Seed Grant Application Questions

This page provides an overview of the Seed grant application and requirements. 
 

• The upcoming grant application deadline is June 26, 2024 at 5 PM ET.
• We encourage you to use the assessment criteria to help you complete the application.
   

On this page

• Organization Information 
  • Contacts
  • Organization Details
  • Mission and Activities
  • Financial Health and Stability
  • Governance
  • Acknowledgements
• Project Information 
  • Data collection
  • Application Requirements
  • Anticipated Project Results
  • Project Plan
  • Project Budget
  • Quotes or Estimates
  • Project Description
  • Acknowledgements

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Organization Information

Contacts

Question: Is your organization's Signatory Contact an existing contact for your organization? Yes/No

• If "no" is selected: Provide the following details about your Signatory Contact:
  • Name
  • Position
  • Email
  • Phone

Question: Provide the following details for your Organization Contact:

• Name
• Position
• Email
• Phone

Organization Details

Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF's Anti-Discrimination Policy.

Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF’s Open Data Policy and that data provided throughout the application may be shared with other funders and/or may become public.

Question: Select your organization type:

• A charitable organization or public foundation registered as a charity by the Canada Revenue Agency
• An organization incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation without share capital in a Canadian jurisdiction
• A First Nation
• A municipality with a population 20,000 or less, or their cultural and recreational agencies, including public libraries and museums

Question: Provide the following details about your organization:

• Legal name
• Operating name
• Preferred language of correspondence
• Incorporation number (for not-for-profits)
• Year of incorporation (for not-for-profits)
• Charitable registration number (for charities)
• Year of registration (for charities)
• 9-digit Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number. Learn more about submitting your business number.

Address:

• Street Address/RR or PO Box #
• City
• Province
• Postal code * format (X1X 1X1)
• Phone
• Website
• If your organization is active on social media, provide the social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram etc.) and handles you operate under.

Mission and Activities

Question: Provide your mission statement. Max 200 words.

Question: Tell us about your typical activities, services or programs. Max 200 words.

Question: What sector does your organization operate in? Select the option that best fits.

• Arts/Culture
• Environment
• Human and Social Services
• Sports/Recreation

Question: How many people does your organization serve annually?

Question: Does your organization offer programs and/or services in both official languages? Yes/No.

• If "yes" is selected: How is your organization mandated to offer bilingual programs and/or services? Choose one of the following: 
  • Agency designated under the French Language Services Act
  • Area designated under the French Language Services Act
  • Mandated by Board of Directors and/or Funder
  • Non-mandated but serving Francophone population

Question: Is a percentage of the selected population your organization serves Francophone? Yes/No.

• If "yes" is selected:
  • What % of people served by your organization are offered programs and/or services in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%)
  • What % of your organization's programs and/or services are offered in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%)

Question: On average, how many paid staff did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of full-time or part-time status?

Question: On average, how many volunteers did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of the number of hours volunteered?

Question: For each category below, select the population that your organization serves

• Language of population served:
  • Bilingual (French/English) 
  • Francophone (and offered services in French)
  • Other Language excluding English or French
  • General Population
• Gender of population served:
  • Non-binary
  • Trans-Men/Trans-Women
  • Men/Boys
  • Women/Girls
  • General Population
• Lived-experience of population served:
  • People living in low income 
  • People who are newcomers/refugees 
  • People living with disabilities
  • People living with mental health challenges/addiction
  • General population
• Identity of population served:  
  • Black
  • Indigenous
  • 2SLGBTQIA+
  • Other racialized groups
  • General Population

Question: Does your organization’s leadership and/or decision-making entities (Board, executive team, senior leadership etc.) reflect the language, gender, lived-experience or cultural identities of the communities served by your organization?  

• Yes  
• Somewhat  
• No  
• Unsure  

Financial Health and Stability

File upload: Upload your organization's most recent completed financial statements.

Question: Does your organization have an accumulated surplus or a deficit? Yes/No

• If "yes" is selected: Upload your surplus or deficit information.

Governance

Question: Does your organization have a minimum of three active board members (active terms as of grant application deadline date), with at least 50% of board members at an arm's length relationship to each other? Yes/No 

• If "yes" is selected: We need your most current board list including: 
  • First name  
  • Last name 
  • Term start date 
  • Term end date  
  • Position 
  • Arm’s length (yes/no) 

Question: Do you have staff who are directors or at a higher level? 

• If "yes" is selected: Provide details about your organization's senior staff (Director level and above): 
  • First name  
  • Last name  
  • Position 
  • Arm’s Length (yes/no) – in relation to other senior staff and board members 

File Upload: Upload your organization’s By-Laws. 

Acknowledgements 

Checkbox: I confirm that the organization has financial management and conflict of interest policies in place.

Checkbox: I confirm that all the organization information provided is correct, up-to-date and complete.

Checkbox: I confirm that the correct type and year of financial statements have been uploaded based on our organization's total revenues and fiscal year-end, and the Board of Directors table has been updated.

Project Information

Data collection

The following questions are for data collection and will not be used to assess your grant application.

Question: What OTF supports did you use to prepare your application? Select all that apply. 

• Support Centre  
• Website 
• Webinar 
• Coaching call 
• None of the above 

Question: Select the populations who will primarily benefit from your project. If more than one selection fits your project in each category, choose General Population.

• Age group of population served  
  • Children up to 12 years 
  • Youth (13-24)  
  • Adults (25-64) 
  • Seniors (65 and over) 
  • General population (all age groups)
• Primary language of population served 
  • Bilingual (English and French)  
  • Francophone (and offered services in French)  
  • Other language excluding English or French  
  • General population   
• Gender of population served:
  • Non-binary   
  • Trans-Men/Trans-Women   
  • Men/Boys   
  • Women/Girls   
  • General population   
• Lived experience of population served:    
  • People living in low income   
  • People who are newcomers/refugees   
  • People living with disabilities   
  • People living with mental health challenges/addiction   
  • General population    
• Identity of population served:   
  • Black   
  • Indigenous 
  • 2SLGBTQIA+  
  • Other racialized groups   
  • General population 

Question: Select the community size where this project will take place.       

• Rural or Small Communities (20,000 or less)
• Mid-sized Communities (20,001 - 100,000)
• Urban Centres and Metropolitan Suburbs (100,000+)

Application Requirements

The following questions will be used to assess your grant application.

Question: Describe your project. Max. 200 words. 

Question: Select the OTF catchment area where the main impact of project activities takes place.

Question: Select the census division.

Question: Provide your project start date. 

Question: Select your requested term.

• 6 months  
• 12 months 

Question: Select the Funding Priority that best meets your project goals. 

• Foster physically active lifestyles
• Support participation in the conservation and restoration of the environment. 
• Enrich lives through arts, culture, and heritage 
• Help people build stronger connections and a deeper sense of belonging in their community
• Support youth to develop stronger social, emotional, leadership skills
• Enable economically vulnerable people to meet their basic needs and/or strengthen their financial stability

Question: Select one objective for your project.

• Create or adapt organizational strategy to build resilience and capacity to deliver programs and services. 
• Prepare for the future by developing or adapting digital technology to deliver programs and services.
• Enhance staff and/or volunteer skills to deliver programs and services. 
• Design and/or pilot an innovative program or service to address a community need.

Question: Explain how this project will impact your ability to deliver programs and services.

Question: Is this a collaborative application? Yes/No

• If "yes" is selected: 
  • Add the names of the organizations listed in your Collaborative Agreement in the table provided.
  • Upload your Collaborative Agreement.

Question: Do you plan to purchase non-fixed equipment for your project? Yes/No

• If "yes" is selected: Upload field: Upload at least one photo of the non-fixed equipment you plan to purchase. Include a maximum of 5 files and a short description for each.

Question: Explain why you are doing this project and who will primarily benefit from your project. Max. 200 words.
 

Question: If your project will help populations who are experiencing barriers (e.g. socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, abilities and/or racial) to participate in your program, explain how. Max. 200 words.

Anticipated Project Results

To understand the impact of your Seed project, answer the following questions:

Question: On average, how many people will directly benefit from your project per year? Include new and existing participants.
 

For all fields that are not applicable, enter “0”:

Question: How many programs and services will be impacted by your project per year? Include new and existing programs and services.
 

Question: How many staff and/or volunteers will receive training to deliver programs and services?
 

Question: How many plans or reports will be created to help build your organization's resiliency or capacity to deliver programs and services?
 

Question: How many people will participate in your pilot program or service?
 

Project Plan

Question: Complete the project plan.
 

Project Deliverables: 

• List 1 to 3 project deliverables.
• Use one row per deliverable.  
• This is what you are going to do to deliver your project. These are your main milestones. 

Key Tasks: For each deliverable, list the key tasks that need to be completed. Provide a maximum of 3 tasks for each deliverable.

Timing: Provide the timeframe needed to complete each key task.
 

Below is a sample project plan.

Project Budget

Question: Complete the project budget.

You can apply for $10,000 up to $100,000, for a maximum of one year. Only include amounts you are requesting from OTF.

Budget categories

You can apply for funding to cover project costs across the following categories:  

• Direct Personnel Costs: OTF will support salaries, mandatory employment-related costs and employee benefits for staff positions funded specifically to carry out the project.
• Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Purchased Service 
• Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Workshops/Meetings
• Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Supplies and Materials 
• Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Non-fixed Equipment
• Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Travel
• Overhead and Administration Costs: OTF will support Overhead and Administrative Costs directly associated with the funded project up to a maximum of 15% of the total budget. These do not include the direct costs to run or deliver the project, including the staff or equipment associated with the project. It does include a portion of regular operational expenses that can be attributed specifically to this project. For more information, refer to the Eligibility Policy. 

You can include a maximum of 5 budget items for Direct Personnel Costs and each Direct-Non-Personnel Cost. Include a short description for each item and a detailed cost breakdown.

Note:

• The costs listed in the budget should clearly align with your project activities and be reasonable to carry out.
• Only include eligible project costs to be covered by OTF. 
• Ask only for what you need, because OTF funds full request amounts and we want to fund as many applications as possible. 
• Only project activities that take place in Ontario are eligible for OTF funding.
• All requested amounts are rounded up.

Below is a sample project budget.

Quotes or estimates

Upload field: Upload your quotes or estimates.

Checkbox: This application:

• Requires quotes and estimates and they have been uploaded
• Does not require quotes or estimates 

Question: Is this project part of a larger project? Yes/No 

• If "yes" is selected:
  • What is the total project cost? 
  • How much funding have you secured from sources excluding OTF?
  • List the sources of secured funding for this project and indicate how the funds will be used.
  • If applicable, what is your plan to obtain any unsecured funds required for this project?

Project Description

Question: To complete your project description, describe your project in 20 words.

[Grantee Operating Name] will use a $XX Seed grant grant over XX months to [describe your project up to 20 words].

Acknowledgements

Review OTF’s Policies and confirm that your organization and this project comply with OTF's requirements.

Checkbox: I have reviewed OTF’s policies and I confirm that my organization and this project comply with OTF’s requirements.
 

Checkbox: The information contained in this application and the accompanying documents is true, accurate and complete.

Checkbox: I understand the importance of avoiding any conflicts of interest (or the appearance thereof) when obtaining goods and/or services.

Checkbox: I understand that should this application be approved, our organization will be required to enter into a formal, legally binding agreement with the Ontario Trillium Foundation that is based on the information in this application and includes the terms and conditions of the grant.

Checkbox: A representative with designated signing/decision-making authority for our organization has authorized this application.

Checkbox: I understand that if this application is approved, my organization may be required to submit updated organization information at any time throughout the life of the grant.