POLICY MANUAL: Grants in Aid (Policy #: 1600-012)

POLICY MANUAL

PURPOSE:

This grant program is designed to assist not-for-profit societies in good standing with the Registrar of Companies and other non-profit and community organizations in achieving their objectives.

POLICY:

1. Each year Council may provide an amount of funding equal to 5% of the Town’s share of the prior year’s funding received from the View Royal Casino. 1.1. Council may approve up to 95% of the annual funding to be allocated to applications received by the deadline date. The balance may be allocated throughout the remainder of the year as determined by Council.
2. Except for special circumstances, only applications for specific projects, special events, or annual operational programs that will take place from January 1st in the current calendar year to March 31st in the following calendar year will be considered.
3. Retroactive grant in aid applications will not be approved.
4. New applicants may be asked to appear before Council to speak to their application.
5. Preference will be provided to applications from organizations based in View Royal or those that provide a service to View Royal residents.
6. In order to eliminate indirect funding, a grant will not be issued to an organization that in turn issues grants to other organizations unless the applicant can demonstrate to Council that grant monies received from the Town will not be used to fund grants to other organizations.
7. Any direct or indirect benefit from a permissive tax exemption must be declared in the application.

PROCEDURES:

Application Process

1. The official application form, with all required supporting documentation, must be submitted to the Town by mail, email, or fax.
2. The application must include: 2.1. Resolution of the organization’s Board of Directors requesting the Town for a grant in aid to support the specified project; 2.1.1. If there is no Board of Directors, a statement of request must be signed by the majority of the members of the non-profit or community organization. 2.2. Mission statement of the organization; 2.3. Nature and goals of the project or program; 2.4. Statement of projected revenue and expenditures of the project or program; 2.5. Clear statement of the amount requested; 2.6. Names of those involved in carrying out the project or program, and if applicable, a list of the Board of Directors; 2.7. Summary of direct and indirect benefits to the Town of View Royal; 2.8. Financial statements of the organization for the prior fiscal year.
3. If the organization submitting an application received a grant in the previous year, copies of the printed material (ads, press release, programs etc,), which acknowledged the financial support of the Town, must be included with the application.
4. Completed application packages must be received by March 1st of each year.

Assessment Process

1. All grant requests will be forwarded to the Committee of the Whole for consideration. a. If the grant requests does not meet all criteria within this Policy, staff will indicate what criteria is not met, and why. b. If the application is missing information, staff will indicate what information is missing along with the reason it is missing.
2. The Committee of the Whole will make recommendations on grant funding to Council.
3. To access the funds after the March 1st deadline, applicants shall submit an application to Council and appear before Council to speak to their request for funding.

Conditions of Funding

1. The applicant must acknowledge the support of the Town in all printed and publicity material related to the project, event, or program;
2. Funds must be used for the purpose for which they were requested. Any funds not used for the requested purpose must be returned to the Town.
3. Funds will be released as follows: a. Grants in aid provided for annual programs will be released at 100% at time of approval by Council; b. Grants in aid provided for special projects or events will be released at 50% at time of approval by Council and 50% after receipt of the final report; c. Conditional grants in aid will be paid 100% upon satisfactory proof that the conditions, as set by Council, have been met.
4. Organizations receiving grants from the Town shall provide an accounting of the project or program for which the grant was approved as follows: a. Where the grant in aid was for a specific project or event, the applicant must submit a final report within 45 days after the project or event is complete. b. Where the grant in aid was in support of an annual program, the applicant must submit a final report within 60 days of the end of the organization’s fiscal year.
5. An final report must include the following information: i. Evaluation of the project, event, or program; ii. Financial statement of actual revenue and expenses for the project, event, or program; iii. Attendance figures, if applicable; iv. Number of participants in the project, event, or program; and v. Evaluation of the direct and indirect benefits to the Town.
6. In the event that the project or program is not completed, the grant recipient organization must notify the Town as soon as practical and refund any grant funds that have been provided for that project.

DISTRIBUTION: Electronic file Y:\Administration\0340 Circulars, Directives, Orders, Manuals, Policies\50 Policies and procedures\Policies - Final\1600 - Finance