Seed Grants (Ontario Trillium Foundation) is sponsored by Ontario Trillium Foundation. The Seed Grant stream supports projects focused on building capacity and preparing for future programming, including organizational planning, piloting new programs, and building capacity to deliver services more effectively.

Seed Grant Application Questions | Ontario Trillium Foundation Seed Grant Application Questions This page provides an overview of the Seed grant application and requirements. We encourage you to use the assessment criteria to help you complete the application.

Find out more about Seed grants Financial Health and Stability Anticipated Project Results Question: Is your organization's Signatory Contact an existing contact for your organization?

Yes/No If "no" is selected: Provide the following details about your Signatory Contact: The Signatory Contact is the person who has signing authority to legally bind your organization, has authorized this application and will be responsible for signing an OTF Grant Contract.

Question: Provide the following details for your Organization Contact: The Organization Contact is the designated person who has the authority to submit this application. If you need to update your Organization Contact, someone in a senior position with signing authority in your organization, such as a President or Director, needs to email OTF’s Support Centre with the updated name, position, email and/or phone number.

Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF's Anti-Discrimination Policy . Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF’s Open Data Policy and that data provided throughout the application may be shared with other funders and/or may become public.

Question: Select your organization type: A charitable organization or public foundation registered as a charity by the Canada Revenue Agency An organization incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation without share capital in a Canadian jurisdiction A municipality with a population 20,000 or less, or their cultural and recreational agencies, including public libraries and museums Applicants must be eligible for funding according to OTF’s Eligibility Policy and need to provide direct programs and services to Ontarians.

Organizations that are both an incorporated not‐for‐profit and a registered charity should apply as a charity. County Library Boards and Local Services Boards should apply as a municipality with a population of 20,000 or less. A municipality with a population of 20,000 or less or First Nations seeking funding for their libraries, must apply on behalf of the library.

A Chartered Community Council, operating under the Métis Nation of Ontario is to apply through the Métis Nation of Ontario. Inuit-led organizations should apply as either a charitable organization or an incorporated not for profit organization, as applicable.

Question: Provide the following details about your organization: Preferred language of correspondence Incorporation number (for not-for-profits) Year of incorporation (for not-for-profits) Charitable registration number (for charities) Year of registration (for charities) 9-digit Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number. Learn more about submitting your business number .

Street Address/RR or PO Box # Postal code * format (X1X 1X1) Question: Provide your mission statement. Max 200 words. If your organization does not have a formal mission statement, provide a statement that captures the organization's principal mandate or overarching goal.

Question: Tell us about your typical activities, services or programs. Max 200 words. Question: What sector does your organization operate in?

Select the option that best fits. Human and Social Services Question: How many people does your organization serve annually? Question: Does your organization offer programs and/or services in both official languages?

Yes/No. If "yes" is selected: How is your organization mandated to offer bilingual programs and/or services? Choose one of the following: Agency designated under the French Language Services Act Area designated under the French Language Services Act Mandated by Board of Directors and/or Funder Non-mandated but serving Francophone population Question: Is a percentage of the selected population your organization serves Francophone?

Yes/No. What % of people served by your organization are offered programs and/or services in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%) What % of your organization's programs and/or services are offered in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%) Question: On average, how many paid staff did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of full-time or part-time status?

Question: On average, how many volunteers did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of the number of hours volunteered?

Question: For each category below, select the population that your organization serves Language of population served: Bilingual (French/English) Francophone (and offered services in French) Other Language excluding English or French Gender of population served: Lived-experience of population served: People living in low income People who are newcomers/refugees People living with disabilities People living with mental health challenges/addiction Identity of population served: Question: Does your organization’s leadership and/or decision-making entities (Board, executive team, senior leadership etc.) reflect the language, gender, lived-experience or cultural identities of the communities served by your organization?

Financial Health and Stability File upload: Upload your organization's most recent completed financial statements. All applicants, except for Municipalities and First Nations, are required to comply with OTF’s Financial Statement Requirements . OTF requires financial statements for your 2 recent fiscal years, which need to be completed within 6 months of your fiscal year-end.

If your organization has been operating for less than two years, you will need to submit at least one full fiscal year of financial statements from the date of incorporation or charitable registration. Organizations that submit incorrect or incomplete financial statements or are missing surplus and deficit information will be declined.

Files must be uploaded in one of the following formats: pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, doc, docx, txt, odt, ods, png, bmp, tif, tiff, xls, or xlsx. Question: Does your organization have an accumulated surplus or a deficit? Yes/No If "yes" is selected: Upload your surplus or deficit information.

Review the required documentation for accumulated surplus and deficit . Question: Does your organization have a minimum of three active board members (active terms as of grant application deadline date), with at least 50% of board members at an arm's length relationship to each other?

Yes/No If "yes" is selected: We need your most current board list including: Your organization must have a minimum of three active board members (term end dates must be on or after the grant application deadline date). To be eligible for funding, at least 50% must maintain an arm’s length relationship to each other.

Answer yes if: board members and organization executives are not married or related to each other, do not work as business partners or are not otherwise in a relationship where interests may be compromised. Answer no if: board members and organization executives are married or related to each other, do work as business partners or are otherwise in a relationship where interests may be compromised.

All applicants, except for Municipalities and First Nations, need to provide governance information. Question: Do you have staff who are directors or at a higher level? If "yes" is selected: Provide details about your organization's senior staff (Director level and above): Arm’s Length (yes/no) – in relation to other senior staff and board members File Upload: Upload your organization’s By-Laws.

Files must be uploaded in one of the following formats: pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, doc, docx, txt, odt, ods, png, bmp, tif, tiff, xls, or xlsx. Checkbox: I confirm that the organization has financial management and conflict of interest policies in place. Checkbox: I confirm that all the organization information provided is correct, up-to-date and complete.

Checkbox: I confirm that the correct type and year of financial statements have been uploaded based on our organization's total revenues and fiscal year-end, and the Board of Directors table has been updated. The following questions are for data collection and will not be used to assess your grant application. Question: What OTF supports did you use to prepare your application?

Select all that apply. Question: Select the populations who will primarily benefit from your project. If more than one selection fits your project in each category, choose General Population.

Age group of population served General population (all age groups) Primary language of population served Bilingual (English and French) Francophone (and offered services in French) Other language excluding English or French Gender of population served: Lived experience of population served: People living in low income People who are newcomers/refugees People living with disabilities People living with mental health challenges/addiction Identity of population served: Question: Select the community size where this project will take place.

Rural or Small Communities (20,000 or less) Mid-sized Communities (20,001 - 100,000) Urban Centres and Metropolitan Suburbs (100,000+) The following questions will be used to assess your grant application. Question: Describe your project. Max.

200 words. Question: Select the OTF catchment area where the main impact of project activities takes place. Question: Select the census division.

Question: Provide your project start date. The project start date must be between December 9, 2025 and June 9, 2026. Question: Select your requested term.

Question: Select the Funding Priority that best meets your project goals. Foster physically active lifestyles Support participation in the conservation and restoration of the environment.

Enrich lives through arts, culture, and heritage Help people build stronger connections and a deeper sense of belonging in their community Support youth to develop stronger social, emotional, leadership skills Enable economically vulnerable people to meet their basic needs and/or strengthen their financial stability Eligible municipalities, country library boards and local service boards can only apply under “Foster physically active lifestyles” and “Enrich lives through arts, culture, and heritage”.

Question: Select one objective for your project. Create or adapt organizational strategy to build resilience and capacity to deliver programs and services. Prepare for the future by developing or adapting digital technology to deliver programs and services.

Enhance staff and/or volunteer skills to deliver programs and services. Design and/or pilot an innovative program or service to address a community need. Question: Explain how this project will impact your ability to deliver programs and services.

This question is not applicable if the following objective is selected: "Design and/or pilot an innovative program or service to address community need". Question: Is this a collaborative application? Yes/No Add the names of the organizations listed in your Collaborative Agreement in the table provided.

Upload your Collaborative Agreement. Learn more about collaboratives and how to create a Collaborative Agreement . Files must be uploaded in one of the following formats: pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, doc, docx, txt, odt, ods, png, bmp, tif, tiff, xls, or xlsx.

Question: Do you plan to purchase non-fixed equipment for your project? Yes/No If "yes" is selected: Upload field: Upload at least one photo of the non-fixed equipment you plan to purchase. Include a maximum of 5 files and a short description for each.

Files must be uploaded in one of the following formats: pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, doc, docx, txt, odt, ods, png, bmp, tif, tiff, xls, or xlsx. Question: Explain why you are doing this project and who will primarily benefit from your project. Max.

200 words. Question: If your project will help populations who are experiencing barriers (e.g. socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, abilities and/or racial) to participate in your program, explain how. Max.

200 words. Anticipated Project Results To understand the impact of your Seed project, answer the following questions: Question: On average, how many people will directly benefit from your project per year? Include new and existing participants.

For all fields that are not applicable, enter “0”: Question: How many programs and services will be impacted by your project per year? Include new and existing programs and services. Question: How many staff and/or volunteers will receive training to deliver programs and services?

Question: How many plans or reports will be created to help build your organization's resiliency or capacity to deliver programs and services? Question: How many people will participate in your pilot program or service? Question: Complete the project plan.

List 1 to 3 project deliverables. Use one row per deliverable. This is what you are going to do to deliver your project.

These are your main milestones. Key Tasks: For each deliverable, list the key tasks that need to be completed. Provide a maximum of 3 tasks for each deliverable.

Timing: Provide the timeframe needed to complete each key task. Below is a sample project plan. Pilot new youth mentorship program August to September (6 weeks) Compile a report outlining the learnings and results of the pilot Question: Complete the project budget.

You can apply for $10,000 up to $100,000, for a maximum of one year. Only include amounts you are requesting from OTF. You can apply for funding to cover project costs across the following categories: Direct Personnel Costs : OTF will support salaries, mandatory employment-related costs and employee benefits for staff positions funded specifically to carry out the project.

Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Purchased Service Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Workshops/Meetings Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Supplies and Materials Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Non-fixed Equipment Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Travel Overhead and Administration Costs : OTF will support Overhead and Administrative Costs directly associated with the funded project up to a maximum of 15% of the total budget.

These do not include the direct costs to run or deliver the project, including the staff or equipment associated with the project. It does include a portion of regular operational expenses that can be attributed specifically to this project. For more information, refer to the Eligibility Policy .

You can include a maximum of 5 budget items for Direct Personnel Costs and each Direct-Non-Personnel Cost. Include a short description for each item and a detailed cost breakdown. The costs listed in the budget should clearly align with your project activities and be reasonable to carry out.

Only include eligible project costs to be covered by OTF. Ask only for what you need, because OTF funds full request amounts and we want to fund as many applications as possible. Only project activities that take place in Ontario are eligible for OTF funding.

All requested amounts are rounded up. Below is a sample project budget. and Budget Item (Max.

10 words) Cost Breakdown (Max.

25 words) Coordinator 1 FTE Workshop Coordinator Salary ($19/hr + 25% MERC) x 40 hr/week x 26 weeks = $24,700 Direct Personnel Costs Volunteer coordinator 5FTE Volunteer Coordinator Salary ($20/hr + 20% MERC) x 20 hr/week x 32 weeks = Direct Personnel Costs Subtotal: $40,060 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Purchased Service Marketing consultants 60 hours of work for marketing plan, delivery, report = $6,000 (quotes received) Purchased Service Costs Subtotal: $6,000 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Workshops/Meetings Childminding for evening workshops $200 x 10 sessions = $2,000 Workshops/Meetings Costs Subtotal: $2,000 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Supplies and Materials Art supplies for youth program $1,500 paint; $800 paint brushes; $2,000 canvases; $1,700 easels = $6,000 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Supplies and Materials Lunch for youth program 30 Bento lunches x 10 = $300 Supplies and Materials Costs Subtotal: $6,300 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Non-fixed Equipment Computers Purchase of 8 computers = $6,000 Non-fixed Equipment Costs Subtotal: $6,000 Direct Non-Personnel Costs – Travel Tokens for public Transit $3.

25 x 150 = $487. 50 Travel Costs Subtotal: $488 Total before Overhead and Administration Costs Overhead and Administration Costs (max 15%) Supervision Executive Director to oversee the project (5 hrs/week): Upload field: Upload your quotes or estimates.

Checkbox: This application: Requires quotes and estimates and they have been uploaded Does not require quotes or estimates For individual goods and services valued above $5,000: A minimum of 1 quote or estimate is required. However, OTF prefers to receive 2 or more quotes or estimates to help your organization establish accurate budget amounts and demonstrate the best value for money.

Multiple sub-contracts with a supplier on the same project: Multiple sub-contracts with a supplier on the same project will be considered as a cumulative total. This means if the total of these goods and services exceeds $5,000, a minimum of 1 itemized quote or estimate (preferably 2 or more from different suppliers) needs to be uploaded. An itemized quote or estimate breaks down the cost of each good and service into line items.

All documentation needs to be: Prepared by a third-party professional. For municipalities, documentation can be prepared by a specialized department within the municipality. Dated and obtained within 6 months prior to the application deadline.

Completed with information about the vendor or supplier. Files must be uploaded in one of the following formats: pdf, jpg, jpeg, gif, doc, docx, txt, odt, ods, png, bmp, tif, tiff, xls, or xlsx. Question: Is this project part of a larger project?

Yes/No What is the total project cost? How much funding have you secured from sources excluding OTF? List the sources of secured funding for this project and indicate how the funds will be used.

If applicable, what is your plan to obtain any unsecured funds required for this project? Where OTF funding represents a component of a larger project, applicants must demonstrate that the OTF funded activities can be completed independently or that other funding sources have been secured. Question: To complete your project description, describe your project in 20 words.

[Grantee Operating Name] will use a $XX Seed grant grant over XX months to [describe your project up to 20 words] . This description will be used on the OTF website and grant contract if the grant application is approved. Review OTF’s Policies and confirm that your organization and this project comply with OTF's requirements.

Checkbox: I have reviewed OTF’s policies and I confirm that my organization and this project comply with OTF’s requirements. Checkbox: The information contained in this application and the accompanying documents is true, accurate and complete. Checkbox: I understand the importance of avoiding any conflicts of interest (or the appearance thereof) when obtaining goods and/or services.

Checkbox: I understand that should this application be approved, our organization will be required to enter into a formal, legally binding agreement with the Ontario Trillium Foundation that is based on the information in this application and includes the terms and conditions of the grant. Checkbox: A representative with designated signing/decision-making authority for our organization has authorized this application.

Checkbox: I understand that if this application is approved, my organization may be required to submit updated organization information at any time throughout the life of the grant. Checkbox: I understand that once I submit my application, it is final and cannot be changed. Contact OTF’s Support Centre for general questions and technical support.