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Funding Opportunity – Small Change Fund – Boreal program

Small Change Boreal Fund!

Are you working on an important, grassroots project that aims to protect Canada’s boreal forest ecosystems and the livelihoods of those who live there?

Would you like to promote your cause and engage donors in supporting your efforts in a new and innovative way?

If so, Small Change Fund wants to hear from you!

The Small Change Boreal Fund is an opportunity for approximately five grassroots projects across Canada to receive up to $5000 to support their community driven initative.  Small Change Fund can also help you promote your grassroots project, connect with donors and potentially receive matching funding to reach your fundraising goals.

SCF is a registered foundation that helps grassroots environmental and social justice projects carry out their important work in communities across Canada by enabling them to generate support that is simple, timely and responsive while building relationships with donors across the country.  With support from the Ivey Foundation and the Canadian Boreal Initiative until February 15, 2012, Small Change Fund will be able to provide additional direct funding to groups whose projects are featured on www.smallchangefund.org.

Please take a moment to review the details of this opportunity below and don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.

Details of the Small Change Boreal Fund Opportunity:

 

  • We accept project submissions from registered charities or registered Aboriginal bands in Canada. If you would like to discuss submitting a project or have any question regarding this submission process, please contact Dani LaGiglia at dani@smallchangefund.org.

 

 

  • Small Change Fund’s advisory committee will review your proposal and respond in a timely way to let you know whether your project will be profiled on the website.

If approved, your project will be profiled for up to 4 months on www.smallchangefund.org.  (All projects who apply will be vetted and are eligible to appear on our website.)

Between January 1, 2012 and February 15, 2012, up to five selected projects will also be eligible to receive up to $5000 direct funds from the Small Change Boreal Fund!

We will give you additional tips on how to use your networks to raise support and awareness for your project to ensure you reach your fundraising goals.

Please note: Submitting an application is not a guarantee that a project will be posted on www.smallchangefund.org or that a project will be funded. We can’t post all project submissions but we will post all those that our advisors feel are timely, compelling, and consistent with our focus on our environment and projects with a focus on First Nations, Inuit, and Metis peoples.

What We Do:

Small Change Fund was founded on a simple idea: people can make big change with small change. We connect people to grassroots projects across the country – projects like yours that just need a few dollars to realize their potential. We provide a platform for you to raise the funds you need from individual donors and other sources, and connect you to a community of grassroots action. Through Small Change Fund grassroots projects are getting the support they need.

Small Change Fund is a crowd-funding platform that aims to help your project get access to individual donors across Canada.  We believe in the power of people coming together to do good, and that their small change can, and will, make a big difference to you.

Why We Care About the Boreal:
The Canadian Boreal Forest stretches more than 5000 kms from the Yukon in the west to Newfoundland in the east.  The boreal is home to about two-thirds of Canada’s 140 000 species of plants, animals and micro-organisms and it is one of the largest intact ecosystems on the planet, however only 10% of Canada’s Boreal is protected.  The boreal is rich in natural resources that are under expanding pressures from industrial and resource extraction activity that is increasingly resulting in negatives impacts for regional ecosystems such as; water pollution, habitat loss and fragmentation, new threats to endangered species and air pollution.

How we can help:
Small Change Fund aims to support small-scale projects that both contribute to and represent the larger ambitions of boreal conservation in Canada.  We have the capacity to support you as you undertake important Boreal conservation projects through the use of social media to:
·     Reach thousands of potential donors and volunteers,
·     Receive regular, ongoing donations toward a fundraising goal,
·     Access dollars that don’t require excessive and burdensome administration, and
·     Promote learning and action among Boreal networks across Canada.

Examples of recently funded projects:

•       A group of community volunteers have been able to upgrade their boat to monitor their shores and coastlines, and protect their waters from pollution and industrial development.   http://smallchangefund.org/projects/protecting-the-bay-of-fundy

•       Inuit elders are documenting traditional management practices to conserve the species they depend on, their culture, and their land.   http://smallchangefund.org/projects/tusaqtuut-inuit-knowledge-and-climate-change

•       A community of native elders is able to produce a short film in an effort to save their lands from development, capturing the emotion of the people who use those lands for their livelihood.  http://smallchangefund.org/projects/help-save-fish-lake-from-acid-waste

•       A lake-based community is identifying lake ambassadors to  continue crucial water monitoring and stewardship work for the protection and enhancement of the lake’s ecosystem. http://smallchangefund.org/projects/lake-winnipeg-shoreline-management-guidelines-initiative

If you have any questions about this process, myself or Dani are more than happy to assist, please contact us at:

Small Change Fund

                       Centre for Social Innovation – Annex, Suite 311
720 Bathurst Street
Toronto, ON, M5S 2R4

(416) 519-1260
patrick@smallchangefund.org or dani@smallchangefund.org

Learn more about us at:  www.smallchangefund.org
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Small-Change-Fund/
twitter.com/smallchangefund

*Si vous souhaitez soumettre votre proposition en français, nous vous encourageons à le faire. Small Change Fund n’est pas une organisation bilingue, mais nous avons la capacité d’évaluer les propositions présentées en français et d’afficher les propositions retenues sur le site de www.smallchangefund.org. N’hésitez pas à nous contacter si vous avez des questions.