Project Funding - open

Background

On September 25, 2019, Ottawa City Council approved the new Community Funding Framework. Included under this framework is funding for Project Funding, used to build the capacity of the non-profit social services sector to respond to unmet, complex and/or emerging community needs and pressures. 

On October 2, Ottawa City Council approved the report “Update to the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan: Incorporation of the former Crime Prevention Ottawa." Crime Prevention Ottawa Implementation Plan Included in this report was to update the Community Safety and Well-Being Funding Stream to include $700K that will be used for Project and Programming Funding.  

• One-Year Project Funding: One-year project funding is issued to time-limited or defined pilot projects that build sector service capacity or address an emerging need. 
• Three-Year Project Funding: Three-year project funding is provided to organizations not receiving Sustainability Funding.  
• One-Year or Three-Year Programming Funding: Programing funding is given organizations to offer a new program or expand an existing program. The program should address an emerging or ongoing need and respond to the identified priorities and goals as described in the City of Ottawa’s Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. 

Available funding 

A total of $1.4 million dollars is available in this funding envelope, broken into two categories: 

• $700,000.00 for capacity building projects (see below for details) 
• $700,000.00 for programming (see below for details) 

Eligible Maximum Amount: $75,000.00 per year for each application 

Capacity Building Project Funding: 

Capacity Building Projects are initiatives taken on by organizations to improve efficiency for the organization or build capacity within the sector. The focus can be on improving the organization structure, capacity, workflow, or partnerships.  

Examples of projects may include: 

• Staff training to increase capacity to address new or complex issues in the workplace or the community 
• Conducting a scan, research, or an evaluation to help identify needs and develop strategies to address these in an efficient and sustainable manner 
• Adapting a space or workflow to address an emerging need, such as outfitting a space for a specific purpose (community kitchen, youth drop-in space, older adult accessible recreational space) 
• Adapting resources and/or processes, for example, website, intake, pamphlets, databases/case management tools 
• Completing a program evaluation to assess the effectiveness or impact of a program.  

Programming Funding: 

Programs are activities or services offered to members of the community to support them in meeting their basic needs or providing equitable access to services.  Programs must support poverty reduction or social development. Poverty reduction involves both addressing the root causes and alleviating the effects of poverty in the community and social development focuses on promoting and maintaining well-being. For more information, please see the Community Safety and Well-Being Plan. 

Examples of programs may include: 

• A skills development or mentorship program to support youth from equity-denied communities, offering training and networking 
• Social Inclusion programming for racialized, newcomer and underrepresented communities, particularly youth 
• A lunch box program for children attending programming in a priority neighbourhood 
• Counselling programs (can either support a specific priority population such as 2SLGBTQ+ youth and their families or more general mental health counselling)  
• Critical Hour Programing/before and after school programing for youth  
• Program to increase skills or job readiness in priority neighbourhoods  

Funding priorities  

• Children and youth  
• Priority neighbourhoods - funding is intended for priority neighbourhoods defined by the Neighbourhood Equity Index and/or the Ottawa Neighborhood Study. 

Contribution Agreement Process and Requirements

The City will send a letter by email to each successful applicant with a contribution offer and a draft contribution agreement outlining the terms and conditions of the contribution.  Applicants must contact the City within five business days of the date of the letter to accept the contribution and enter into a contribution agreement.

The City may withdraw the offer of contribution if it does not receive a response within the required timeframe. Once the contribution agreement has been signed, the City will provide the contribution in the form of a single payment to the organization.

Additional requirements

There are additional requirements for successful candidates that are not in receipt of Sustainability Funding from the City. These applicants must provide the City the following documents before entering into and signing a funding agreement: 

• Most recent Audited Financial Statements
  • If the total contribution is less than $25K, un-audited financial statements may be provided, at the complete discretion of the City, if they have been approved and signed by two officers, each of whom
    • has been appointed under a by-law of the Contribution recipient to sign agreements and contracts that bind the Contribution recipient; and,
    • has the legal capacity to execute agreements and contracts that bind the Contribution recipient
• Annual General Meeting (AGM) minutes for the last two completed fiscal years:
  • Draft AGM minutes from the last completed fiscal year, and
  • Most recent approved AGM minutes signed by two individuals with signing authority for the organization.
• Current Board of Directors list
• Current organizational chart
• A valid certificate of insurance identifying the City of Ottawa as an additional insured under the insured’s policy/policies of insurance.

Reporting requirement under the Contribution Agreement

Successful applicants must complete and submit an outcome report four weeks after the agreed upon date on the contribution agreement. This report includes a financial statement of actual revenues and expenses. 

Insurance

Successful applicants must obtain at least $2 million of commercial general liability insurance coverage for the initiative.

Before receiving the contribution, the successful applicant must provide the City with a certificate of insurance, with the City of Ottawa named as an additional insured.  

General Expectations

Successful applicants are required to fulfill all the terms and conditions of the contribution agreement. If there are difficulties in complying with any of the terms and conditions of the contribution agreement, City staff must be informed immediately so all parties can work together to resolve the situation.