2014 Grant Information

Posted on February 27, 2014 by Erin Anne Beirne • 0 Comments

Introduction

SurreyCares prides itself on responding to needs through its Annual Grants Program and providing financial assistance to initiatives that directly affect the vitality of our community. SurreyCares has a long history of supporting a broad range of areas that shape the City we live in; some of which include Arts and Culture, Heritage, Youth, Education, Literacy, and Family Services. Since its inception, SurreyCares has disbursed over one million dollars to registered charities providing services within the City of Surrey.

Eligibility Criteria

Please note that some grant categories may have additional criteria – see Grant Categories for details

SurreyCares’ ability to grant out funds is dependent on the level of our endowment funds. Our current level this year allows for grant applications requesting to a maximum of $5,000 in funding. As our funds continue to grow, we anticipate these levels to increase and will revise this figure accordingly.

Not-for-profit organizations recognized by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) as registered charities
Funding from other viable sources has been sought and/or obtained
Services/projects/events that will:
- Benefit Surrey residents
- Draw upon and enhance community capacity
- Involve the community in development and execution
- Have real potential for sustainability

Additional Eligibility Criteria

A good track record within the community
Financial stability
Good likelihood project can be delivered successfully
Offers good value for monies expended

Grant Categories and Priorities

Many not-for-profit organizations set up their own Agency-Advised Donor Funds so that they can receive interest earned annually in perpetuity for their own sustainability. Please contact our office for more information.

Designated Funds

Set up to address pre-determined community needs based on a specific cause about which the donor(s) is passionate. These funds allow the donor to be very specific about which organization(s) receive the grants. For example, a fund set up solely to support the Surrey Public Library.

Advised Funds

Set up to give donors the flexibility to participate in granting from their fund including: recommending which agency to support, indicating the specific field of interest, or asking the Grants Committee for a recommendation for funding. For example, Surrey Rehabilitation Society established a fund to support non-profit agencies that assist individuals with special needs integrate into the workforce; in this case the specific recipients/projects vary from year to year.

Field of Interest Funds

Donors have indicated an area of community need, but leave the decision-making up to SurreyCares based on donor criteria. For example, currently there are three field of interest funds supported by SurreyCares, through direction from donors; children and youth, health and heritage. SurreyCares’ Youth Empowering Surrey (YES) Team is responsible to evaluate and make recommendations to the Grants Committee on all youth specific applications.

General Funds

Set up to provide the greatest impact on community needs, this type of fund allows SurreyCares the discretion to direct funds to the most critical needs in the City. Currently these include: Arts & Culture, Education & Literacy, Heritage, Successful Integration of Immigrants into Surrey Society, the Environment, Youth and Seniors.

Timeline

FEBRUARY – Release notice of Spring Grant Cycle

APRIL 28 NOON – Grant Application submission deadline (in our office by noon – late applications will not be accepted). Staff may phone or meet with you to go over further details of your project.

MAY – Youth Empowering Surrey (YES) Team and Grant Committee meet to evaluate and make recommendations to the Board of Directors

JUNE – Approval by Board of Directors and decisions rendered to applicants, along with any terms and conditions of approved grants

AUGUST – Cheques issued to successful applicants

NOVEMBER 20 – Grant Awards & Recognition Ceremony (grant recipients expected to attend and all applicants are welcome)

How to Apply

All submitted materials become the property of SurreyCares.

Click to link to the Grant Application Page here: http://www.surreycares.org/2014-grant-application-form/ ‎
Complete Application, with attention to information about grant eligibility criteria, categories, and application tips (below)
Submit your completed, signed application by NOON, APRIL 28th (no late submissions will be accepted):

Online:

Please be prepared to complete it in one sitting as the online form does not have a save-for-later feature.

Complete the online application form so that it is received in our office by NOON, APRIL 28, using the online form provided at this link: http://www.surreycares.org/2014-grant-application-form/

By Mail:

Click here to download the application form [Word]: 2014 SurreyCares Grant Application

Mail it in time to be received by NOON, APRIL 28, to:

SurreyCares
PO Box 34089
Surrey, BC
V3S 8C4

By Email:

Please note: if sending by email, please include your SIGNED Signature Page. Applications missing the signatures after noon on April 28th WILL NOT RECEIVE CONSIDERATION.

Click here to download application form [Word]: 2014 SurreyCares Grant Application

Send your email with completed application form attached to be received in our office by NOON, APRIL 28 to: info@surreycares.org

Tips for Completing a Successful Application

Show how your program helps the development of community assets
Clearly state goals, purpose for funding, an implementation strategy, and any planned measurements for success
Provide evidence of collaboration with other groups and agencies in the field
Does not duplicate other existing services
Builds on individual and community strengths
Demonstrates a commitment to the project through a contribution of human and/or financial resources
Provide realistic plans for longer-term funding for projects that will be ongoing after the grant’s end
Demonstrate how the target population will participate in the development and implementation of the project
Submit a budget ONLY for the services/project/event being applied for

Applications that Will Not be Funded

Applications for the provision of services that will not benefit Surrey residents
Services that are already well supported by national or local charities or by government funding or that duplicate existing projects
Funds to cover deficits or sabbatical leaves
Activities of religious organizations that serve primarily their membership and/or their direct religious purpose
Applications that fund operations or salaries
Capital expenditures not related to a project
Applications that are not accompanied by a service/project/event specific budget.

Expectations for Successful Grants

Activities will reflect those described in the approved application form. Any deviation is subject to prior approval
Proper fiscal management
Acknowledgement of the support received from SurreyCares (SurreyCares logo and other resources to be provided to all grant recipients)
Grant recipients will be expected to submit a Final Report to SurreyCares by November 30th (Please note that if the project is not completed by this date that an Interim Report will be expected at this time, and the final to follow once the project has been completed.)
Grant recipients will participate in our Annual Grant Awards & Recognition Ceremony in November

Foundation staff and/or volunteers appreciate the opportunity to make site visits and, in some cases, may ask to highlight your project for use in our communications and publications.

Click to view/download a printable PDF: 2014 SurreyCares Grant Information

Click to view/download a Word version of the 2014 Grant Application Form: 2014 SurreyCares Grant Application

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For more information, please contact our office at info@surreycares.org or by phone at (604) 591-2699

Filed Under: 2014, Featured on Front Page, Get Help, News, Seek Funding

Darts Hill Garden Park: From a Seed to a Legacy

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Erin Anne Beirne • 0 Comments

Darts Hill Garden Memorial to Francisca Darts

PHOTO: Clive Roberts

SurreyCares, together with the City of Surrey, Darts Hill Garden Park Conservancy Trust Society, and UBC Botanical Gardens, was pleased to honour the life and work of Francisca Darts, who passed away on December 26, 2012.

At a Celebration of Life event held on May 4th in the meadow that was once Francisca’s front lawn, Mayor Dianne Watts, Manager of Parks Owen Croy, gardeners and horticulturists from around the Lower Mainland, SurreyCares volunteers, friends, and family all gathered to remember Francisca and to enjoy the beautiful gardens she and her husband, Edwin, created out of a giant field of freshly-logged stumps. Over sixty years of passionate activity, starting with blowing up stumps and planting seedlings, transformed the raw land into an colourful oasis hidden behind a big, protective wall, filled with rare and endangered species from around the world.

“She was a superb horticulturist,” said Douglas Justice, longtime friend and Associate Director at UBC Botanical Gardens. “If someone wanted to see a particular plant and they didn’t know where to find it, if it wasn’t at UBC Botanical Gardens and Van Dusen Gardens didn’t have it, you could probably find it at Darts Hill.” Botanists especially appreciate her garden because many of the trees and shrubs are now mature, making studying them a full and rich experience.

To support the ongoing care of the garden, which has been entrusted to the care of the City of Surrey in partnership with the Darts Hill Garden Park Conservancy Trust Society, Francisca and Edwin created an endowment fund that they placed into the care of the then newly-formed Surrey Foundation (now known as SurreyCares). In fact, the Foundation was created especially for their needs, to give them a way to support the garden’s care and enhancement for generations to come.

With her passing, Francisca has bequeathed a total of $1 Million to the fund: $200,000 during her lifetime, which has already funded a number of important projects, and now an additional $800,000, bringing her legacy fund to $1 Million. Over the next twenty-five years, this fund will generate a conservative income of about $1 Million, more if the markets are favourable, monies that will be granted out to care for the garden while keeping the original endowment intact. Over a century, her bequest will have quadrupled in size, granting out at least $4 Million to support the garden, still without touching the fund’s capital.

The Foundation that was created to help the Darts realize their vision for the community also provides a great – simple, and affordable – way for anyone in Surrey to provide legacy funds for causes they care about. Some funds are created to remember special people who have passed on; some funds are created to support a particular cause; some funds are established to support an organization’s own ongoing needs; and some people simply choose to contribute to the general community fund managed by SurreyCares, which provides grants annually to support contemporary causes and to meet current needs. In addition to growing a beautiful garden, the Darts also planted a seed that will mature to become a valuable community asset as more people begin to take advantage of our services both to donors and to charities.

If you wish to explore how we can help you remember a loved one or support a cause you care about long-term, please contact us at info@surreycares.org, and we’d be happy to have one of our volunteer professionals discuss the options with you and show you how setting up an endowment fund helps you multiply your community gift exponentially compared to present-time giving of the whole amount.

Thank you, Francisca and Edwin, for the two wonderful legacies you’ve left to our community: a garden and a community foundation.

Filed Under: 2013, Featured on Front Page, Media, News, Stories

Thank you! (Grant Ceremony 2012)

Posted on November 6, 2012 by Erin Anne Beirne • 0 Comments

	To the hosts of our grant ceremony, Doug Tennant and the event and catering teams at Semiahmoo House: thank you for your wonderful hospitality! The room was bright and spacious, the audio-visual equipment worked beautifully, and the food was terrific. (More leftover cantaloupe than sweets says people loved your baking!)
	To the grant recipients, represented here by the Surrey Christmas Bureau (did you know that Christmas is coming... fast?!) but who will all be featured in upcoming posts: thank you for the creative, efficient, passionate and essential work that you do to better the lives of people in Surrey, both in good times and in bad. We are proud to say, "We support you."
	To the grants committee, led by Natasha Raey: without you there would be no well-informed grant-making, and we thank you. Thank you, especially, for the many hours you spent pouring over every application and agonizing over not having enough to go around with so many fantastic proposals and projects laid out in front of you, we thank you. Thank you, most of all, for caring.
	To Surrey Councillor Mary Martin, who gave us words of encouragement on behalf of Mayor Watts, and to Surrey Councillor Marvin Hunt who supported her: thank you so much for coming and visiting with our grant recipients and fundholders. Having partners in leadership who care deeply about our city enlivens our hope for a fantastic future for Surrey and a great legacy for our kids!
	To the SurreyYES team, the youth version of our board and volunteer crew: thank you for your cheerful help in setting up and taking down, for chatting with our guests and helping them feel welcome, and especially for your broad smiles! (Special props to your representative, Abby, who bravely delivered a lovely description of the many cool things you've done for Surrey this past year.)
	To Jan Perrier of Perrier Designs and leader of our design team: thank you for your creative mind and visual interpretation of our ideas! Creating a new brand for the foundation, one that reflects longevity, conveys how we all make a difference – whether we can give a little or give a lot – by working together, and sets the stage for our $10M goal by July 1, 2017, was no small task! We love it!
	To Jamie McDonald of Maximum Impact and former board member of the Surrey Foundation: thank you for your skilful handling of the microphone! As our MC, you kept the event flowing, and even got a great laugh when you gave us all a seventh-inning stretch! You're long-standing support of the work of charities across Surrey is encouraging.
	To Jeff Hector, Family Business Advisor and President of the Surrey Foundation (now called "SurreyCares"): thank you for your great effort (and funny drawings) as you presented "SurreyCares 101"! The valuable role that SurreyCares plays in supporting local charities and in providing great donor services to ordinary people is complicated to explain, and your primer was really helpful.
	To everyone who came: thank you for joining us. There are many people who have been left off this list: Karen, our administration assistant (without whom we would be lost); Justin, who took such amazing photos (just wait until we present them properly!); fundholders; present, past and future board members, philanthropists and volunteers; curious onlookers... Thank you, Every One.

Filed Under: 2012, Events, Featured on Front Page, News, Pictures