The second and final granting round for the innovative Resilient Communities Fund is closing soon!
Funding anywhere between $5,000 to $150,000 over the course of one year, this one-time grant offered by the Ontario Trillium Foundation is meant to help the non-profit sector pivot in response to COVID-19 and recover from its effects. The deadline is Dec. 2nd, 2020 at 5 PM.
The Resilient Communities Fund is focused on achieving 5 main outcomes. Need some ideas on how to refigure your strategies against the impacts of COVID-19? We’ve got you covered:
When it comes to charities, non-profits, and social enterprises, the heart and soul of these organizations are the people within them and the good work that they do. This grant can cover costs and purchases for the personnel of your organization.
Things You Can Do:
- Purchase physical supports for your team: Even though many are now working from home, some still aren’t equipped with important supports for their home office. With this grant, you can apply for funding for purchases like ergonomic desk chairs, headsets for video-conferencing, and more to help your staff, board members, and volunteers work from home in a manner that is comfortable, efficient, and effective.
- Get support to hire new staff: During this time, there is an increased need for support in every aspect, particularly with the shift in most programming going either online or undergoing rigorous modifications to comply with public health guidelines. If you have a new program that’s making a grand change, you can get funding to hire someone to oversee all of it.
Due to social distancing guidelines, organizations in the charitable sector have been unable to hold in-person fundraising events. For many, this has caused a huge strain in generating donations and revenue. The funder is looking to grant funds to those who are looking for ways to generate revenues and recover from financial challenges.
Things You Can Do:
- Invest in new fundraising software: Now that in-person donations range anywhere from limited to non-existent, your organization may be having difficulty transferring and keeping track of everything virtually, and your current fundraising software might not be able keep up. However, you can purchase fundraising software (such as Qgiv, Kindful, or NeonCRM) to help you deal with this new influx of virtual transactions.
- Hire a consultant: It might be difficult to figure out what your next steps should be. Luckily, there are experts out there who can help you figure out those next steps. Maybe you need someone to monitor your organization’s finances while you develop a new fundraising plan, or a marketing specialist to tell you how to optimize your online presence now that everything has gone virtual. Whether it be a consultant who specializes in fundraising, accounting and finances, marketing, technology, or whatever else that may be relevant to your organization, you can hire someone to help you develop and execute new strategies to get your organization back on track.
During this time, many charities and non-profits have had to change up how to deliver their programming. If your organization needs help taking things from a face-to-face delivery of your operations to a curb-side one, this grant can help! Use it to address the ever-growing list of to-dos, and to modify your methods of programming in response to COVID-19.
Things You Can Do:
- Purchase new technology supports: Do you have insufficient materials to pivot your in-person fundraising seminar to online? Maybe you want to make the content for your classes available on YouTube. If you need technological support, you can purchase tools such as film cameras, live-streaming equipment, video-conference service subscriptions, and more to help you pivot your organization’s projects to a new, virtual platform.
- Start a new delivery service: If your organization provides an in-person service or sells a product that is being switched to an online model, then you may be able to apply for funding to deliver instead. Maybe you provide instruments for those who no longer have access to instruments at your facility, or deliver care packages in place of previously picked-up items – consider delivering, and obtaining funding to help you get started.
Unfortunately, you’re caught in a Catch-22: your organization has been unable to effectively do your work remotely, but your base of operations needs to have safeguards put in place. No problem – this grant can provide funds to those looking to renovate their locations so they can continue their good work and stay open in a safe manner.
Things You Can Do:
- Renovate your space to allow for more physical distancing: If your organization’s location is too small for everyone to stand six feet apart but your landlord gives you the okay to knock down a wall, you can look into asking for funds to cover the cost of the renovation and getting it done safely.
- Install barriers and purchase PPE to ensure everyone’s safety: Your organization may require a lot of in-person interaction in a space that’s ill-equipped to do so safely. With this grant, you can ask for funds to install Plexiglas and sanitizing stations around your location to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
It’s important during a time like this to remember your network of peers and connect with them – and if they can help with your organization’s mission, all the better! This grant can help cover costs of collaborating with like minded groups who want to help spread the word and the benefits of the good work you do.
Things You Can Do:
- Get together for a group project: Have you found an organization that offers a service and fills a gap of yours? Perhaps your mandate is focused on visual arts and you’ve found a group of graphic designers who would be willing to help you with your online classes. Maybe you’re a food bank that’s found a delivery service willing to help you out. If you’re an organization that has found another one willing to help out in some way and need funds to make this plan work, you might be able to get funded.
- Bring your stakeholders together: Just like in most professional fields, the fundraising and charitable sector has also been affected by the pandemic. If your organization wants to take the initiative, then you can request funds to host a video-conference, webinar, or some other forum to bring people in your subsector together, in efforts to network, share knowledge, and collaboratively come up with ideas on how to thrive in this new normal and beyond.
We can write this grant application for you! Please contact us by Wednesday November 18 to guarantee a spot. For more information or answers to any questions, check out our Simple Explanation of the Resilient Communities Fund, e-mail info@dogoodfundraising.ca, or call 647-710-4261.
