Submitting a Good Grow Grant Application

Tips to help you achieve Grow grant funding

A Grow grant can help your organization make an impact in your community. OTF receives a lot of applications, so it is vital to ensure your organization’s project is a good fit with what we fund.

We support Grow grant projects that:

  • Launch, Replicate, or Adapt a program
  • Scale up a program currently being delivered, thus impacting more people
  • Improve the quality of the program currently being delivered to increase impact

Here's a step-by-step guide to giving your Grow grant application the best chance of succeeding. It's all about ensuring your project aligns with one of our Action Areas and one of its associated Priority Outcomes and Grant Results. We recommend bookmarking this page and referring back to it as you complete your application.

If you need help, contact us or consider booking an application coaching call.

Get inspired

One of the best ways to see what we do is to first spend some time looking at past and current OTF grants. You can use our Grant Search Tool to find Grow grant projects similar to yours, for example aimed at a similar target audience or in a similar location.

The one thing all of these projects have in common is they successfully aligned their project with OTF's Investment Strategy by choosing the right Action Area and, most importantly, the right Grant Result and Metric.

Consider your project's focus

Before starting your application, take some time to read about the Investment Strategy. This is an important step as it will help you understand how we invest.

The Action Areas are broad areas that OTF invests in and they are the building blocks to healthier, more vibrant communities. By funding projects with goals in each area, we can drive positive change across Ontario. When your organization applies for a Grow grant, you will be asked to select one of the six Action Areas that best fits your project.

Depending on which Action Area you have selected, you will also need to pick an aligned Priority Outcome. This is the long-term change your project will contribute to achieving for Ontarians.

Selecting an Action Area and then a related Priority Outcome helps bring a relevant Grant Result into focus. A Grant Result is the end goal your project will specifically accomplish to support the Priority Outcome. Learn more about choosing a Grant Result in Step 3.

Consider what you want to achieve

In order to receive funding, your Grow grant application should strongly align with a Grant Result based on the end goal of your project. All of your application information should link back to that end goal, so it's crucial to choose the right one.

Grow grant applications must demonstrate:

  • Growth or increased impact, in relation to the Grant Result
  • Evidence that the growth or increased impact can be achieved, in relation to the Grant Result

Tips for choosing a Grant Result:

  • Think about this project in particular, rather than your organization's work in general
  • Ask yourself why you want to do this project and what will it achieve
  • Focus on the end goal (the "why" and "what") rather than the activities needed to achieve it (the "how")
  • If your project fits with more than one Grant Result, consider which one is the best fit by focusing on the change you are trying to achieve

Reminder, a crucial part of a good application is selecting the Grant Result that best fits your project.

Consider how you will measure success

Metrics are numeric targets you set and commit to achieving for your Grant Result, and it also helps us track and measure the success of your project, for example “300 people will participate in our program.”. As part of your application, you will submit a metric for the Grant Result you choose. Consider what you want to achieve and submit a relevant and attainable target.

Outcome measurement

For some Grant Results, you will be asked to measure the outcomes achieved by your project, for example "participants increased their physical activity by an average of 60 minutes a week.".

Measuring your outcomes helps you learn and reflect from your findings, and allows us to report on the combined impact of our grantees' work..

If outcome measurement is part of your chosen Grant Result, we will provide you with a data collection and reporting platform, along with data collection tools aligned with your Grant Result. We will support you throughout the planning, implementation, and learning from your measurement activities.

Prove how you can meet your goal

As part of your application, you need to show us evidence that you can achieve your selected Grant Result. Evidence can come from your own organization or another source. It may include:

  • Project evaluations
  • Research studies
  • Statistical analysis
  • Traditional knowledge

Please include the following as part of your evidence:

  • Uploaded sources and a one-line description of the evidence in them
  • A clear connection back to your selected Grant Result