Social Enterprise Capacity fund application guidelines

The purpose of the Social Enterprise Capacity Fund is to improve the ability of social enterprise organizations to better serve Peel’s priority populations in their time of need.

Priority populations:

• Adult
• Parents
• Men
• Women
• Non-Binary
• Youth
• Seniors
• Families
• Victims of family violence
• People with disabilities
• Ethnic or racial groups
• Unemployed
• Economically disadvantaged people
• LGBTQQIP2SAA peoples
• Aboriginal peoples
• Newcomers, immigrants, refugees, and undocumented immigrants

Eligible applicants must:

• Be an organization physically located in Peel Region, planning to operate your social enterprise in Peel and/or primarily serving Peel residents.
• Be mandated to provide human and community services
• Be incorporated as a not-for-profit organization for a minimum 2 years. The organization requires registration as a charity under the Canada Income Tax Act
• Be governed by a volunteer board of directors that is representative of the community it serves
• Comply with the Ontario Human Rights Code in hiring practices and provision of all of its services
• Have established and documented financial management systems in place and be able to provide an annual audited financial statement or equivalent

Note: Applicants must demonstrate that the funding request will adhere to the Region of Peel Public Health Guidelines related to COVID-19.

Ineligible applicants include:

• Individuals
• For-profit organizations
• Organizations that do not currently operate a social enterprise or plan to be a fully operational social enterprise by summer 2022.

Project examples

Requests for the Social Enterprise Capacity Fund can include:

• Professional fees to assist in the development or revision of organizational plans, business plans, feasibility studies.
• Development of a performance evaluation framework
• Strategic assessment of current programs and services
  

Ineligible expenses include (but are not limited to):

• Program development and operations
• Staff positions
• Transportation costs
• Refreshments
• Capital items

Each application that meets the general eligibility requirements will be reviewed by a Fund Review Committee comprised of Region of Peel staff and assessed based on the following criteria:

Demonstrated need

Applications are evaluated based on how well they demonstrate the following in their application.

• Applications are evaluated based on how well organizations use an evidence-based approach to identify and assess the nature of the social enterprise capacity project needs.
• Applicants must demonstrate through their objective statement, budget request, workplan, and Social Enterprise Overview Template, how this funding will improve their organizational capacity.

Financial sustainability

Applicants must demonstrate financial health. A financial assessment is included in the application review process.

The Community Investment Program completes a financial assessment as a part of the eligibility and approval process, to broadly assess risk present in not-for-profit funding applicants.

The following financial statements for the last two years must be submitted when completing your Service Provider Profile on GovGrants:

• 2 years of audited financial statements (signed and dated by auditor) if your organizational revenue is between $150,000 and $250,000.
• A Review Engagement Report if your organizational revenue is between $150,000 - $250,000
• A Notice to Reader Report if your organizational revenue is less than $150,000

The following statements are examples of what the reports are often titled, and the type of information usually found in these reports is provided in brackets: 

• Statement of Financial Position or Balance Sheet (Assets and Liabilities)
• Statement of Revenue and Expenses/Income Statement (Net surplus or Deficit)
• Statement of Operations and Net Assets (similar to Revenue and Expenses but includes Net Assets)
• Statement of Cash Flows
• YTD Actual Revenue and Expenses

In general, the documentation submitted needs to include the following information:  Assets, Liabilities, Revenue, Expenses, Net Assets (Capital)

The risk factors include benchmarks and financial ratios that are analyzed using the audited financial statements submitted by the organization.

The financial ratios are grouped in the following categories:

Liquidity

• Measures the ability to meet short-term financial obligations.

Leverage

• The ability to operate within the agency’s means during the year; assets that are financed by creditors; liabilities and debt.

Profitability

• The average of last two years of Surplus (Deficit).

Revenue

• Diversity of revenue sources.

Expenditures

• Looking for high proportion dedicated to delivering programs.

Non-profit capacity instrument domain alignment

Applicants must indicate the non-profit capacity instrument domain to which their initiative is most closely aligned:

1. Financial management
2. Adaptive capacity
3. Strategic planning
4. External communication
5. Board leadership
6. Operational capacity
7. Mission orientation
8. Staff management

The non-profit capacity instrument domain definitions can be found in Section 7 of the application: Glossary of Terms.

Social enterprise overview template

Applicants must clearly demonstrate the social mission of your social enterprise, how the social enterprise adapts its service delivery because of the COVID-19 pandemic and indicate which municipality the social enterprise operates in.

Equity

CIP recognizes the importance of equity and is committed to applying an equity lens to the funding program to ensure that the diversity of our local service providers and community are reflected in CIP decision-making, grant opportunities, policies and practices.

Measuring success

The goal of the funding request must align to one of the COVID-19 priority areas and improve the capacity of your organization, ultimately, leading to a positive impact on the community that your organization serves. Identify the measure of success that is aligned with your objective.

The goal of the proposed initiative should improve the capacity of your organization, ultimately, leading to a positive impact on the community that your organization serves. Identify the measure of success that is aligned with your objective.

Fund timelines

1. Application opens February 16, 2022.
2. Application closes March 7, 2022.
3. Applicants are notified of funding decision the week of March 14, 2022.
4. Funds distributed to successful applicants early April 2022.
5. Business plan development should take place in April 2022.
6. Expenses must be incurred by May 31, 2022.
7. Step 2 – Social Enterprise Fund opens in May 2022.

Reporting requirements

All approved funding recipients will be required to submit a final report and will receive the notification pertaining to the report through GovGrants.

Notification of funding decision

The application deadline is March 7, 2022. All applicants will be notified whether an application is approved or declined for funding. It is anticipated that funding decisions will be communicated 2 weeks after the fund submission deadline.

Recognition of CIP funding

CIP encourages all funding recipients to acknowledge Community Investment funding in all promotional and program materials. CIP will provide logo and terms of usage in various digital formats upon request.

Mandatory documents

The following mandatory documents must be submitted through GovGrants as a part of your application:

Submitted through the Service Provider Profile

• Articles of incorporation
• 2 years of audited financial statements
• YTD financial statement: An agency with revenue greater than $250K must submit 2 year audited financial statements (signed and dated by an auditor).
  • An agency with $0 - $150K revenue may submit a Notice to Reader
  • An agency with $150 - $250K revenue may submit a Review Engagement Report.
• Proof of insurance

Submitted as a component of the Social Enterprise Capacity Fund application

• Social Enterprise Overview Template
• Project workplan
• Quote – At least 1 quote for a consultant / subject matter expert should be provided.

Use this checklist before submitting your application through GovGrants

• Ensure that you register your agency in GovGrants and submit your Service Provider Profile (Articles of Incorporation and 2 years of audited financial statements or Review Engagement or Notice to Reader are mandatory documents required by all applicants as a part of the Service Provider Profile). Note: The process for completing the GovGrants registration and Service Provider Profile could take some time, so it is important that this is done as a first step.
• Remember to upload proof of insurance and keep in mind that the applicant is responsible to ensure proper insurance is in place for any consultants, employees, general contractors, or sub-contractors hired by the applicant to carry out work related to the project.
• Remember to complete and upload your project workplan into GovGrants.
• Remember to complete and upload your Social enterprise overview template into GovGrants.
• Remember to upload at least 1 quote for a consultant or subject matter expert. If you already have a business plan and do not require funding, please apply directly to the Social Enterprise Fund that will launch in May 2022.
• Remember that all applications must adhere to the Region of Peel Public Health Guidelines related to COVID-19.

Glossary of terms

SMART Objectives: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.

Marginalized and equity seeking groups: a) Residents with low income; b) Residents that face precarious employment, underemployment and/or unemployment; c) Residents that face multiple barriers that prevent them from obtaining equitable and inclusive access to essential supports and services.

Capacity building tools: Documented strategies, policies or plans that assist an organization to improve their ability to support their staff, Board, volunteers, and clients.

Organizational capacity: Refers to the ability of an organization to fulfill its mission through a blend of sound management, strong governance, and a persistent rededication to assessing and achieving results.

Business plan:A written document describing the nature of the business, the sales and marketing strategy, and the financial background.

Technical support for GovGrants

You can contact:
Email cip@peelregion.ca
Phone Number: Anthony Lawrence 437-240-6344

On the application deadline date, technical support is only available until 5 p.m.