GrantStation Canadian Insider - September 2023

Application deadline: None
Description: The Green Cities Foundation aims to protect, nurture, and grow urban green spaces in Canada for the health and well-being of all. The Foundation's #GreenMyCity program provides support to groups of community volunteers in Canada for green revitalization projects, which include landscape restoration or improvement to improve urban air and water quality and create healthy, public amenities. Projects must be located in public, accessible open spaces in urban Canadian communities, such as community gardens, sports fields, green spaces, brown spaces, parks, streets, school grounds, and historic green spaces. Any public land that could contribute more productively to a community’s overall health and well-being may be eligible. The aim is to help communities create or improve green spaces that people will be able to enjoy, and that will improve air, soil, and water quality and reduce the effects of human activity on climate change. Garden clubs, associations, neighborhood groups, service clubs, and school or youth groups are encouraged to apply. The program funds up to 50% (cash and/or in-kind labor or material donations) of green space improvements.

Application deadline: November 15 of each year
Description: The Daryl K. Seaman Canadian Hockey Fund, administered by the Calgary Foundation, makes grants to support all aspects of amateur ice hockey in Canada on a nationwide basis. In addition to amateur ice hockey, support is provided for activities that encourage young people to learn about, enjoy, and play amateur sports of all kinds, as well as initiatives that increase equal access and promote participation in community-based amateur sports. Qualified donees are eligible to apply. Interested applicants are encouraged to contact grants staff before preparing a grant request in order to discuss eligibility and the initiative. 

Application deadline: October 9, 2023
Grant amount: Grants range up to $15,000.
Description: The Best Buy Canada School Tech Grants program exists to help Canadian elementary and secondary schools bring new technology into their classrooms to keep students inspired while they learn and grow. For 2023, Best Buy Canada is partnering with Breakfast Television to offer grants up to $15,000 to buy tech for literacy programs, libraries, STEM courses, special needs classrooms, and more. The program is open to all Canadian public elementary and secondary schools.

Application deadline: October 31, 2023
Description: The Jackman Foundation provides grants to a variety of charitable organizations throughout Canada. Grants are awarded to projects or endeavors in the following areas: Canadian culture and heritage, education, health and medicine, religion, and social services. Support is also provided for initiatives related to contemporary concerns, including, but not limited to, the environment, parliamentary democracy, public affairs, and Indigenous concerns. Registered charities are eligible to apply. 

Application deadline: Applications may be started between October 1 and October 30, 2023. The application deadline is November 3, 2023. 
Geographic scope: Prince Edward Island
Grant amount: Up to $50,000 over one year and up to $300,000 for up to three years
Description: The Focusing Action for Positive Change Grant Program, an initiative of the PEI Alliance for Mental Well-Being, supports Prince Edward Island nonprofit and charitable organizations to deliver projects and initiatives that can improve mental well-being outcomes. Projects must focus on one or more of the evidence-based factors that can develop and strengthen resilience and improve mental well-being: supporting responsive relationships, strengthening core life skills, and reducing sources of stress. PEI-based nonprofit or charitable organizations (including qualified donees) are eligible to apply. Eligible organizations may also submit an application in partnership with other types of organizations, including, but not limited to, businesses, government entities, schools, and post-secondary institutions. 

Application deadline: November 3, 2023
Geographic scope: Northwest Territories
Grant amount: Funding requests must be at least $1,000.
Description: The NWT On The Land Collaborative promotes and supports on the land initiatives in the Northwest Territories. The Collaborative supports projects that get people out on the land; connect community members to their land, culture, languages, and traditions; build or strengthen partnerships; enhance community capacity; and are sustainable, as it relates to the environment and the continuation of the program. In terms of enhancing community capacity, projects should create opportunities for local people, organizations, communities, or regions to develop or enhance knowledge and skills that help them shape and exercise control over their physical, social, economic, or cultural environments. Eligible applicants include individuals, organizations, and communities based in the NWT, including municipalities, schools, nonprofit organizations, and Indigenous organizations. Applications should be sent to the Community Advisor for the applicant's region.

Application deadline: November 10, 2023
Geographic scope: Ontario
Grant amount: Grants range from $10,000 to $50,000. 
Description: The Commonwell’s Learning and Engagement Accelerator Fund (L.E.A.F.) supports programs and facilities that re-energize learning and engagement within communities across Ontario. Funding is provided for projects that have a goal related to learning in the community, including programming and upgrades to the places the community gathers to learn. Examples of supported projects include learning infrastructure improvements, computer labs, learning spaces, skills programming, makerspaces, and teaching and community kitchens. Registered charities, nonprofit organizations, and municipal organizations are eligible to apply.

Application deadline: The upcoming deadline for regular grants is October 15, 2023.
Geographic scope: Greater Edmonton area, Alberta
Grant amount: Regular grants range up to $10,000. 
Description: The REALTORS Community Foundation supports charities in the greater Edmonton Area of Alberta and municipalities served by the REALTORS Association of Edmonton. Funding is focused on the following areas: housing, supporting charities in providing safe and accessible shelter for those in various intersections of need; and community grants, promoting inclusive communities where information, activities, basic needs (including food security) and environments are sensible, accessible, and usable for as many people as possible. (In addition, Flagship funding of $60,000 over three years is awarded to up to three charities annually. Applications for Flagship funding will open in November.)

Application deadline: October 26, 2023
Geographic scope: Ontario
Description: The Ontario Autism Program (OAP) Workforce Capacity Fund seeks to grow and develop the autism workforce delivering OAP services so that families in the OAP can access or purchase the services they need, where and when they need them. The Fund supports capacity building projects led by children's service providers and their partners through the following streams: 1) The Expansion Stream provides up to $200,000 in direct financial support to help children's service providers expand their internal capacity to deliver OAP core clinical services to more children. 2) The Innovation Stream provides up to $300,000 for capacity-building projects that can lead to system-wide change at the community, regional, or provincial level. Eligible applicants include children’s service providers, Indigenous-led organizations, higher education and training institutions, professional associations and regulatory colleges, and nonprofit organizations and community groups. 

Application deadline: January 31, April 30, and October 15, annually
Geographic scope: Canada
Description: Building Communities through Arts and Heritage — Local Festivals component provides funding to local groups for recurring festivals that present the work of local artists; local artisans; local heritage performers or specialists; and local First Nations, Inuit, and Métis cultural carriers. This includes the celebration of LGBTQ2+ communities and Indigenous cultural celebrations. Eligible applicants consist of local nonprofit organizations and groups as well as local band councils, local tribal councils, or other local Indigenous governments or organizations (First Nations, Inuit or Métis).

Are you a nonprofit board member looking to learn more about fundraising? The book Nonprofit Hero: Five Easy Steps to Successful Board Fundraising by Valerie M. Jones may help you to demystify this process. This book contains stories, tools, and exercises aimed at helping board members engage in fundraising. It helps readers form an in-depth description of their asking personality, and also includes a toolkit of practical samples and templates, such as sample giving dos and don’ts, asking scripts, and fundraising plans.

Webinar date: September 20, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: If you feel stuck in the number and size of your foundation partnerships, a major-grants mindset can change the way you work. During this webinar, Susan Schaefer of Resource Partners will show you how to leverage the key differences between competing for your nonprofit’s annual foundation awards and your largest private grants. Whether your organization is immediately ready to apply for major grants or you’re on your way, learn tangible steps to ready yourself and your colleagues for the next stage in significant foundation partnerships. 

Webinar date: September 21, 2023, 2:00 to 3:30 PM Eastern Time
Description: While it may feel like you don’t have the time or resources to continually examine your grant success variables, doing so will save you time and lead to greater success in the long term. During this webinar, Courtney Moran of Elevate will help you understand the success variables you need to be aware of when looking at your grant program. You’ll see how to use a landscape analysis, a budget gap analysis, and other relevant data to inform your grant strategy. By asking the right questions and utilizing a few helpful formulas, you can help your organization understand whether your grantseeking program is working and how to adapt your strategy for more successful outcomes in the future.

Webinar date: September 25, 2023, 2:00 to 2:45 PM Eastern Time
Description: The budget section of your grant proposals can present some unique challenges. Project budgets must be accurate, complete, and transparent. Beyond that, you must demonstrate you can truly achieve project goals while keeping costs reasonable. During this TargetED, Alice Ruhnke will show you how you can develop a project budget that makes sense: one that justifies all of your proposed costs and demonstrates you’ll be an effective steward of the grantmaker’s funds.

GrantStation shares database profiles of local, national, Canadian, and international grantmakers with upcoming deadlines each week. Check out the current Funding Spotlights for more grant opportunities!