Bendigo Bank Connected Communities (previously Community Enterprise) is an initiative of the Bendigo Bank. The Connected Communities program was established to build partnerships in the communities in which Bendigo Bank conducts its business.
From those partnerships, community programs, initiatives, projects and developments can benefit from the grants provided through the Connected Communities program.
In some communities, where local people have provided the capital for establishing a Community Bank® branch, those shareholders may provide some of the profits generated by that branch for grants and sponsorship programs in their communities.
In other communities, where Bendigo Bank has established a branch, the bank may work with a local independant incorporated body through the Connected Communities program to deliver grants and funding to local projects. The Connected Community may fund infrastructure, events or services in those communities. In others, the Connected Community may provide means tested grants and sponsorship to community organisations that demonstrate need for assistance.
The Connected Community of Cobram is a standalone incorporation operating under the name Cobram Community Enterprise. It extends its service to the community through a demonstrated needs-based grants program, which can be shown to benefit many people in the local community through their local clubs, services and facilities. The Cobram Community Enterprise committee meets monthly, and delivers grants biannually.
Funding is provided by a stream of commissions from the Bendigo Bank. These are part of the income that the bank generates from its customers’ various banking services. Therefore, the more people in a community that use the Bendigo Bank, and request that their accounts be flagged ‘Community Enterprise’, the more commissions the Enterprise receives and is able to distribute as grants. This cyclic model keeps more money in local communities, thereby supporting more local people, allowing those communities to grow.
If you would like more information about the Bendigo Bank’s Connected Communities initiative, please follow the links below;
If you would like to see your community and its organisations, services and infrastructure continue to grow, remember to flag your Bendigo Bank account to Cobram Community Enterprise the next time you visit your Cobram branch of the Bendigo Bank.