Today Vancouver Foundation, United Way British Columbia, and New Relationship Trust have launched the Recovery and Resiliency Fund – a new granting initiative that will inject a vital $34 million into the charitable and non-profit sector as it recovers from the pandemic and builds its capacity for long-term resiliency.
The Fund will provide three-year flexible grants of $50,000 and $72,000 to support organizations that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This includes smaller organizations with annual budgets of less than $1 million, organizations in rural and remote communities, and organizations led by equity-denied communities.
“We know that investing in the non-profit sector will lead to thriving communities,” said Niki Sharma, Parliamentary Secretary for Community Development and Non-Profits. “Non-profit organizations throughout the province will be able to apply for multi-year funding to make their organizations more resilient.”
“This new money for the sector is also bringing a new opportunity to do things differently,” says Kevin McCort, president and CEO of Vancouver Foundation. “We’ve come together with some of BC’s biggest funders with a shared desire to explore and test different ways of innovating grantmaking. In doing so, our goal is to meaningfully shift and share power with the communities we serve.”
Some of the ways in which the Fund is disrupting traditional grantmaking are:
- Organizations without charitable status are eligible to apply for a grant as long as their purpose is to benefit the community-at-large.
- By providing multi-year, flexible grants, the Fund is challenging the idea that the sector can and should do a lot with little and instead, is providing stability and shifting decision-making power to the grantee to use the funding as they see fit.
- Grants will be awarded by randomly selecting from a pool of eligible applications, removing competition between applicants based on merit, minimizing adjudication bias, and focusing awarding grants based on eligibility.
“United Way British Columbia is proud to partner with the Government of BC, New Relationship Trust and Vancouver Foundation on the Recovery and Resiliency Fund in supporting the charitable and non-profit sector in B.C. to continue to strengthen vital connections as it recovers from the pandemic and builds its capacity for long-term resiliency,” says Michael McKnight, President & CEO, United Way British Columbia. “We are also proud to be at the forefront with our funding partners in disrupting traditional grantmaking, and creating more innovative and accessible pathways in the sector.”
$5 million of the Fund has been earmarked for New Relationship Trust to grant directly to Indigenous-led organizations with more than $1 million in annual revenues. Indigenous-led applicants with annual budgets of less than $1 million can apply through Vancouver Foundation and United Way BC and will be assessed and supported by Vancouver Foundation’s Indigenous Priorities team (which is Indigenous-led).
“We are excited to collaborate with, and stand beside the Province of BC, Vancouver Foundation, and United Way British Columbia in delivering an initiative that advances reconciliation beyond the crossroads of just talk,” says Walter Schneider, CEO for New Relationship Trust. “A key commitment of reconciliation is the foundational understanding, knowledge, and willingness to meet Indigenous organizations where they are at on their own journey towards recovery and resiliency within their own contexts. We believe this initiative is at the vanguard of that commitment.”
Applications are now open at Vancouver Foundation and United Way BC until September 30, 2022. To learn more and apply now, visit: https://www.vancouverfoundation.ca/grants/recovery-and-resiliency-fund
Applications are now open for the Indigenous Resiliency and Recovery Grants at New Relationship Trust until September 30, 2022. To learn more and apply now, visit: https://www.newrelationshiptrust.ca/initiatives/indigenous-resilience-and-recovery-grant-initiative-guidelines-and-application/
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About Vancouver Foundation
Vancouver Foundation is dedicated to creating healthy, vibrant and livable communities across BC. Since 1943, our donors have created 1,800 endowment funds and together we have distributed more than $1 billion to charities. From arts and culture to the environment, health and social development, education, medical research and more, we exist to make meaningful and lasting improvements to communities in BC. Visit: www.vancouverfoundation.ca
About United Way British Columbia – working with communities in BC’s Interior, Lower Mainland and Central & Northern Vancouver Island
United Way supports healthy, caring and inclusive communities by strengthening vital connections that support people in need. Representing the six regions of Central and Northern Vancouver Island, East Kootenay, Lower Mainland, Southern Interior, Thompson Nicola Cariboo, and Trail and District, our organization serves a population of more than 4 million people, with a focus on kids and youth, seniors, poverty, mental health and food security.
www.uwbc.ca
About New Relationship Trust
In 2006, NRT was created by the BC Government and First Nations leadership and launched as a $100 million fund. NRT is mandated to support BC First Nation communities to build capacity in order to become healthy, prosperous and self-sufficient. To date, 98% of the 203 First Nations in BC have accessed NRT funding. Visit: www.newrelationshiptrust.ca
