CONNECTING
RURAL REGIONS
Application
instructions & form
Connecting rural regions
grantapplication instructions and form
The Foundation seeks to build knowledge and connections, support innovation, and act as a catalyst in service of improving access to justice.
Connecting rural regionsgrants create an opportunity for a group of legal and non-legal organizations to work together to explore how they could integrate and coordinate existing services to support improvements to the delivery of legal information, referrals, and services to residents of a rural area.
The Foundation has a flexible definition of what constitutes a rural region that is best expressed in Connecting Across Language and Distance, a 2008 report that it commissioned and that led to the launch of theConnectingregion program, as well as other related programs. The Foundation understands that there are multiple definitions of “rural” and is open to regional efforts that include smaller urban centers as part of this call.
The granting opportunity builds on the successes of the Foundation’s Connecting Region program, which was the subject of an evaluation that was released in 2018. The evaluation report provided insight into the outcomes of seed grants to rural regions as well as the grant to Connecting Ottawa, which focused on linguistic minorities in an urban setting. The evaluation showed that the seed grants to the two rural consortiums — even without the ongoing funding that was provided to establish Connecting Ottawa — were important to developing service provision networks and facilitating service coordination.
Please review the Connecting rural regionswebpage on The Law Foundation of Ontario’swebsite (including the FAQ section) and this application form thoroughly before you begin preparing your application. You would also benefit from reviewing the Connecting region evaluation report.
All of thereports mentioned above can be found on the Foundation’s website at this link:
Connecting rural regions application timeline:
Stage 1 grants — upto $100,000 (project of up to 12 months)
Application deadline / November 1, 2018 (5:00 p.m. EST)Stage 2 grants — upto $250,000 (projects of up to three years)by invitation only
*The Foundation may select regions that received Stage 1 grants to apply for funding to implement one or more of their projects.
Please submit your completed proposal, signed by an authorized person, together with any additional material, by email to .
We appreciate having the opportunity to consider your proposals.Please be assured that each application will be carefully considered. As part of our review process, Foundation staff may contact you to discuss details of your application.
The Foundation promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion and welcomes grant applications that meet the diverse needs of Ontarians.
The Foundation is committed to meeting community needs including the needs of the Francophone community. Applicants can communicate in French during the grants process and will receive direct French language services during this process.
We accommodate the needs of persons with disabilities in our grantmaking process.
Part 1: Applicant informationName of lead organization[1]:
Address:
City: / Province: / Postal code:
Contact person: / Position:
Telephone: / Website:
Email: / Twitter/social media:
Mandate of organization (1-2 sentences – supplementary information may be attached):
Organization type:
□Nonprofit
Date of incorporation:
□Registered charity
Registered charity number: / □Other
Please describe:
Attach the list of names of your Board of Directors and executive staff.
Title of project:
Start date: / End date:
Request amount: / $
Total budget for project (excluding in-kind): / $
Estimate value of in-kind (if applicable): / $
Total project value (cash and in-kind): / $
Please describe your proposed activities succinctly (2 sentences or less):
How did you learn about this call for applications?
□ Foundation newsletter
□ Foundation social media
□ Colleague or other organization (please specify):
□ Social media (please specify):
□ Media (please specify):
□ Other (please specify):
Signature: / Title:
Name: / Date:
There is no page limit for your application.Respond to the questions below as concisely as possible in narrative form on numbered pages.Tell the clearest possible story to an audience who may not be familiar with your organization’s history or the context for your proposed work.You may include other information if you think it will be relevant to the Foundation’s review of your application.The FAQs on our websiteprovide additional guidance.
Section A: Description of proposed activities
A1.Project details:Describe in detail what activities you intend to carry out. Explain how different organizations will contribute to the planned activities. Attach a workplan showing timelines, key deliverables/project milestones, dissemination plans (as applicable).
A2.Describe the proposed region with approximate boundaries and reasons for those boundaries.
A3.Who will benefit:
a)Please describe the needs you plan to address
b)Who in Ontario will benefit directly from the proposed activities?
c)How will they benefit?
d)How will you engage or involve them?
A4.Context:What situation, information or research has prompted you to undertake this project?
A5.Challenges and risks:Assuming you successfully raise all the needed funds for this project, what are the most significant challenges or risks that you anticipate in carrying out this project?How do you plan to overcome them?
A6.Collaboration and duplication:What other similar activities exist, and how do your proposed activities differ from or complement them? In other words, how do you propose to avoid unnecessary duplication? Do you have plans to collaborate with other organizations doing similar work? If not, why not?
A7.Impact beyond immediate project:How will you share the lessons learned, outcomes or tools from this project with other communities or groups across Ontario?
Section B: Organizational capacity—lead agency
B1.Describe your organization’s experience and expertise in the area of the proposed activities.
B2.What are the qualifications of the key individual(s) who will be involved in this project?
B3.How will the project be overseen? How will the proposed activities be managed?
B4.If applicable, please include the names and phone numbers of two of your funders(must be for grants provided within the last three years).
B5.Describe your organizations’ efforts to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion and provide supporting materials as appropriate.
B6.Attach a copy of any internal or external evaluation (if you have one) of your organization or of a project run by your organization.
Section C: Details about the collaborators and the region
C1.Identify the organizationsyou will collaborate with on this project and describe their respective expertise.
C2.Describe any previous experience these organizations have working together, including results achieved.
C3.Describe the range and nature of partners interested in the initiative including provincial, regional, legal, and community-based organizations.
C4.Describe the existing links and co-operation among legal service providers (community legal clinics, Legal Aid Ontario services, private bar lawyers, paralegals, students, and academics)
C5. Describe the existing links between legal service providers and community-based organizations.
C6. Explain why your region should be selected as a candidate and the difference this initiative could make to your region.
C7.Attach a letter of commitmentfrom participating organizations confirming their role in the project.
Section D: External support
D1.Attach at least one letter of support from an individual or organization who can speak to the value of your project.
Section E: Acknowledgement
E1.Describe how you will acknowledge the Foundation’s support.Please refer to the “Acknowledgement of Foundation Grant” section of our website.
Section F: Financial details
F1.Project budget: Attach a detailed budget for the proposed activities;Remember to include applicable taxes on non-salary expense lines. Personnel costs should include such items as salary and wages per position, contract pay, honoraria, employer contributions, supplementary benefits, etc.
F2.Other funding sources: List all other sources of funding for the proposed activities and the amounts being requested and whether the funding is confirmed or pending.
F3.In-kind: List all in-kind support (including estimated dollar value, if possible) for the proposed activities.
F4.Organization’s finances:
a)Attach your most recent financial statements, preferably audited (Note: community colleges and universities do not need to include the institution’s financial statements).
□List of names of your Board of Directors and executive staff (Part I Application information)
□Ensure your application has page numbers
□Project workplan (Question A1)
□Names and phone numbers of two of your funders (Question B4)
□A copy of any internal or external evaluation of your organization or of a project (Question B6)
□Letters of commitment from all project partners, if applicable (Question C7)
□At least one letter of support from an individual or organization (Question D1)
□Detailed project budget (Question F1)
□Most recent financial statements, preferably audited (Question F4)
Our vision
Putting people at the heart of justice.
Our mission
Through granting and collaboration we invest in knowledge and services that help people understand the law and use it to improve their lives.
Legislative mandate
The objects of the Foundation are to establish and maintain a fund to be used for any or all of the following purposes: legal education and legal research; legal aid; law libraries; costs assistance to parties involved in class proceedings. 75% of net revenue received each year from interest received on lawyers’ and paralegals’ mixed trust accounts must be paid to Legal Aid Ontario.
Our approach
The Law Foundation of Ontario strives to:
- Act with fairness
We endeavour to act with fairness in all our dealings. We exercise integrity and good governance to ensure our actions, relationships and decisions are transparent and accountable.
- Be open and supportive
We foster relationships that are open and supportive. We encourage our grantees and partners to approach us in good times and bad. Often the best ideas come from lessons learned.
- Build bridges
We bring our grantees, partners and other community members together around common ideas and issues. We build bridges among groups to find new partnerships and approaches.
- Expand knowledge
We continually deepen our knowledge of access to justice, including the contribution of community organizations. We are committed to sharing our knowledge about what is happening and what works.
- Act as a catalyst
We actively engage with others to assess needs, encourage collaboration, and identify promising long-term solutions. We initiate funding and action to address complex problems.
- Support innovation
We encourage new and creative thinking. We strive to be flexible so we can support the development of innovative and fledgling ideas.
The Law Foundation of Ontario –Connecting rural regions grant application
[1]If you are submitting an application jointly with another organization, please indicate clearly which organization would take lead responsibility for the grant if it is approved.