Policy Statement
This policy establishes the City of St. John’s Community Services Grants Program. The Program provides financial assistance to organizations and individuals whose applications align with the
City’s strategic directions.
The goals of the program are to:
a) facilitate community enrichment and engagement;
b) improve community well-being;
c) encourage amateur and professional arts participation;
d) assist with construction or renovation of facilities providing services to the City residents;
e) assist Youth travel in sport, educational, cultural, or leadership initiatives; and
assist Atlantic Canadian, national, or international meetings, conventions, and/or sporting events hosted in St. John’s.
Policy Requirements
1 Grant Categories
Organizations and individuals may apply for the appropriate Grant category detailed below:
a) Community Grants:
i. Community Organizations: Organizations that provide programs and/or services to City residents that, in the sole opinion of the City; include, but are not limited to, education,
multiculturalism, recreation, and/or inclusivity.
ii. Special Events and Festivals: Organizations that produce events that include, but are not limited to, in the sole opinion of the City, economic activity enhancement, cultural
development, community life enrichment, and/or community engagement enhancement.
iii. Sporting Organizations: Organizations that are recognized by the governing body of their amateur sport and that primarily target the “youth” age divisions as identified by the
particular governing body. The governing body shall be an active member of Sport NL.
iv. Arts Organizations: Organizations that have programs and/or projects in categories established by the City.
b) Capital Grants: Organizations seeking financial assistance for the construction, expansion, or renovation of a facility providing programs and/or services to City residents. The financial
assistance shall assist in meeting a need in the areas of recreational, cultural, or other community service, in the sole opinion of the City.
c) Meeting, Convention, and Sporting Event Grants: Organizations seeking financial assistance for Atlantic Canadian, national, or international meetings, conventions, and/or sporting
events hosted in St. John’s.
d) Youth Travel Grants: Individual Youth or teams of Youth.
i. Youth Sport Travel: Youth travelling out of the province who have won the right to participate in amateur championship sporting events (Atlantic Canadian, national, or international
events).
ii. Youth Non-Sport Travel: Youth travelling out of province to attend conferences, seminars, competitions, symposia, or other events in educational, cultural, or leadership areas
which are deemed, in the sole opinion of the City, to broaden their horizons in these disciplines.
e) Individual Artist Grants: Artists creating or producing projects in categories established by the City.
2 Eligibility Criteria and Requirements
a) Eligible organizations shall be not-for-profit corporations or registered charities registered to carry on business and in good standing in Newfoundland and Labrador and shall provide any
related documents as detailed in the application.
b) Incomplete applications shall be considered ineligible for financial assistance.
c) Financial assistance provided is a one-time payment. Granting of financial assistance in any one year shall not be a commitment by the City to continue such assistance in subsequent
years.
d) Grant recipients shall acknowledge the City’s financial assistance, where possible, in print materials or speeches/remarks made at related events.
2.1 Community Grants and Capital Grants
a) Organizations shall be based in St. John's and offer programs and/or services for City residents.
b) Organizations shall demonstrate, to the sole satisfaction of the City, that they intend to use the financial assistance to make some or all of their programs and/or services available to City
residents with minimal barriers to participation.
c) Organizations shall provide documentation, to the sole satisfaction of the City, of volunteer involvement in the provision of their programs and/or services.
d) Organizations receiving Grants shall not act in the capacity of a funding body for, or make Grants to, any other organization or individual.
e) Organizations associated with a religious organization shall demonstrate via their financial statements that they have a separate program or service budget for the program or service for
which they are seeking assistance.
f) Organizations receiving 80 percent or more of their funding from other levels of government shall be ineligible for a Grant.
g) Educational institutions (schools, colleges, etc.) shall be ineligible for a Grant.
h) The activities/expenses detailed in the Community Services Grants Procedures shall be considered ineligible.
2.2 Meeting, Convention and Sporting Event Grants
a) Organizations shall be the primary host organization of the meeting, convention, and/or sporting event for which they are seeking financial assistance.
b) Notwithstanding 3.2.2(a), an organization based in the province which meets the criteria in 3.2.(a) and is partnering with the primary host organization may apply for a Grant.
c) The meeting, convention, or sporting event shall comply with and shall be eligible for up to the maximum level of financial assistance as detailed in the Community Services Grant
Procedures.
d) Local or provincial meetings, conventions, and/or sporting events shall be ineligible for financial assistance.
2.3 Youth Travel Grants
a) Youth team members and/or individual Youth shall comply with and shall be eligible for up to the maximum level of financial assistance as detailed in the Community Services Grant
Procedures.
2.4 Individual Artist Grants
a) Applicants shall comply with the Community Services Grant Procedures.
b) Only individual applicants shall apply for financial assistance. Collectives or partnerships are encouraged to select a single individual to apply as the applicant.
c) Applicants shall only apply for one project per year.
d) Applicants who have received financial assistance for a previous project shall, as part of their application, demonstrate, to the sole satisfaction of the City, that they have completed any
projects from previous years.
e) The activities/expenses enumerated in the Community Grants Procedures shall be considered ineligible.
3 Evaluation Process
a) The Evaluation Committee shall oversee policy implementation.
b) Applications shall be evaluated on a consistent and equitable basis using the evaluation criteria in the Community Services Grants Procedures and application forms, with the following
groups or individuals providing recommendations:
i. Community Grants and/or Capital Grants: Evaluation Committee;
ii. Meetings, Conventions and Sporting Event Grants and/or Youth Travel Grants: Supervisor, Tourism and Special Events; and
iii. Individual Artist Grants: Selection Jury.
c) The Evaluation Committee shall:
i. provide 30 clear days or more notice of the deadline to the public, for Grants with an annual application deadline (Community Grants, Capital Grants, Individual Artist Grants);
ii. accept applications for consideration 60 clear days or more in advance of the event for Meetings, Conventions, and Sporting Event Grants; and
iii. accept applications 14 clear days or more prior to the event for Youth Travel Grants.
4 Accountability and Oversight
a) To ensure that financial assistance provided to Grant recipients is used for the purposes intended, Grant recipients shall provide an accounting of the financial assistance acceptable to
the Evaluation Committee.
b) If any component of a Grant recipient’s project/programming is cancelled, postponed, or otherwise incomplete, the Grant recipient shall advise the City and may be required to return all or
some of the Grant, at the sole discretion of the City.
c) Where requested by the City Internal Auditor, the Grant recipient shall provide their financial records to ensure compliance with this and other City policies.
d) The City shall keep documentation related to this program for a minimum of seven years and in compliance with the Records and Information Management Polic
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