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Hello everyone. I'm Gavin Pard, and I'm the Grants and Community Initiatives Manager here at the Missaga Foundation.
Mississauga Foundation's 2027 grant info session covers eligibility, fund types, application tips, and new updates for community grants.
Key Takeaways
- Applicants must be registered charities or not-for-profits partnered with charities for most grants.
- Projects must benefit Mississauga residents and be completed within one year.
- Operating expenses are covered up to 5% of the grant; fundraising and political activities are ineligible.
- The Foundation offers multiple fund types to suit different donor and charity needs.
- The Team Scholarship Program includes donation matching to support youth scholarships.
What the video covers
- Introduction by Gavin Pard, Grants and Community Initiatives Manager at Mississauga Foundation.
- Overview of the Foundation's history, mission, and over $28 million granted since 2001.
- Explanation of three fund types: donor advised, donor designated, and charity endowed funds.
- Details on the new Team Scholarship Program for sports clubs with donation matching.
- Use of the Vital Signs report to align grant applications with community needs indicators.
- Eligibility criteria including charity registration, project location, and financial reporting requirements.
- Clarification on eligible and ineligible projects, including restrictions on fundraising, political, and retroactive funding.
- Emphasis on project alignment with charity mission, cost efficiency, and one-year completion timeframe.
- Information on the popular Grant Catalog for community needs and timelines for various grant rounds.
- Guidance on grant writing, reporting, and maintaining good standing for future funding opportunities.
Chapters
- 00:00Introduction and Agenda Overview
- 01:13About Mississauga Foundation and Grant History
- 02:46Types of Funds Offered
- 04:19Team Scholarship Program Details
- 05:55Vital Signs Report and Grant Alignment
- 07:55Grant Eligibility Criteria
- 10:25Grant Application Requirements and Restrictions
- 12:01Grant Catalog and Application Timelines
- 18:31Grant Budgeting and Reporting Guidance
- 24:18FAQs and Final Tips for Applicants
Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown
Speaker A
Today, we are presenting the grant information session for 2027, and we are going to jump right into the agenda.
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All right, so first we're going to talk about the foundation a bit. Then we're going to move to our Vital Signs report and how it plays a role in granting.
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We're then going to move on to eligibility and what we're looking for, and then what's new for 2027.
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Afterwards, we're going to jump into the grant catalog of community needs, which is a very popular granting vehicle for our grantees.
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Then we're going to look at some grant writing tips, answer some FAQs, and then talk about what happens if you've received a grant.
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So, first a little bit about the Missaga Foundation. We are part of a national network of about 200 community foundations across Canada. We work with municipal and regional governments, local leaders, as well as grassroots charitable organizations to develop a
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keen understanding of the city we serve. Since our inception in 2001, we've granted over 28 million dollars to charities in Missaga.
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All right, types of funds. We have three types of funds that we offer: the donor advised fund, the donor designated fund, as well as the charity endowed fund, which is also known as the agency fund.
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So, what is a donor advised fund? Well, a donor advised fund allows donors to contribute assets, receive tax benefits, and recommend grants to their choice of charity. It's a great alternative to creating a private foundation without the administrative burden and high costs
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usually associated when one would set up a private foundation. The Missaga Foundation manages all of the investments and all of the administration required.
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The donor designated fund is a type of charitable giving vehicle that allows donors to specify a particular charity or charities that they want the funds to go to.
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And finally, the charity endowed fund, which is, as I mentioned before, the agency fund. That's also like creating your own private foundation, you being the charity, and it generates perpetual unrestricted funding for your charity. Any charity can
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set it up, and once that's set up, we at the foundation do all the management.
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So, if you have any questions about the type of funds that we offer, please reach out to us, and we'd be happy to share more information.
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Okay, so now we're going to jump into the team scholarship program, and I'm just going to talk a little bit about how that works.
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All right, so what is that? The scholarship fund is your sports club's opportunity to make a lasting impact through the Missaga Foundation. Your club can create its own scholarship fund starting with a
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modest investment and then building on it over time. That's about $25,000. You have to pledge to raise that within five years. The donations that go to that are never spent. They are invested.
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And that income, a portion of it, is used to generate scholarships each year.
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Your club, so your sports club, will be the ones to decide which students get the scholarship, and we will then process it directly to the university or college of your choice.
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So the scholarship grants about 4.5% of its value each year. So for $25,000, that's about $1,000. A $75,000 fund would generate about $3,000 annually in scholarship, and any type of excess investment that's retained is going to grow over time.
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Anything that's retained, any earnings retained, we can always carry it over to the following year.
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And what we're doing as well is we are going to be matching donations up to $5,000 for this new team scholarship program. So again, if you are interested, please reach out to us, and we will be happy to share more
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information. All right, just jumping over to grants now. Vital Signs is a report that we produce every two to three years, and we look at a number of indicators in that report,
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and we basically take a measurement of how these indicators are doing in the city. So before you, in front of you there, those are the indicators, and what you can do on your application is when you are putting
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together your application, you can pinpoint what indicator your application may relate to. So if it's an application that's related to arts and culture, you would click that. Belonging, diversity, economy—you could even select two if you like.
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We encourage you to read our report. It's available online on our website, and we are looking into developing a new report probably by the end of next year.
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So look out for that, please. All right, we are now going to jump into the eligibility for granting. All right, so what is eligible and how does that work? So, first and foremost, you have to be a registered charity with a
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registered number, a CRA number, or you could be a not-for-profit with a partnership agreement with a charity.
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Okay. What does that mean? Well, for our Pendle grants, you have to be a charity. If you are not-for-profit, you can participate in the Pendle grants, but you have to do so in partnership with the charity.
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However, for what we call our children's grant, that's a little bit different. That's a bit more open. Both registered charities and not-for-profits can apply for those grants directly without a partnership.
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And that's something that we launched last year, and we are carrying it forward this year as well.
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Your charity has to be Missaga based, and if it isn't Missaga based, that's fine,
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but the project you are undergoing has to have an impact in Missaga. It has to benefit the people of Missaga in some shape or form.
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You should have a good standing with CRA. We do ask for financials, and we do review them, and we'll reach out if we have any questions regarding that.
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You also have to ensure that all of your previous grant reports are filed correctly. So when you have our grant portal, you can see what reports are due. If anything is overdue, you should not proceed to apply for any new grants until you've
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satisfied those other conditions. Check your grant portal to determine if anything's overdue, or reach out to us.
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We'll be happy to help you there. Also, ongoing operating expenses up to 5% we will cover in the grant amount. So things like utility bills or payroll or helping out with staff, we will cover that in the grants up to 5%. The rest has to be project based.
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So what are ineligible projects? Well, as I mentioned earlier, if they aren't based in Missaga, if they don't help the people in Missaga, they wouldn't qualify. Also, fundraising and campaigning events
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are not eligible, as well as political and religious activities and sponsorships. If you exceed your operating expenses in your grant budget over 5%, that also won't qualify.
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Any type of retroactive funding that you require is not eligible. So let's say you've already incurred costs for something; we won't cover that. Regranting, so if you ask for money and then you take that money and give it out to someone, that won't count either. We have to use the money to purchase products or to contribute to your activity.
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We also do not support advocacy or lobbying of any kind. So what are we looking for? Well, it's all there. Alignment. Does the mission of your charity align with the focus area of your grant?
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Or is there a disconnect there? We always look to make sure that your mission is in alignment with what you want to do.
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Is it efficient? Is the project cost efficient? Do you have about one year to complete your project? So we have to make sure that when you are planning something, it has
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Or is there a disconnect there? We always look to make sure that your mission is in alignment with what you want to do.
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Um, is it efficient? Is the project cost efficient? Do you have about one year to complete your project? So, we have to make sure that when you are planning something, it has to be able to be completed within one year. And do you
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have the capacity? Do you have enough resources staff volunteers um partners, um necessary to um to execute execute the project? Um what about the impact? What impact does this project have on the community? That's really important. And can it be
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sustained? Um can you possibly repeat this project next year? That would be a good idea. It doesn't always have to be, but it's something that we do look out for.
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Okay, so now I'm going to jump to some new and important updates for 2027 because there are some changes we have made to the program and I'm going to go through that uh quickly. First and foremost with our smart and caring
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children and youth fund for short I may call this a children's grant but know that if I do say that it is the smart and caring children and youth fund.
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Um so those grants we make those out to both registered charities as well as not forprofits. Um you have to deliver the projects um you know in in an area focused around children and youth. Okay.
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Um, and to break it down further, only children focused organizations whose primary mandates and mission is directly linked to the well-being, education or development of kids of youth, um, 24 years and under, they will qualify. Or if you already have
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established programs in youth, that's fine. Okay. So, what does that mean? If your organization, if the mission is based around helping the youth in their development, you qualify.
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If you, if your mission doesn't fall into that category of children, but you can prove to us you have established youth programs in some areas, then you would qualify. Okay. Um, any questions?
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You can reach out to the grants team at [email protected] CA and we can uh help you further.
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And just a quick note that priority will be given to those grant applicants with total revenues below 1.5 million and less than 500,000 in unrestricted reserves.
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Some other updates we've made to this children's grant program is um we are eliminating partial funding. In the past, we have looked at trying to support as many charities as possible, but what that meant was we would have to
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cut a lot of the grant requests down. So, from the 5,000 max, you would cut that down to, you know, 2,000 3,000 in order to give more charities. We're changing that. So, our goal going forward this year onwards and next year
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and so on so forth is to grant out the full ask. So, if you ask for the full 3,000 or the full 4,000 or the full 5,000, that's the max. Um, we will do our best to give you that full amount.
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Um, if we can approve it, um, we are going to do our best not to try to partially fund anything because we want to make this experience a lot more simpler for you, a lot more seamless.
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What tends to happen is when we cut grants on some of our charities, the the the award amount, they now have to go back and redo their budget. or redo their project to try to fit that new uh
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award amount. So, we want to scrap that and just give you your full ask.
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Also, we are going to be um removing interim reports. So, currently how it works is um if you have a project date that goes into the following year, we ask you to do an interim report for the current year as well as a final report
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the following year. um we're we're limiting that for the children's grant. Basically, all you need to know is going forward for the children's grant, you have one report that's due, the final report, which is due 30 days after your
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project um is is completed. So, we you will know what reports are due in the grant portal. We will assign you the appropriate reports. So, if you um are doing a children's grant, you're just going to have to do the final report and
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we will assign that to you. So, not to worry. Um, you'll be given the appropriate reports and your job is to, um, uh, submit them before the due dates.
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So, the Pendle fund is our other grant. Um, it's only awarded to registered charities, not not forprofits, unless it's through a partnership. Okay? So, I want to be clear with that. Um, that's always been the case. Uh the penalt is
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very wide in its scope. It covers a lot of different sectors. So arts and culture children education environment, indigenous, physical and mental health, social services, sports and recreation, and that offers grants up to a maximum of $30,000.
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So nothing has changed with the pendal fund. It's pretty much business as usual. Our grant catalog. So, our grant catalog will open next year, February 2027. We had a very successful grant catalog uh this year. We had about 67 approved um
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requests, which was really a big jump from the year prior. And our funders really enjoyed using um the system um to select their grants.
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So, for those that don't know, you know, what is the catalog? Well, it's basically a really short application where you tell us what your needs are and these are unrestricted funds, so you can use it for anything. Um, it's about
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$2,000. Um, but just know that our funders may grant you more and we've seen that. So, while you know we we we may put 2,000 on there, um, you know, there is a possibility that the funer will give you more. um when we do launch
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the application in September uh in February, we may even up that 2,000. So stay tuned for that. For now, it's 2,000, but just know that there is uh room for maybe allowing you to ask for more. So just look out for that in the
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future. Um and our funders do give more sometimes. So uh we do encourage you to take a look at that catalog. Um it's one application per organization, so you can't put two in. Um and again we accept those applications in in the month of
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February and we will make those decisions by August 2027. So why is there a huge gap? Well, it's because we need to review those applications. We then need to present it to our funders.
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We need to give them ample time to then review um and go through their um online systems to make those decisions. Um and then we have to you know vet organizations. We have to look at the financials. Um but our goal is to get
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those paid out by August. um uh 2027. Um we should also point out that um the organizations in this case um they should be based in Missaga or if it is a project it should serve the people of Missaga. All right? So just
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keep that in mind. Timelines for the uh grant round. So September 1st is when the Grant round opens and that's for the Pendle fund as well as the children's grant. So September 1st of this year at 9:00 a.m.
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the grant portal will open and you have one month to complete your application and submit it. It will close on September 30th at 5:00 p.m. Uh please make sure you get your applications in.
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Um, don't wait till the last minute because when the system locks off, it locks off. We do not accept email applications. So, I encourage you to start your application early. You can save it as a draft if you aren't ready
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to submit it yet. And then when the time comes, please submit it before the deadline. Please, please, please. We've had situations where charities have have missed the deadline and ask for exceptions and we can't make those exceptions. Okay? So, you're just
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applying for the applications in the month of September. Okay? But remember, these are 2027 projects. So, we're just we're intaking them now in September, but those decisions won't be rendered until April of 2027. So, in the spring of next year, that's when you're going
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to know via email if you're approved um or declined. And then our goal is to pay out the grants uh in May, May 2027, and you have about a year to complete the project. Okay? So let's say you get paid
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out in miday, you got about one year um by June 1st of 2028, your project should be should be complete.
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Our other two grants which are the Hazel Mallian Fund for Arts, Culture, and Heritage and the Nova Nordis chronic disease fund um those are going to be uh accepting applications next year, February, in the month of February.
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Pretty much same idea. So, think about it. September is intake month for two of our grants and February is intake month for two of our grants. Make things really simple for our for our charities.
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Um, so grant round opens up and the grant catalog will also open up for you as well in the month of February. So, February is a really important month.
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Um, and those decisions are are made in April of the same year and then we pay outs in 2027 and again uh you have about a year. So, these are again for 2027 projects.
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This is just a chart of all the dates I just mentioned, specific dates. These are estimated dates, I should say. Um, we aren't beholden to these dates. These are estimates, but um, it gives you a rough idea. Um, not to worry. This
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information is will be posted on our website under the grant seeker section. So, just use it as a guide.
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All right. Right. So now I'm going to look at some grant writing tips and it's going to share some tips based on some observations we've made in the past when you when we've reviewed your applications.
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So just make sure that your projects start and end dates are accurate. Okay? So remember these are 2027 projects and they must be completed by June 1st of 2028. Okay? Make sure your requested grants amount doesn't exceed the
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maximum. Okay? So, for Children's, it's $5,000 and for Pendle, it's $30,000. Uh, make sure you have your financials signed by the appropriate authorities.
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Um, if your gross revenue is $250,000 a year or more, then your financials have to be audited. If you're below that, it does not have to be audited.
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Okay? But please in any event make sure your financials are assigned by the appropriate authority uh members at your organization.
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Um you'll see in the application there's two areas where we ask for for fun where we we request your funding. It's the overall project. So that's your overall project you're doing and then the second is what you want from us what you need
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from us. Okay. So two areas. So, you may have a large scale project uh saying $100,000, but from us you just are requesting the $5,000 for the children's grant. So, just make sure you distinguish between the two of those.
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And we do ask you to break down your full project budget breakdown as well as your grant budget breakdown. Okay?
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So, in this example here, this is the full project breakdown. charity, their entire project is $9,000.
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Okay? So, obviously, we wouldn't grant that, but you need $5,000 from us. So, this is where you would put your 9,000 for your whole entire project. Okay?
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This is your project budget. Um, the next slide is where you would put your grant amounts. Okay? This is where you would put down, you know, what you need from us, and that should totally your grant amount, which would be, I
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guess, the $5,000 if if you're going for the full amount. Again, please remember deadlines are firm and everything has to be done through the portal. We do not accept anything via email. And I should also say that once
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you submit your application, um just keep an eye out on your emails um because when we are reviewing these applications, we may have questions. our grants review committee may have questions and what we try to do is we
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try to get those questions in advance before our adjudication. So if I can reach out to you and say, "Hey, listen.
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I need some help on X, Y, and Z. I need you to explain this better for me." Um, uh, you can then answer that question and then I can get it over to the adjudicators beforehand. So just just be
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mindful of that. Just, you know, keep an eye on your emails and if we do reach out, you know, try to see if you can get back to us as soon as possible. It' be really helpful for your for your case.
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All right, we are now going to jump to the FAQs. And these are all on our website, by the way. So, not to worry if I go too fast, if I skip things, it's all on our FAQs.
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Um, but pretty much, can two charities partner on one application? Yes, the foundation is happy to support collaborative projects. If two charities are working together on an application, one of them must take the lead on the project and be responsible for receiving
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and stewarding the funds. If you're going into a partnership, you must complete the partnership agreement which is in the application. Okay. Uh the fund in which the two charities are partnering cannot submit another application by themselves for that same
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fund. Okay. What does that mean? Let's say an arts charity partners with a senior center for a grant. Neither of them can apply for that grant again by themselves. Okay. But they're both welcome to apply for other grants for
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different projects. Can a non not forprofit apply for grants? Yes, but only to the children's grants. Um they can't for the Pendle Hazel or Novo Nordis grants, but they can partner with them. Um, but if they want to do a grant on their own, it's
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the children's grant at this time. They can they can apply for it directly without any type of partnership.
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Okay. If a project has been funded in the past, is it guaranteed to get funding uh, you know, the next year or this year? No. No. Just because you may have been approved for something last year doesn't mean you'll automatically
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get it approved uh again this year. So the program we are applying for funding exists across Peele region including Missaga. Can we still apply for funding? Yes. However, your grant application should only cover the work you're doing in the Missaga for the
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benefit of Missaga residents. Uh can we apply to more than one grant fund? Yes, there are four different rounds as I mentioned and you can apply to each of them. But they have to be for different projects. They can't be for
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the same project. Okay. So, let's say you got a grants. Congratulations. In May of 2027, you will be uh we will we will have your your decisions made in April. And then in May of 2027, we will then uh begin
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paying out grants. What's going to happen is you're going to receive an email from us letting you know if you got the grant or not. Um, if you did get the grant, you are required to uh fill out some agreements for us all through
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our online portal. Um, you will also need to attach um your EFT or banking information for us. Again, that is on our portal. And you know we ask you in our agreements to you know acknowledge the grants in your marketing materials
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on your website, social media. Any type of thanks or recognition you have for us or the funders or the fund, please send us that. Please send us send it to us.
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Um thank you letters to our funders are very helpful. We do forward them on to them. Um so please um go ahead and do that. Um and also consider inviting us for a site visit. um to come see your
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project. We usually do our site visits uh in the month of June, July and August. And I had the chance myself and another colleague of mine had had the chance to come out and visit a number of charities this summer. And it was a
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really good eye opening experience for us. It's one thing to learn about a charity on paper, but it's another thing to see it in person. That's what I say to a lot of people. And when we get to
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see what you're doing, the good work you're doing, we can then advocate for your case to our grant committee members.
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And that's it. I would like to thank you all for attending today's grant information session. Again, if you have any other questions or concerns, please please contact us. You can reach out to us at [email protected].
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CA. You can also visit our website. And I thank you all very much once again. My name is Gavin Pard and I am the grants and community initiatives manager here at the Missaga Foundation. And we look forward to re reviewing your
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applications in the near future. Thanks so much. Take care.
Topics:Mississauga Foundation2027 grantscommunity fundinggrant eligibilitydonor advised fundcharity endowed fundteam scholarship programgrant writing tipsVital Signs reportnonprofit grants
