Funding for organizations is paramount to keep execution going strong. Whether you’re a professional association representing your industry’s interests or a nonprofit association working hard for your community, you know how much work needs to be done and how much your budget is shrinking each year.
You probably want to step up your marketing, develop a new website and create better content, or find a way to spread the word and reach out to new members. However, that requires lots of resources, and hiring a third-party marketing firm needs a budget, especially during economic pressure.
That’s why we always recommend exploring programs that may assist you with getting this badly needed budget. Federal, provincial, and municipal grants covering all sorts of associations, issues, and causes will provide you with the funds needed to enhance your marketing, outreach, and tech implementation.
Let’s examine the different types of funding for organizations out there and how to benefit from them.
Business Development Grants
Let’s say you have bigger plans for your organization, such as broadening your activities or increasing your impact. Many grants across Canada are available to help nonprofits and associations achieve high development.
Available across all provinces, these grants, some up to $1 million, can assist you in strengthening organizational effectiveness, increasing your programs’ impact, and addressing emerging issues affecting Canadians. These grants also cover promotional content creation, capacity-building, business operation, outreach, marketing, and promotion.
To name a few examples, the Grow Grant and Seed Grant are offered by the province of Ontario, and the Capacity-Building and Emerging Issues fund is offered by the city of Calgary. Depending on your mission and location, there are many more that you could benefit from.
Training, Technology & Online Implementation Grants
Funding does not always come in the form of a budget to achieve growth. There are many opportunities to earn a grant for training. This plethora of grants assists your organization in teaching your staff about the safe use of AI tools, implementing new advanced marketing technologies, hiring and training young employees entering the job market about the best industry practices, or giving opportunities to unemployed or disadvantaged groups to contribute to the success of your association.
These will help you conduct efficiency studies, test new ideas, and reach organizational agility. They will also help you hire and train a new generation of employees, giving your nonprofit or association a breath of fresh air. This is particularly important as Millennials and Generation Z make up a bigger portion of the workforce with each passing year. Hiring young employees will also help your organization stay up-to-date on the latest trends and attract younger members.
These grants are available at every jurisdictional level. Whether from the federal government, such as the Business Development Program, or provincial or municipal initiatives, there is something for everyone. Funding allocation is wide-ranging, with some offered as a lump sum and others broken down into categories according to your organization’s activities.
Improvement & Productivity Grants
Do you feel you’re pouring in precious time, money and energy without getting your desired results? Do you wish to make your practices smoother, more efficient, and more rewarding? Many grants were created just for this.
These grants are specifically designed to help organizations with high growth potential become more effective. To do so, they will support activities such as productivity training, program operating, reports and planning, organizational support, and capacity building.
Throughout this funding for organizations, you will receive help for your marketing/promotional efforts, including assistance with developing and translating promotional material costs, data-driven operational improvement, project development, partnership promotion, and more. The core goal is to make your organization more resilient, productive, and efficient. This would allow your organization to achieve much more without wasting precious resources.
The improvement and productivity grants for nonprofits and associations are available across Canada. Some offer one-time funding, while others span up to five years. In today’s dynamic and straining economic conditions, you need to use all methods at your disposal to get alternative funding.
Direct Objective Consulting has been working with several organizations to achieve alternative funding, which ultimately provided the resources for some of the growth activities we implemented. Each grant has a deadline and specific eligibility requirements. We suggest planning in advance to ensure that the grants are available.
Interested in knowing which funding for organizations you could apply for? Schedule a 30-minute consultation with one of our experts to see how you can benefit from alternative funding opportunities!
