Resilient Communities Fund Application Questions

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Non-profit organizations that are interested in applying for a Resilient Communities Fund grant are encouraged to review the application questions below and take note of the required file uploads. Ensure you prepare all required information prior to starting the online application.

Important dates and deadlines

Grant application period 1: Application will be available as of January 4, 2023, with an application deadline of February 1, 2023, at 5 PM ET. (Closed)
Grant application period 2: Application will be available as of September 27, 2023, with an application deadline of October 25, 2023, at 5 PM ET. (Closed)

Organizations that are approved for a Resilient Communities Fund grant from the February 1,2023 deadline will not be eligible to receive a grant from the October 25, 2023, deadline.

Find out more about the Resilient Communities Fund

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, Métis or Inuit community
A municipality with a population of 20,000 or less, or their cultural and recreational agencies, including public libraries and museums

Note

The following entities are not eligible for OTF funding:

A municipality with a population of over 20,000, and their agencies
A conservation authority or the conservation authority's foundation(s)
An unincorporated branch or chapter of a registered charity or incorporated not-for-profit organization
A for-profit organization or the for-profit organization’s foundation(s)
A university/college, hospital, school and or an agency or a foundation of one of these organizations
An agency of provincial or federal government

Additionally:

Collaborative projects must be led by an eligible organization that is registered with OTF and that accepts responsibility for the grant.
Organizations that are both an incorporated not‐for‐profit and a registered charity are to apply as a charity
A Chartered Community Council, operating under the Métis Nation of Ontario is to apply through the Métis Nation of Ontario
Inuit-led organizations are to apply as either a charitable organization or an incorporated not for profit organization, as applicable
A municipality with a population of 20,000 or less is eligible to:
- apply for funding in OTF’s Active People Action Area fostering more active lifestyles, or in OTF’s Inspired People Action Area supporting arts, culture and heritage projects; and
- apply for its cultural or recreation agencies, including municipal libraries and museums.
County Library Boards and Local Services Boards are to apply as a municipality with a population of 20,000 or less

Question: Your organization's legal name.

Question: Your organization's charitable or incorporation number, and year of registration.

Question: Your organization's Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number. Learn more about submitting your business number.

Question: Your organization's operating name.

Question: Your organization's address:

Street Address/RR or PO Box #
City, Province, Postal Code (format X1X 1X1)
Phone
Website (If none enter N/A)

Question: If your organization is active on social media, provide the handles you operate under. For example, @ONTrillium is OTF's Twitter handle.

Question: Your organization's mission statement. Max. 200 words.

Question: Your organization's typical activities, services or programs and number of people served annually. 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: Does your organization offer programs and/or services in both official languages? Yes/No

If organization selects yes: How is your organization mandated to offer programs and/or services in both official languages? 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 organization selects yes:

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: 

In care/leaving care
Low income
Newcomers/refugees
People with disabilities
People living with mental health challenges/addiction
Underhoused/homeless
General Population

Identity of population served:

Black
Indigenous or Aboriginal
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 Statements

Financial health

File upload: Upload your organization's most recent completed financial statements and surplus or deficit information, if required. Ensure you are submitting the required financial statements based on your organization's fiscal year-end date and total revenues.

Note: While all organizations must meet OTF’s Financial Statement requirements, Municipalities, First Nations, Métis or Inuit communities are not required to submit financial statements in their grant application.

Learn more about OTF's financial statement requirements

Board of Directors

Governance

Question: Does your organization have three or more 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

Answer yes if: board members and organization executives are not married or related to each other, do not work as business partners or are otherwise in a relationship where interests may be compromised.
Answer no if: board members and organization executives are married or related to each other, do work as business partners or are otherwise in a relationship where interests may be compromised.

Question: List your organization's Board of Directors information:

First name
Last name
Term start date
Term end date
Position
Arm’s Length (Yes/No)

Note:

All organizations must meet OTF’s Board of Directors requirements. However, Municipalities, First Nations, Métis or Inuit communities are not required to submit Board of Director information in their grant application.
Your organization must have a minimum of three active board members. Term end dates must be on or after the grant application deadline date.
To be eligible for funding, at least 50% must maintain an arm’s length relationship to each other.

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

Project Information

Question: Only project activities that take place in Ontario are eligible for OTF funding. Will the project activities funded by OTF take place in Ontario? Yes/No

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

Question: Choose the Action Area that your organization’s work or mission/mandate best fits:

Active People: Fostering more active lifestyles
Connected People: Building inclusive and engaged communities together
Green People: Encouraging people to support a healthy and sustainable environment
Inspired People: Enriching people’s lives through arts, culture and heritage
Promising Young People: Supporting the positive development of children and youth
Prosperous People: Enhancing people’s economic wellbeing

Note: A municipality with a population of 20,000 or less is eligible to apply for funding in the Active People Action Area fostering more active lifestyles or in the Inspired People Action Area supporting arts, culture and heritage projects.

Question: For each category below, select the population that this project will serve:

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: 

In care/leaving care
Low income
Newcomers/refugees
People with disabilities
People living with mental health challenges/addiction
Underhoused/homeless
General Population

Identity of population served:

Black
Indigenous or Aboriginal
2SLGBTQIA+
Other racialized groups 
General Population

Question: Select the community size primarily served by your organization:

Rural or small
Mid-size
Urban centres

Question: Select the age group primarily served by your organization:

Children (0-12)
Youth (13-24)
Adults (25-64)
Seniors (65+)
All ages

Question: What capacity is your organization currently operating at (as a percentage)?

100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10% or less

The following questions will be used to assess your grant application

Question: What is your requested term? Select one:

6 months
12 months
18 months
24 months

Question: What is your project start date? The project start date cannot be earlier than February 20, 2024 and no later than June 20, 2024.

Question: In which OTF catchment area will your project have the greatest impact? Select one from the dropdown. To find your catchment, use OTF’s catchment search tool.

Note: The main impact of project activities needs to be in one of OTF’s catchment area.

Question: Select the census division.

Question: Is your organization applying as a collaborative? Yes/No

A collaborative is a group of two or more organizations (each with specific roles and responsibilities) working together on an initiative to achieve a common goal that will share decision-making and accountability for mutual benefit. To be eligible for an OTF grant, a lead organization in the collaborative must be eligible and accept legal responsibility for the grant application, the grant, and the project that will be delivered by the collaborative.

For more information, refer to the Collaborative Agreement page and the Eligibility Policy.

File upload: If yes, upload your Collaborative Agreement.

Question: Add the names of the organizations listed in your Collaborative Agreement in the Collaborative Table provided.

Assessment Criteria #1: Current organizational challenges

The organization has clearly articulated the challenges they are facing to recover and build resilience.

Scoring weight: 10%

Question: What challenges is your organization facing in its efforts to recover and build its capacity, resilience and sustainability? Select all that apply.

Delivering on Mission
Generating Revenue
Meeting demand for programs and services that are at or over capacity
Addressing participation in programs and services with low demand
Developing and implementing long-term or strategic planning
Delivering programs and services where there is insufficient infrastructure and technology
Delivering programs and services where there is insufficient or a lack of relevant program content
Delivering programs and services where there is insufficient digital skills or other necessary knowledge of staff and volunteers
Operating facility or physical location, including reopening offices and offering in-person programs or services
Accessing third-party physical location for programs and services, such as schools, camps, municipal facilities
Accessing necessary volunteers due to low volunteer participation or availability
Meeting health and safety needs of staff and volunteers including implementing related policies
Addressing the mental and physical well-being of staff, such as staff burnout
Meeting staff payroll
Hiring necessary staff due to low availability
Operating facility or physical location due to rent or mortgage stress
Accessing necessary supplies/equipment due to supply chain issues

Question: Based on the checkbox(es) you selected, elaborate on how your organization’s ability to deliver programs and services or otherwise sustain operations has been impacted. Max. 200 words

Assessment Criteria #2: Organization supports diverse, underrepresented, and/or vulnerable populations

Organization has clearly demonstrated that its purpose and/or programming positively impact populations experiencing barriers such as socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, abilities and/or racial.

Scoring weight: 10%

Question: The Resilient Communities Fund seeks to support diverse communities and underrepresented populations. Tell us how your organization’s purpose and/or programming positively impact populations experiencing barriers such as socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, abilities and/or racial. Max. 75 words.

Assessment Criteria #3: Strategy

The strategy is well thought out and explains how the organization plans to recover and build their resilience based on the challenges and outcomes selected.

The project is clearly articulated and reasonable for addressing the noted challenges.
Alignment with OTF’s Resilient Communities Fund outcomes is clear.
If applicable, the equipment costs are appropriate to address the noted challenges.

Scoring weight: 45%

Project outcomes

The Resilient Communities Fund has defined a set of flexible outcomes to choose from to help your organization recover and build capacity, resilience and sustainability.

Question: Select the outcome(s) you hope to achieve with this OTF grant. Select up to three.

Develop and implement medium to long-term plans to address needs related to recovering, and/or building capacity, resilience and sustainability such as: revenue generation, strategic planning, research and development, and resource, knowledge and data sharing.
- E.g., Organizational training and coaching; strategic planning and implementation; operational planning; developing fundraising plans; strategic planning for mergers; seek opportunities for public-private partnerships and social finance; planning to attract/retain staff and/or volunteers; cybersecurity planning.

Provide supports to staff and volunteers to adapt to organizational changes related to recovery and building resilience.
- E.g., Mental and physical health and wellbeing supports, peer learning, professional development, networking.

Adapt or add-new program and service delivery to meet the changing needs of the community.
- E.g., Research and development; identify new health and safety processes and required personal protective equipment; technology supports; community consultation to understand emerging needs; resource, knowledge and data sharing; feasibility studies; program implementation.

Expand previously adapted programs and services to meet the changing needs of the community.
- E.g., Continue program/service previously adapted to meet needs; scale access to program/service previously adapted; improve quality of programs already being delivered.

Meet public health guidelines, safely deliver programs and services and/or prepare for future disruptions through the purchase of necessary equipment and/or technological infrastructure.
- E.g., Identify fundraising and financial technology resource, as well as equipment to meet changing technology; or convert to cloud-based data systems to enable business continuity in future work disruptions; procure technology to effectively transition between office and home working conditions; planning and/or procurement needed to meet relevant public health standard.

Question: Based on the challenges and outcome(s) selected, describe how your project will achieve each outcome. Max. 150 words for each outcome selected.

Assessment Criteria #4: Process

The process is well thought out and identifies the steps needed for recovery.

Key project activities are strongly aligned with the organization’s recovery and/or resilience strategy
It is feasible to carry out the key project activities in the stated timeline
The budget is reasonable and aligned to key project activities
Quotes are provided for expenses over $10,000

When defining key project activities, keep in mind the high-level activities that are needed to take place for you to complete your project. Focus on the key steps or milestone activities for your project rather than specific tasks.

Examples of key project activities:

Engage a consultant to work with staff to re-design a mentoring program
Virtually convene stakeholders to determine gaps, challenges and opportunities
Purchase and implement training on the technology requirements to operate virtually
Develop resources and train mentors and mentees on virtual mentoring
Deliver weekly mentoring program and seek participant feedback

Scoring weight: 35%

Question: What are the key project activities that you will complete to successfully implement the project and achieve each of the selected outcomes? Max. 75 words for each outcome.

Question: Where will the impact of your project activities be? Indicate the community, city, town.

Financial Workbook

Question: How much funding are you requesting from OTF? This number auto-populates based on the information submitted in the financial workbook.

Eligible costs you can apply for include:

Direct Personnel Costs
Direct Non-Personnel Costs
- Purchased Services
- Workshops, Meetings, Convening
- Supplies and Materials
- Travel
- Evaluation (max. 10% of OTF grant budget)
- Non-fixed equipment and/or technological infrastructure (max. $150,000 of OTF grant budget)
Overhead and Administration Costs (max. 15% of OTF grant budget)

Ask for only what you need – OTF funds full request amounts only and OTF wants to fund as many Resilient Communities Fund applications as possible.

Ensure the costs you request will enable you to complete the project and are therefore aligned with the project activities/outcomes.

Budget notes are required up to a maximum of 100 words - be clear about your funding needs by providing a breakdown of the costs for which you are seeking OTF funding. Budget notes should apply only to the identified costs.

Read the Financial Workbook Instructions

Quotes or estimates

For each good and/or service valued above $10,000, OTF requires that a minimum of one quote or estimate be uploaded with the grant application. However, OTF prefers to receive two or more quotes or estimates to help your organization establish accurate budget amounts and demonstrate the best value for money.

Multiple sub-contracts with a supplier on the same project will be considered as a cumulative total. This means if the total of these goods and/or services exceeds $10,000, a minimum of one itemized quote or estimate (preferably two or more from different suppliers) needs to be uploaded. An itemized quote or estimate breaks down the cost of each good and service into line items.
All documentation needs to be prepared by a third-party professional and must be obtained within 6 months prior to the application deadline.

File upload: Upload your quotes.

Checkbox: Select the confirmation box that applies to your application (select one):

I confirm that quotes or estimates are required for this application and have been uploaded.
I confirm that quotes or estimates are not required for this application.

Project Description

This description will be used on the OTF website and grant contract if the grant application is approved.

Question: Describe your project using up to 20 words:

Our: organization/group/First Nation/Inuit community/Métis community/municipality, (select one from pick-list) with a $xx Resilient Communities Fund grant, (auto-populates based on request amount) will build its resilience and sustainability by: Describe your project using up to 20 words.

Acknowledgements

Checkbox: I have read the Financial Workbook Instructions and confirm that the budget request complies with OTF policies and requirements.

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

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

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: I have reviewed the Recognition Policy and agree, that if our project is approved for OTF funding, we will publicly recognize OTF’s investment in the project.

Checkbox: I understand that Ontario Trillium Foundation will not reimburse any expenses incurred prior to being notified of grant approval.

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