Ottawa Community Foundation inviting Applications for One-Year Community Grants – Canada

Deadline: 1-Feb-21

The Ottawa Community Foundation (OCF) is inviting applications for its Community Grants Program (CGP) round – adapting to COVID-era realities.

As a small-grants program, the CGP does not provide core funding beyond salaries and office/equipment expenses related to the initiative itself. However, in this round the Foundation will consider exceptional circumstances where the case is clear that a Community Grant would provide an essential bridge to a well-defined, sustainable future for an organization.

Focus Areas

The CGP funds initiatives in the following broad areas:

• Social services,
• Arts and culture,
• Education,
• Environment,
• Health, and
• Animal welfare.

Qualifying Initiatives

Initiatives must do one or more of the following:

• Benefit the Ottawa community, improve the quality of life for its residents, and help to foster a strong, positive and caring community;
• Use a community development approach to build on the assets and strengths of the community in order to respond to evolving issues and emerging priorities;
• Address the root causes of identified local issues and work on long-term solutions in an effort to achieve systemic change;
• Cultivate collective action within the community (i.e. through a shared vision for change, coordinated activities, joint data collection and results measurement, the coordination of participating organizations, etc.);
• Take a creative or unique approach to tackling community issues (e.g. through the method of service delivery, engagement of community partners, role of community members, etc.);
• Help to build the capacity of individuals, organizations and communities.

Eligibility Criteria

• Typically, registration with Canada Revenue Agency as a charitable organization is required to be eligible to apply for a Community Grant. Incorporation as a not-for-profit is not sufficient to qualify. However, an organization that does not have charitable status can apply in a formal partnership with a charitable organization if, through the initiative in question, the non-charitable organization is helping the charity fulfill its mission and mandate. There are also a limited number of other categories of organizations that are eligible to apply directly.
• In addition:
  • Applicants must demonstrate fiscal responsibility and have a committed volunteer board.
  • The initiative for which the grant is being requested must benefit residents of Ottawa.
  • Previous Community Grant recipients must file an Evaluation Report before applying for a new grant
• The Community Grants program does not provide funding for the following:
  • Core operations
  • Fundraising events or campaigns;
  • Partisan political or religious activities;
  • Individuals;
  • Sponsorships;
  • Deficit reduction;
  • Equipment purchases for administrative purposes.
• Note: Staff salaries and/or maintenance and administrative costs are not eligible if associated with basic operations and established, ongoing programs. These costs can qualify, however, if associated with the development and/or implementation of new programs, the expansion or evolution of existing programs, or such other initiatives as capacity development, strategic planning, evaluation, etc.

For more information, visit https://www.ocf-fco.ca/one-year-grants/