Not-for-profits in Clearview Township may have access to a database that can connect them to grant money.
The municipality has subscribed to an online database of charitable foundations that have money to give. The database, called Foundation Search, includes more than 120,000 foundations, representing billions of dollars in annual granting including tools to locate grants by type, value, year, recipient, donor and historical giving trends.
Council agreed to subscribe to the database after it couldn’t meet all of the financial needs of community groups who submitted applications to the township’s annual community assistance grant program as part of budget deliberations. The municipality had set aside $22,800 for community grants but received $56,398 in applications. A sub-committee of council had total allocations down to $19,900 but council added recipients, bringing it up to $20,650. The balance of the fund, $2,150, will be used to address requests that come up throughout the year.
Councillor Connie Leishman, who worked on the sub-committee that decided how the grant money would be allocated, suggested that the township try an online database to help connect community groups with foundations that had money to support their causes.
“We just don’t have the money for everyone because they ask for an awful lot,” said Leishman. “Some people don’t think $500 is a lot of money but in my mind it is because it’s taxpayers’ money.”
The Foundation Search membership costs $4,000 per year and council will evaluate the program next year to decide if it was worth the expense. The database is made up mostly of American foundations but there are hundreds of Canadian ones as well.
“If we don’t see a return I won’t be recommending it for next year,” said Leishman.
So far, The Door and Clearview’s libraries are making submissions.
Leishman said some organizations have been turned off of the process because they think it is too time consuming.
Any organization interested in pursuing a grant application is welcome to contact Leishman or the clerk Pamela Fettes, who helps administer the program, to see if they qualify. It takes about an hour to go through an initial introduction to the database and then the applicant is allowed to chose the foundations that best suit their needs. It is up to the organization to make contact with the foundation in the form of a letter of introduction before getting into the nitty-gritty details of the application.
“These foundations don’t advertise. They are very private,” said Leishman. “Really, none of the organizations can afford that membership themselves.”
She said this service allows community organizations to connect with grant money they didn’t know existed at no cost to them.
It is a bit of a shot in the dark, she said, but the chances of a successful application increase when organizations have a specific goal or project in mind. It helps narrow in on what foundation is the right one.
For more information, contact Connie Leishman at 705-428-5240 or cleishman@clearview.ca and Pamela Fettes at 705-428-6230 or pfettes@clearview.ca.