Our Granting Approach
Gandel Foundation is a proud family-based organisation with the founders, John Gandel AC and Pauline Gandel AC along with members of the next two generations of their family, actively involved. We lead with our values and Gandel Foundation’s grant making is guided by principles rather than a set of detailed policies.
We support initiatives that:
- empower people to improve their wellbeing and future prospects
- promote community values and foster community spirit
- have a long-term transformative impact
We prioritise support for the most vulnerable and marginalised groups.
Our approach allows Gandel Foundation to meet both immediate as well as long-term needs.
Key principles are:

Community need
We seek to fund programs that meet a genuine, evidence-based need that have the potential for significant or direct community impact and benefit, as well as broader implementation.

strengths
We focus our funding on areas where we can make an impact.

Prevention & Early intervention
We aim to support programs that focus on addressing the root causes of any problem to build resilience and prevent escalation.

Leverage
We encourage organisations to work in cooperation and partnership within their program work and to collaborate with key stakeholders in a given field.

Innovation & sustainability
We seek to support programs that offer innovative and creative solutions to issues and programs that have the potential to be sustainable over the longer term.

Excellence
We aim to support organisations that have a strong track record in meeting the community's needs and ensuring lasting endurance through their leadership approach, strong governance, community accountability, efficient resource use, robust operations and positive culture.
Gandel Foundation grants to organisations serving the Jewish community, the wider Australian community and in Israel. Gandel Foundation has three levels of grant giving that apply to all our issue areas
Community Grants
Community grants enable Gandel Foundation to support a range of partners across our five issue areas. Community Grants are typically allocated up to a maximum amount of $40,000 and envisaged as one-off grants aimed at providing
support for a defined program or smaller community organisations. Community Grants are implemented through proactive granting and targeted open grants rounds. We will consider different types of grants to support both ongoing, immediate, as well as
emerging needs in society.
Major Grants
Major grants reflect Gandel Foundation’s wish to provide substantial and meaningful support to our not-for-profit partners to achieve long-term positive impact within our areas of interest. These grants can be allocated as a single, one-off contribution or through multi-year support. Major Grants are made proactively and our decisions are evidence-based to ensure we support initiatives that deliver defined outcomes and lasting benefits.
Flagship Grants
Flagship Grants are leadership-type grants that support ambitious efforts to deliver transformative impact. Gandel Foundation makes a limited number of Flagship Grants through proactively identifying the projects and partners who can help make lasting change in priority areas. Flagship Grants are typically funded over extended periods.