection of grants on the left hand side of our page. 

Please note since 2021 all of our grant applications have moved online. If you have applied before using our online system please use the same email address and password when applying this year. 

If your group has not applied using the online system before you will need to register, it takes about 5 minutes. We reccomend using a designated group email rather than a personal email when applying to ensure that the group has access to the email adress should members of the committee change.  

We have put together a video detailing how to apply for the grant and what documents will be required click here to view that video. 

All payment of grants are made directly by EFT into your Bank or Credit Union Account. In order to verify the account details we require proof of this. You may simply send us the heading of a statement with the balance amounts blanked out.

Yes, our Accounts Department will close the groups account after each year. To reactivate the account we require confirmation of your group's bank details, a bank statement is the most convenient way to ensure we have the correct details.

No, we will need a bank acocunt specifically for the group in order for the payment to be made. 

Activities which are not eligible include:

• Projects that benefit individuals or businesses
• Activities not located within County Kildare
• Projects which are clearly the remit of another agency
• Sports Clubs/Competitive Events (unless specific provisions has been made by councillors to include such groups)
• Charity and fundraising events
• Hiring of bouncy castles
• Ongoing running costs e.g. stationery, phones, energy costs, affiliation fees etc

Grant applications will be assessed using the following criteria :-

• Applications must have been submitted fully completed by the closing date.
• Evidence of local need and benefit to community
• Level of community participation in the project
• Volunteering element
• Social inclusion/accessibility aspects of the project/event
• Environmental sustainabbility (e.g. reduce, reuse, recycle)
• The applicants capacity to deliver the project or run the event
• Use of innovation or imaginative approaches
• Clear evidence of costs/quotations for all elements
• Funding from the groups own or other sources
• Ability to deliver project in the event of partial funding
• Overall quality of the application

The maximum Community Grant is €3,000, the maximum Fesitval GrantFestival is €2,000.  However, there is no guarantee that the maximum grant will be awarded, if any.

Once the applications have been fully assessed, a report is presented before the relevant Municipal District Council Meeting in April, where final approval of applications is made. 

The Community Administration Team will then issue a letter of award via email and/or post informing the group of amount successfully awarded. 

If your application is not successful you will receive a letter explaining why your group was not awarded a grant.

All payments from Kildare County Council will be paid by EFT directly into the group’s bank or Credit Union Account. Post Office Accounts are not acceptable.

Your Treasurer’s contact details (including email address)  must be submitted on the application, as a remittance advice will only be sent to your group’s treasurer

The responisbilities of the group are as follow;

• Read and understand the guidelines and application form.
• Complete the application form fully and include all required documents.
• Acknowledge the award of the grant from Kildare County Council in any promotional material (including social media) associated with the project.
• Include the Kildare County Council crest where possible.
• Obtain all necessary permissions relating to personal data and retain them in accordance with data protection legislation.
• Secure all necessary insurances.
• Obtain permissions from all relevant authorities (e.g. Gardaí/Municipal Engineer/Planning/Parks Department)
• Ensure compliance with all relevant legislation and regulations.
• On completion of of projects submit to the Economic, Community & Cultural Development Department a simple project report (including photos) and evidence of the spending of the grant awarded.
• Acceptable forms of evidence of the spending of grant award are:
  • receipts on headed paper/till receipts
  • invoices stamped as paid by the supplier or showing a zero balance due
  • invoices/cheque details accompanied by a bank statement showing relevant payments
• All evidence of spending must be itemised and show clearly the items purchased