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Town of Goderich – Community Grant Program
The Town of Goderich has a Community Grant Program which provides limited funding to community groups and organizations, within the Town, for projects that enhance and enrich the community. As part of the annual budget process, Council will make all funding decisions based on local needs and priorities, as determined by Council.
These guidelines are intended to provide structure leading to consistency and fairness in the disposition of requests for assistance. The guidelines do not and are not intended to fetter Council's absolute discretion.
NOTICE - Grant application deadline for a 2024 Community Grant is December 31, 2023. Applications received after this deadline will not be considered.
Types of support available through the community grant process:
Financial payment
Use of municipal Property/facilities at reduced or no cost
Fee waivers (permits, licenses etc.)
Municipal Staff support
Equipment supply
Materials supply
ELIGIBILITY:
Community grants are available to not-for-profit groups that have volunteer-based management structure and membership. The organizations must demonstrate efficient use of resources, sound business practices, self-reliance and the development of volunteer knowledge and skills.
Preference will be given to services that align with the Town’s strategic plan and to groups that are based in the Town.
Project/Event categories that Community Grants are intended to support are as follows:
Youth/Senior Events
Community Betterment
Community Special Events
Community Service
Tourism and Economic Development
Arts/Culture/Heritage
Council recognizes that there may be worthy requests that may not fit within this statement of general principles and guidelines. Nothing in this policy prevents Council from making grants to entities at times and for purposes outside of the scope of this policy.
All grant requests will be assessed in terms of:
a) Benefit to the Community
b) Proportion and segment of the Community benefiting
c) Organization’s financial need
PROGRAM GUIDELINES:
All grant requests shall be submitted and directed to the Treasurer, on or before December 31 in order to be considered during the budget process for the upcoming calendar year.
Under normal circumstances, only one request per organization is to be considered per year.
Funds granted under this program are not transferable between projects or groups without prior Council approval and must be used for the specific purposes outlined.
In the event that the project does not go forward, the grant recipient shall return those funds granted for the proposed project.
Community grant requests will not automatically be considered in subsequent years. A new submission must be filed for each year in which a grant is requested.
The grant shall not be the primary source of funding for the project or organization. Grants will be supplementary to main sources of funding.
The Town of Goderich, through its grant process, will not contribute to outstanding deficits.
Funding requests of = or <$500
A brief submission addressing the following is sufficient:
- Name and purpose of the group as well as number of volunteer members
- Description of the service/event
- Resources requested eg. financial assistance amount, municipal staff support etc.
- Name and contact information of the person submitting the request
Funding requests of > $500
- Completion of the Community Grant Request Application Form is required.
Grant Request Application Form (Funding Period: January 1st, 2024- December 31st, 2024)
FUNDING REQUEST REVIEW :
All requests will be considered having regard for the Municipality's current budget allocation except where exceptional circumstances exist, as approved by Council.
The Treasurer's office will review all funding requests for completeness of information prior to submission to Council for consideration.
Incomplete requests will not be considered.
Council is the approval authority.
Funding approvals may be subject to additional conditions as imposed by Council.
The applicants will be notified of Council's decision once the municipal budget has been approved.
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Applicants awarded a grant will be held accountable for the expenditure of the funds in accordance with the stated objectives/plans.
All Community Grant recipients will provide a report to Council within 90 days following completion of the project providing the following information:
a) Certify that funds were spent on activities described in the grant application
b) Provide a brief report on the success of the project or cause/event
