COVID-19 | National | Regional | Government | PathFinder | Online Education | Announcements | Subscribe
COVID-19 Funding Opportunities
Current COVID-19 funding opportunities are available on our website.
National Funding Opportunities
Awards Honor Nonprofits in Canada and the United States
Chick-fil-A: True Inspiration Awards
Chick-fil-A’s True Inspiration Awards grant program celebrates and supports nonprofit organizations in Canada and the United States that are making an impact on their local communities. The program awards grants ranging from $30,000 to $350,000, with a collective $5 million awarded annually. In 2022, sixteen organizations will be chosen as category winners for their work in these areas: 1) Caring for People, focused on educational initiatives, including fostering character and leadership development, academic excellence, and community involvement in underserved youth; 2) Caring through Food, addressing hunger and food insecurity facing children and their families; 3) Caring for Communities, focused on housing and other direct services supporting young people and their families; and 4) Caring for Our Planet, for initiatives that show care for the environment and the planet, or that demonstrate environmental stewardship directly related to the other award categories. U.S. nonprofit organizations and Canadian charitable organizations with equivalent status are eligible to apply. The online application deadline is May 20, 2022. In addition, 29 organizations nominated by a Chick-fil-A Operator will be selected as regional winners for their work in one of the four categories; one of these organizations will be selected as the S. Truett Cathy Honoree and the recipient of a $350,000 grant. Visit the Chick-fil-A website to review the FAQs.
Grants Available to Organizations that Support Academic Upskilling for Canadian K-12 Students
CST Inspired Minds Learning Project
The CST Inspired Minds Learning Project, an initiative of the CST Foundation, supports academic upskilling and engagement activities for lower-income Canadian students kindergarten to grade 12. Academic upskilling and engagement programs are those that support children to obtain the necessary grades, skills, and self-confidence to succeed in school, ensuring that students are academically prepared and equipped to pursue post-secondary education. Grants are awarded for educational, mentorship, and extracurricular engagement programs. Registered charities and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. Applications will be accepted from May 9 to June 10, 2022. Visit the CST Foundation’s website to learn more about how to apply: https://www.cstfoundation.ca/partners/learning-project
Mental Health Initiatives in Canada Supported
Daymark Foundation
The Daymark Foundation aims to transform the way mental health is thought about and addressed in Canada by championing brighter, bolder, more human solutions to improve mental health in Canada. The Foundation supports initiatives in the areas of women’s mental health, with a focus on perinatal mental health, and bipolar disorder, with emphasis on improving the quality of life for people with or at risk of bipolar disorder. Grants are provided through the following streams: Learning Grants aim to surface knowledge that will advance mental health by producing learning and insights that will fill a knowledge gap in a Daymark priority area. Impact Grants seek to apply existing evidence to positively impact mental health. The purpose of Capacity Grants is to improve organizational ability to deliver greater impact by creating the conditions to take a more strategic approach to improving mental health in a Daymark priority area. Expressions of Interest are currently being accepted on a rolling basis, with no deadline for submission. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about each grant stream and create an online account in order to submit an Expression of Interest.
Giving Program Targets National Efforts and Company Communities
Shell Canada Corporate Giving Program
Shell Canada provides funding for community projects and initiatives that are national in scope or are located near the company's facilities and exploration interests throughout Canada. Support is currently available through the following programs: National Funding is available for national projects and initiatives as well as those that positively impact local communities where the company has a strong presence throughout Canada. Investments target the areas of education, community, environment, access to energy, and community skills and enterprise development. Community Funding supports community projects and initiatives that are near the company's facilities and exploration interests throughout Canada, including communities in Alberta, British Columbia Ontario, and other locations. Community-level support targets the areas of education, community skills and enterprise development, safety, environment, health, access to energy, and community development. The upcoming application deadlines for these two programs are June 15 and October 15, 2022. In addition, the Shell Foothills Legacy Fund supports Indigenous community initiatives in select communities in the Foothills of Alberta. Inquiries for this program are accepted at any time. Visit Shell Canada’s website to review the guidelines for these three programs.
Regional Funding Opportunities
Grants Enhance Public Spaces in Manitoba and Saskatchewan
Red River Mutual: Spruce Up Your Story
Red River Mutual's Spruce Up Your Story program aims to protect beloved spaces in company communities across Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The program honors and protects community spaces that are well worn and well loved by awarding grants of up to $25,000 for renovation and beautification projects. Examples of community spaces include, but are not limited to, arts and cultural centers, community halls, community gardens, green spaces, parks, sports and recreation centers, trails, and libraries. Entries are evaluated based on four pillars: 1) community use; 2) sustainability; 3) opportunity for volunteerism; and 4) a link to a brokerage that partners with Red River Mutual. Applications must be submitted by May 31, 2022. Visit Red River Mutual’s website to apply online.
Support for Environmental Education in British Columbia
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation: Education Grants
Habitat Conservation Trust Foundation (HCTF) invests in the future of British Columbia’s fish, wildlife, and their habitats through conservation, stewardship, and education. The Foundation offers two types of education grants to support opportunities for BC youth to learn, experience, and connect to the natural world. Leadership in Environmental Action Project (LEAP) grants fund BC high school science project-based learning to support conservation and stewardship of the province’s biodiversity. The deadline to apply for this program is June 15, 2022. GO or Get Outdoor Grants support outdoor biodiversity field trips or projects for K-12 classes and schools. These grants cover transportation, project materials, and program fees to help teachers take their students outdoors to learn about and experience some of BC’s biodiversity. The annual application deadlines for this program are February 1 and September 1. Visit the HCTF Education website to review the guidelines for these programs and apply online when the application process is open.
Funding Targets Arts Organizations Working in the Calgary Area
Rozsa Foundation
The Rozsa Foundation is dedicated to supporting transformational leadership in the arts in Alberta. The Foundation's grant program funds Alberta-based arts organizations to undertake initiatives that harness the power of exploration, experimentation, and innovation to move their organizations forward. Grants are provided for planning, capacity building and leadership, internal development, organizational experimentation, and implementation of bold, forward-looking approaches to addressing current and future challenges. Funding is provided to a wide range of performing, literary, visual, and media arts organizations, as well as festivals. The focus is on Calgary and the surrounding area, as well as provincial organizations whose initiatives directly benefit the Calgary arts community. Registered charities are eligible to apply. The upcoming application deadlines are May 6 and October 7, 2022. Visit the Foundation’s website to review the guidelines and learn about the five grant streams.
Program Promotes Safe, Vibrant, and Sustainable Company Communities
Enbridge Fueling Futures
The Enbridge Fueling Futures program provides support to organizations in the communities in Canada and the U.S. where Enbridge operates. In Canada, company communities include locations in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Enbridge invests in the following focus areas: 1) safe communities, including local safety initiatives and organizations that help make communities safer places to live, safety planning and education, and humanitarian aid; 2) vibrant communities, including empowering people to reach their full potential, building potential in youth, honoring Indigenous peoples and cultures, and celebrating culture and community; and 3) sustainable communities, including environmental education, habitat conservation and remediation, and supporting energy transition. Applications may be submitted at any time. Visit the Enbridge website to review the eligibility criteria and apply online.
Government Funding Opportunities
Challenge Seeks Solutions to Canadian Oil Spills
Natural Resources Canada
The Oil Spill Response Challenge will advance innovative and rapidly deployable solutions to effectively detect oil spills and improve response time or to increase the oil spill recovery rate when compared against conventional tools in diverse Canadian aquatic environments. Cash prizes of up to $300,000, $1 million, and $2 million will be awarded to the semi-finalists, finalists, and Grand Prize winner, respectively. Eligible applicants include businesses and for-profit organizations, nonprofit organizations, Indigenous organizations and groups, post-secondary and academic institutions, and individuals based in Canada, as well as international individuals and entities partnering with a legal entity in Canada. The application deadline is June 1, 2022.
Support for Sexual Violence Prevention Efforts in Nova Scotia
Government of Nova Scotia
Sexual Violence Prevention Innovation grants support community groups in Nova Scotia to connect with their peers and build communities that are safer, healthier, and more resilient. Grants ranging up to $5,000 are awarded for initiatives focusing on issues such as healthy relationships, consent, media literacy, and raising awareness about sexual violence. Groups led by and for youth or marginalized Nova Scotians are priorities for funding. The deadline to apply is May 13, 2022.
PathFinder: Featured Resource
A library of quality resources designed to help you develop your career path as a grants professional
7 Principles of Community-Centric Boards
Are you looking to ensure that your board is responsive to community needs? The article "7 Principles of Community-Centric Boards," written by Vu Le at Nonprofit AF, draws on the Community-Centric Fundraising movement to provide principles for creating a community-centric board that is focused on what's best for the community, not simply what's best to advance missions.
Upcoming Online Education Trainings
Live Webinars
Unless otherwise noted, all Online Education Trainings are webinars,
are 90 minutes in duration, and are scheduled to begin at 2 PM Eastern Time.
Capital Campaigns: Building Momentum With Grants
Capital campaigns are strategic, multidimensional efforts to raise funds, typically for multimillion-dollar projects like new buildings. Understanding the vital role grants play in building capital campaign momentum and meeting campaign goals is an important piece of a funding strategy. In this webinar, Kevin Wallace, president of CampaignCounsel.org, and Carlyn Schulzke, CampaignCounsel.org consultant, will show you how to identify and apply for grants best matched to your campaign, use grants to build momentum and credibility, and leverage grants to increase campaign participation. This webinar utilizes numerous examples from 20 years of campaign consulting. It is ideal for any sized organization currently conducting a capital campaign or standing on the cusp of one. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, April 27, 2022.
Getting a Foot in the Door With Funders (NEW)
As nonprofits engage in conversations and focus on increasing the levels of giving to their cause, they often leave out an essential part of fundraising... building relationships. Relationships, steps from meet to ask, follow-ups, thanking donors, maintaining relationships, and retention, are elements of quality donor relations. Join Amanda Pearce, of Funding for Good, to discuss building donor relations that have a solid foundation, keep donors engaged, create interest, cause action on the part of a donor, and ultimately result in donor retention. Get a look at donor relations through the eyes of your donor and learn steps you can implement right away to create more robust development departments and happier donors. Participants will learn best practices for reaching out to donors and foundations, a variety of ways to engage prospects, insider tips on how to build lasting relationships with all donors, the type of donor relations that encourage donor retention, and how to begin creating their own donor relations plan now. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.
Partnership RX
By now we all really understand that thinking and working collaboratively “pays” in many ways for our organizations and the community as a whole. But that doesn’t mean creating and sustaining meaningful partnerships is trouble-free—have you noticed? Take these three scenarios: Your community collaboration seems to have stalled out. Your team is losing steam and you can’t figure out why, much less what to do about it. Yikes! You all were sailing along beautifully and suddenly an issue you thought your team had sorted out a long time ago is rearing its ugly head and jamming the works . . . again. Conflict! All right, we’re not talking open argument here, but some really strong differences of opinion have surfaced and you’re all spinning around in circles and never really getting anything resolved. Sound familiar? Good news—you’re not alone. All these “problems” aren’t really problems at all, but symptoms of very common and predictable partnership challenges. And every one is fixable and even preventable. In this lively session Maryn Boess, Founder of GrantsMagic U, explores three powerful, simple tools for understanding what’s going on when your collaboration seems to be going wrong, and what to do about it. You’ll learn what to expect during a typical collaboration lifecycle, how to head off predictable problems, and what to do if they crop up anyway. You’ll learn how to use GrantsMagic U’s exclusive “Bottom-Up Logic Model” to diagnose troublesome gaps, overlaps, and misalignments in your internal and external partnerships. You’ll see how our “Collaboration Assessment Checklist” can help you identify where your collaboration is healthy and well—and where it could use a strong dose of tough love and attention. The webinar will be held on Thursday, May 19, 2022.
GrantStation Announcements
The latest updates from GrantStation
Funding Alerts
Interested in GrantStation's funder profiles? View the weekly Funding Alerts to see profiles of grantmakers currently accepting applications.
Information contained in the GrantStation Canadian Insider may not be
posted, reprinted, redistributed, or sold without permission.
Editor: Diana Holder
Contributing Writer: Ashlyn Simmons