Vital Ideas 2016 APPLICATION FORM
Deadline: 5pm on Friday, October 30, 2015
Vital Ideas grants increase the effectiveness of high-impact initiatives in Toronto through one-time
strategic grants. This capacity-building funding is awarded to organizations that have a solid track
record of success. Its purpose is to help increase the effectiveness of an organization or a program, to
position it for even greater impact in the future.
It is critical that you review the accompanying Vital Ideas 2015 Application Guidelines to ensure that
you are eligible for this grant stream and to guide you in filling out this Application Form correctly and
accurately.
Please include the following three mandatory attachments in both your electronic and hard-copy
submissions:
1. Audited Financial Statements including notes. If your organization is a not-for-profit, and you have a
charitable partner, please provide financials for both.
2. A list of your organization’s Board of Directors (including the terms for each, and the total number
required according to your organization’s by-laws).
3. Grant request budget.
SUBMISSION PROCESS
By e-mail and in hard-copy: the entire application with attachments must be received by 5:00 PM on
Friday, October 30, 2015.
All applications received by the deadline will be acknowledged by e-mail within three weeks.
1. In Hard-Copy:
One copy of the application form in hard-copy plus all the attachments. Please mail or drop off at:
Vital Ideas
Toronto Foundation
33 Bloor Street East, Suite 1603
Toronto ON M4W 3H1
2. By E-Mail:
Please e-mail the completed Application Form in Word format (please do not submit Application Form as
a PDF document), along with all other attachments IN ONE EMAIL to: skrynitzki@torontofoundation.ca.
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SECTION A: COVER SHEET –
ORGANIZATION CONTACT INFORMATION
Name of applying organization
Charitable registration number
Name of program or project seeking Vital
Ideas grant
Street address of organization
Organization contact name and title
Email address of organization contact
Phone number of organization contact
Organization’s website address
Amount requested (up to $30,000)
Total current annual operating budget for
organization
Total current annual operating budget for
program or project seeking Vital Ideas
grant
Charitable partner name and address
Charitable partner charitable registration
number
Charitable partner contact name, email
and phone number
Charitable partner total annual operating
budget
Application authorization:
Name, Title: _____________________________________________________________________
(i.e. Executive Director/President/Chair, Board of Directors)
Signature: _______________________________________________________________________
Date: ___________________________________________________________________________
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SECTION B: PROFILE - ABOUT THE APPLYING ORGANIZATION AND
THE PROGRAM SEEKING A VITAL IDEAS GRANT
IMPORTANT: Please stay within the word limits in each section. All text beyond the word
limit will be omitted from the application and will not be reviewed. Refer to the guidelines for
more information about each question.
THE ORGANIZATION
Information provided in this section is used to assess the background and reputation of the
applying organization.
1. Organization’s mission (Limit: 100 words)
2. Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report issue area(s) addressed by your organization
Mark ‘x’ to the left of a maximum of two issue areas that best describe the work your organization as
a whole is involved in.
Arts and Culture
Environment
Gap Between Rich & Poor
Getting Around
Leadership, Civic Engagement, and Belonging
Health and Wellness
Housing
Learning
Safety
Work
3. History of your organization (Limit: 100 words)
4. Accolades and accomplishments (Limit: 200 words)
5. Organization’s programs and activities (Limit: 300 words)
THE HIGH-IMPACT PROGRAM
Information provided in this section is to assess whether your program is high-impact and
whether it’s at the right stage for a Vital Ideas strategic grant. If your organization runs only
one initiative, please feel free to articulate your organizational model in this section.
6. Program name and description (Limit: 300 words)
7. Funding and program partners (Limit: 200 words)
8. Program impact and results (Limit: 200 words)
9. Best practices (Limit: 100 words)
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10. Collaborations (Limit: 100 words)
11. Populations served and specifically targeted by your organization
Mark ‘x’ to the left of all that apply.
All ages
Children – up to 11
Youth – 12 to 18
Young adults – 19 to 29
Adults – 30 to 64
Seniors – 65 and up
Animals
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans (LGBT)
Newcomers
People with Disabilities
Faith-based
Ethno-specific
Women
Men
12. Neighbourhood(s) served by your programming
Mark ‘x’ to the left of those that apply. If your programming is city-wide, select them all.
Toronto North
Toronto Central
Toronto West
Toronto East
13. Toronto’s Vital Signs issue area(s) addressed by the project or program
Mark ‘x’ to the left of a maximum of two issue areas that best describe the work of your project or
program for which the Vital Ideas grant will be used.
Arts and Culture
Environment
Gap Between Rich & Poor
Getting Around
Leadership, Civic Engagement, and Belonging
Health and Wellness
Housing
Learning
Safety
Work
14. Toronto’s Vital Signs® Report data addressed by program
Please provide a quotation from the Toronto’s Vital Signs Report that best aligns with the issues
your program is addressing. (Limit: 100 words)
15. Participant story (Limit: 200 words)
16. Volunteer opportunities (Limit: 200 words)
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SECTION C: REQUEST - DETAILING THE VITAL IDEAS GRANT REQUEST
THE GRANT REQUEST
Information provided in this section will be used to assess the strategic activities to be
undertaken with Vital Ideas grant funds.
17. Requested amount and summary of strategic activities (Limit: 250 words)
18. Grant impact statement (Limit: 100 words)
19. Potential to grow impact (Limit: 150 words)
20. Qualified principals (Limit: 100 words)
21. Telling the story of impact (Limit: 200 words)
22. Board List
23. Grant request budget – please ensure to follow the directions and format in the Application
Guidelines
ATTACHMENTS
Along with your application form, please include the following mandatory attachments in both your
electronic (all in ONE email) and hard-copy submissions:
24. Audited financials: Financial statements may be submitted as a separate attached document to
the application. If you are not a charity, please provide your financial statements as well as your
charitable partner’s most recent audited financial statements.
If applicable: if you are a non-profit organization without charitable status applying with a
charitable partner, you must provide a signed and dated letter or contract outlining the
parametres of relationship. Please include this document as an attachment to your application.
Note: we do not require annual reports, newsletters or letters of support.
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