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Granting FAQ

Granting FAQ

Foundation staff work hard to ensure your proposal review is efficient and transparent, as the application process can be long and involved.

Below is a list of the most common questions and issues grant applicants bring to us. This FAQ also details some strategies for successful proposals.

Do you have other questions? Let us know.

Eligibility
Evaluation
Writing the Proposal
- Are there any pitfalls to proposal writing I should avoid?
- What should I keep in mind when writing my proposal?
Procedural Questions
Priorities, Restrictions and Categories
Other
- I would like to talk to someone to find out if our project might be considered. Who should I call? Can I e-mail a summary and get an opinion on whether our project might qualify?
- How can I arrange to meet with someone to discuss an organization or project?

Eligibility

Is my organization eligible for a grant?

Under the Income Tax Act, the Foundation may make grants only to "qualified donees"; for the most part this means federally registered charities.

Note that not-for-profit organizations do not automatically receive charitable status, and many choose not to apply for it. For more information about becoming a registered charity, see the Canada Revenue Agency's publications on this topic.

If your organization is not a qualified donee, we cannot make a grant. If you have applied for your charitable registration and have not yet received a number, but want to begin discussing a possible grant, please contact us.

Is my project eligible?

The Foundation has certain permanent restrictions on what it will consider for funding. In many cases, the Foundation is already working in some specific fields through internal initiatives and active programs . Therefore, in some areas, we are unlikely to consider new projects for the time being; in others, projects are being considered by invitation only.

What areas will the Foundation NOT consider at this time?

The Foundation often restricts its funding in certain areas; however, these restrictions evolve over time, and we encourage organizations to revisit this section before submitting any new application.

Arts and Culture: The Foundation is not currently considering new proposals in the field of arts and culture. Projects qualifying under the terms of our interest in social inclusion may be considered.
Community Economic Development: Granting in this area has concluded and new applications are not being accepted.
Community Leadership: Projects intended to develop leadership within communities are not being considered beyond the Foundation’s own initiatives.
Grants to post-secondary institutions: The Foundation has focused its granting to Canadian universities on the introduction of Community Service-Learning programs, and is not accepting further applications at this time. Community organizations with well-developed strategies for linking their work to universities are invited to apply.
Health and caregiving: Most health-related projects fall under one of the permanent restrictions mentioned above.

What are the key elements of a successful proposal?

The following are crucial elements to a proposal that will be read and appreciated by Foundation staff – as well as by other potential grantmakers.

In clear, jargon-free language, applications should outline a problem of national significance and a summary description of a specific project intended to address it. The application should demonstrate that the project is based on community demand (rather than being “provider-driven”) and should outline what new might be learned from the project, how it will be evaluated and how it will provide a tangible benefit for the community through specific actions.
Organizations should demonstrate their potential contribution and identify what makes them uniquely suited to undertake the project. In particular, we are interested in projects that
- Are consistent with the Foundation's vision and mission;
- encourage people, organizations and institutions to connect and engage in new ways;
- reflect the needs and capacities of people and communities;
- show the potential to build, develop and share knowledge, peer learning and/or innovative approaches;
- lead to clear and tangible benefits for communities;
- ideally include an evaluation framework that supports both the development and the outcome of the project.

What are the key elements of a successful program?

In order to be considered for a potential grant, a project must not only have a strong proposal, but should also demonstrate the following characteristics:

Clear rationale: The Foundation believes that fostering engagement and resilience requires strategic analysis and action. Consequently, an effective plan includes a clear statement of the challenge to be addressed and its context.
Organizational strength: In our view, organizations most likely to be effective share certain qualities. These include a clear sense of mission and goals, a supportive and involved constituency, capable management, committed volunteers, an experienced and supportive board, and an ability to learn continuously from experience.
Effective strategies: In our experience, well thought-out strategies that lead to effective action and sustainable impact involve one or more of the following:
- collaboration, which bridges groups, organizations and sectors to forge partnerships capable of generating and sustaining long-term improvements;
- inclusiveness, which values diverse traditions and talents and which enhances "connectedness" especially for those who have traditionally faced obstacles or lacked opportunity;
- innovativeness: prosperity and wellbeing today depend on openness to change, an entrepreneurial spirit and energy, and a willingness to adopt new ways of thinking or new organizational forms; knowledge:
- a learning culture which values innovation not as an end it itself, but as a way of finding practical solutions and building and sharing knowledge about "what works."
Long-term horizon: Not all initiatives need to be sustained, but for those that have the potential for lasting change, the Foundation encourages organizations to think carefully about sustainability and to develop a plan that outlines how the desired change will be maintained over time.
Evaluation: The Foundation encourages and supports a range of evaluation activities. Generally, strong proposals address the need to incorporate provisional outcomes or emergent learnings into ongoing program design. They also include a plan to assess outcomes against objectives and how progress and success will be measured.
Knowledge and dissemination: Our grantees are innovating and learning in many areas. We encourage applicants to develop a plan to share the knowledge that arises from their work with others in their field. This could involve creating or joining a community of practice, simply telling the story in a new way, or another activity that is appropriate for the kind of knowledge that is to be shared.

Evaluation

Why should I include an ‘evaluation component’ to my application?

At the Foundation, we value evaluation as a tool to improve our own work, as well as that of the organizations we fund. We see evaluation as an integral part of the grant, not something that is tacked on as an “extra” at the end of the granting period. As early as the grant application stage, you should think about how your project might benefit from evaluation.

Please note that if your activity or project has already been evaluated, you should mention it in your application. You may be asked later on to provide a copy of earlier reports.

Sometimes, an outside or formal evaluation is not appropriate because of the developmental phase the project is in, its circumstance or other factors. In these cases, informal, internal reflection and assessment may be sufficient to bring out lessons of value to the grantee.

In other cases, a project may benefit from a form of evaluation to uncover what works, what doesn’t, and why, for example when:

the project is based on an assumption or hypothesis that needs to be tested;
the project targets organizational development and learning that need to be systematically and deliberately documented, tracked and assessed;
the project aspires to an important social change that requires a long-term approach.

How do I add an ‘evaluation component’ to my application?

If you have decided that the project would benefit from formal evaluation, you will see that our application requirements invite you to provide a brief description of how you propose to evaluate the project.

Your project budget should include a line item for the amount you plan to invest in evaluation. The scale of an evaluation and its cost should be in proportion to the scope of the project and the organization's capacity to participate in an external review. Generally, such expenses do not exceed 5% of the budget.

There is no single right approach to evaluation. In preparing your application, think about

why you might want to conduct an evaluation
what you want to evaluate
who would benefit from the lessons generated
how you will integrate and act on those lessons

These are important questions to ask and should determine what approach to evaluation will be most relevant, and in what form the resulting information will be most useful.

What is the distinction between ‘monitoring’ and ‘evaluation’?

Monitoring
Every grant provided by the Foundation is monitored through progress and final reports submitted by the grantee. In a sense, this is the Foundation’s accountability mechanism for its grantees.

Through these reports, as well as site visits and other exchanges, we ensure the funds were disbursed as agreed between the Foundation and the grantee, and that the activities were carried out as planned and produced the anticipated outputs.

An output is the counting or measure of the volume of work such as level of participation or number of people served. Usually the anticipated outputs are clarified during the application review process.

Evaluation
Evaluation is a learning tool. Many projects offer opportunities to create new learning about strategies or approaches that would be useful for the grantee, other organizations, the Foundation or the field in general.

Unlike the mechanism to monitor a grant, the Foundation does not have a standard evaluation method. Each evaluation is tailored to the specific grant and is used to examine the outcomes which were created by the activities and outputs.

Where can I find more information on evaluation?

There are a number of excellent online resources on the issue of evaluation models. We recommend the following:

W. K. Kellogg Foundation: One of the early pioneers in evaluation for grantmakers. Excellent free resources under the knowledge base section of the website.
Harvard Family Research Project: A useful site, with electronic subscription to quarterly bulletins. Focused on family research, but provides broader thinking about evaluation generally.
The James Irvine Foundation: Strong focus on evaluation, resources available from website for non-profits and foundations.
Outcome Measurement Resource Network: A wide variety of resources on the evaluation of American United Way projects.
Canadian Evaluation Society: Some useful resources, mainly oriented toward evaluation practitioners.
Voluntary Sector Evaluation Research Project (VSERP): VSERP offers an extensive variety of publications, links and other tools related to evaluation, as well as research papers produced by the Project and its partner organizations. Its goal is to improve the capacity of voluntary organizations to evaluate their work and communicate their effectiveness to their funders, stakeholders and the public.
Social Return on Investment: Calculating a price on social value through metrics that quantify and monetize social value, including a web tool for non-profits to calculate their own SROI.

Writing the Proposal

Are there any pitfalls to proposal writing I should avoid?

Yes. Consider the following. Don’t:

Send a generic, "one size fits all" request with no reference to the specific foundation's funding guidelines or interests;
Send a list of possible project ideas and invite the foundation to select the one that most interests them;
Tell the foundation that their funds are required to match a government grant;
Ask for 100% of the funds you need from a single source;
Send a 20-page proposal with numerous attachments—or, alternatively, a one-page letter with minimal information;
Use jargon or acronyms that are not spelled out;
Request a meeting (or feedback on an idea by telephone) in advance of sending anything in writing;
Approach a family member (if a family foundation) or board members directly to ask for their support;
Send a request to the wrong name at the right address or the right name at the wrong address.

What should I keep in mind when writing my proposal?

When engaged in any kind of application or proposal writing for a prospective funder, consider the following:

Take the time to find out as much as you can about a foundation before approaching them (through their website, annual reports, etc.);
Tailor your request to the interests of the particular foundation (we're all different);
Send your request in the form specified by the foundation. For example, some foundations do not accept applications by email, while others prefer that format;
Make sure you send your letter of enquiry to the person who is identified as the contact person. Sending it to another person could delay the processing of your application.
Send brief letters of enquiry containing all of the pertinent information;
When submitting a full proposal, include an executive summary;
Come to the point. Somewhere near the beginning of your proposal, state in one or two sentences precisely what you want to do, and what part of the project the foundation’s grant would be used for;
Advise the foundation of other potential or actual funders, any prior evaluations that have been conducted, and how you plan to evaluate the project over the course of the grant;
Demonstrate that you are submitting the proposal as part of a longer-term strategy and that if the project is not slated to end, steps will be taken to ensure it is sustainable beyond the period of foundation funding;
Demonstrate community support (volunteer hours, financial contributions, etc.). Indeed it can be effective to have a board member or other active volunteer write the covering letter;
Whenever possible, show that you will be collaborating with other organizations in implementing your project;
Continue to approach a foundation from time to time (but not too frequently!) even if you have been declined; foundations evolve and priorities change (be sure to do your homework—have another look at their website, annual reports, etc.).

Procedural Questions

Is there a deadline for submitting my application? When does your Board meet?

The Foundation’s Board of Trustees meets four times a year. However, applicants should send an application when it is ready, without concern for the date of the next meeting. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months to develop a proposal for presentation to the Board, and relatively few applications reach this stage. Therefore applications are received and reviewed throughout the year, and there is no deadline for their submission.

What happens to my application once it is submitted? How long does it take to get a decision?

You will receive an acknowledgement of your request immediately. Requests receive a preliminary review by members of our staff and are then discussed at meetings held once or twice a month. At this point, a proposal may be declined, or staff may decide to study it further, and additional information may be requested from the applicant. Applicants should be aware that the process of preliminary review, consultation and decision-making may take up to four months.

The decisions on grants are made by the Foundation’s Board of Trustees.

What is the average amount of a grant? Is there a range of grant amounts the Foundation will consider?

There is no pre-established limit for grants. Without being bound by rigid and extensive rules, the Foundation emphasizes making relatively large grants of one to three years duration, for initiatives that have a pan-Canadian scope, rather than many small, short-term grants to local projects. See the section "What we do" and the grants database for more detail on the size and scope of the Foundation's grants.

Can proposals be submitted in French?

The Foundation is pleased to receive requests in both official languages.

Priorities, Restrictions and Categories

I prepared an application my organization believes is a perfect fit for the Foundation’s granting priorities and current active programs. Can we be certain that our project will be approved?

The Foundation’s resources are finite, and even within its current granting mandate, certain priorities must be considered, and many requests are turned down. This is not a negative evaluation of the project, nor of the dedication and hard work of those involved, but simply reflects the Foundation’s need to make choices.

Can a grant application be submitted for a project in our local community?

While recognizing that much creativity and many new ideas emerge from the local community level, the Foundation's mandate to work country-wide means that we will only support activities that address issues of national significance and that are potentially scalable. By this we mean that solutions developed and tested locally can be translated into larger scale action. For some examples of “scaling up”, see the descriptions of Opération Nez Rouge, The Child Development Institute’s Centre for Children Committing Offences, Roots of Empathy, and JUMP.

I am an individual (artist, researcher, community worker, etc.) involved in exciting and useful work. Can I get a grant from the Foundation?

The Foundation can only make grants to organizations defined as “qualified donees” by the Federal government.

Our organization has received a grant from the government, but we need to match it with other funds. Will the Foundation consider such requests?

The Foundation does not blend its grants with those of the government, and does not normally provide grants to match government funding if the latter is conditional upon further fund-raising or contributions.

Other

I would like to talk to someone to find out if our project might be considered. Who should I call? Can I e-mail a summary and get an opinion on whether our project might qualify?

If you have read about our granting priorities and believe that your project fits, please submit an application. In so doing, you will not be limited by the opinion of a single individual, but will ensure that your request receives full and fair consideration. The online form has been designed to be brief and simple in order to make it easy for applicants to submit a preliminary proposal; if more information is needed, we will contact you.

How can I arrange to meet with someone to discuss an organization or project?

Visits to the Foundation's offices are initiated by invitation only. Since the Foundation operates with a relatively small staff, it would be difficult to meet with everyone who would like to come in to talk to us about a project, and unfair to meet with some applicants and not with others. In addition, it is much more fruitful for us to discuss a project after we have been able to study both the application itself and the surrounding issues.

It is for this reason that we ask grant applicants to submit a proposal using our online form. The application is reviewed carefully by the staff and if more information is required, it will be requested. If it is felt that a meeting would be helpful, it is arranged at that time.

Other questions? Email them to us at information@mcconnellfoundation.ca