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UTown@UBC Community Animation Grants

We are excited to announce the launch of new community grants in partnership with the Vancouver Foundation’s Neighbourhood Small Grant Program and the Musqueam Indian Band – introducing UTown@UBC Community Animation Grants!

UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam people. The land it is situated on has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam people. This new grant collaboration represents the long history of partnership between the Musqueam Indian Band and UBC and the potential of our communities to share experiences, strengthen connections and learn together.

Are you a student, staff, faculty member or member of the Musqueam community with a great idea for a community building project? Want to hold a canning workshop, an intergenerational storytelling project, a street party, or a book exchange? Need the funds to make it happen? Apply now for a Community Animation Grant!

The Spring Cycle of Utown @ UBC Animation Grants is now closed. 

The Community Animation Grant program awards up to $1,000 for projects that help build community and strengthen connections right where people live, work and learn. Have a project you think would be perfect for a Community Animation Grant? Not sure whether your project is eligible?

Stay tuned for the location & time for our Community Animation Grant information session where staff will be on hand to answer questions and assist with your project proposal.

Can't make it to the information session? Please contact Mustafa Akhtar, Coordinator, Community Programs and Outreach to find out whether your project is eligible. Phone calls are most welcome and encouraged!

Criteria

Applications for a UTown@UBC Community Animation Grant project are reviewed for the following criteria:

  • Does it contribute to social vibrancy?
  • Does it foster interaction between community members and involve them in a specific event, program or activity?
  • Does it create fun and unique opportunities where community members can learn about their community and each other?
  • Does it demonstrate a plan to deliver the proposed project successfully?
  • Does it use, enhance, mobilize or expand the assets of community members?
  • Does the application provide realistic plans for longer-term funding, if the project will be ongoing?
  • Does the project demonstrate inclusivity for community members?

Projects may be awarded grants a maximum of three years in a row, unless it can be demonstrated that the grant project will involve new project members or project leads or can be refreshed to provide a unique and engaging way to foster interaction between community members.

Please see FAQ’s below for funding and eligible expenses.

Project Eligibility

Whether you’re a Musqueam community member, UBC staff or faculty member, or a UBC student, you’re eligible to apply for a Community Animation Grant!

The following guidelines for eligibility apply:

  • Projects require two co-applicants who are either: UBC staff, faculty, students or Musqueam community members. Those who live on campus such as UNA residents, Acadia Park residents (SHHS) and student residents are strongly encouraged to consider a UTown@UBC Community Grant before applying for a Community Animation grant.
  • Staff, student and faculty projects must be completed at one of UBC’s lower mainland campuses or neighbourhoods. Musqueam projects can be completed either in the Musqueam community (this is inclusive of sites throughout the Metro Vancouver Area that are considered culturally or historically important to Musqueam) or at one of UBC’s lower mainland campuses or neighbourhoods.
  • Projects must be completed no later than December 15, 2017.
  • Applicants cannot profit financially from the project. Fundraising events with a strong community-building focus will be assessed for appropriateness.
  • Any unused funds must be returned to Campus and Community Planning at the end of the grant cycle. Funds that are less than $75, should be donated to the AMS Food Bank  or to Musqueam Community Services Deptartment (funds will be allocated to an active fundraising initiative). A receipt should be included with your final report.
  • Applicants may only receive funding for one project per cycle.
  • Funding may not be used for ongoing operational or core expenses, retroactive funding, or equipment and furniture purchases
  • Funding is not intended to replace, enhance or supplement any UBC departmental or Musqueam administrative funding for regular programs, events or activities.
  • Grant recipients must identify UTown@UBC and the Vancouver Foundation Neighbourhood Small Grant program as project sponsors at all opportunities.
  • Promotional materials for the project must be approved by a UTown@UBC Grant Administrator.
  • Projects must be consistent with the values of UBC —“academic freedom, advancing and sharing knowledge, excellence, integrity, mutual respect and equity and public interest.” 

Reporting

In order to provide grant recipients with support on their projects, ongoing communication with an assigned staff person (UTown@UBC Grant Administrator) is requested throughout the project. A completed report form of the project must be provided to your Grant Administrator no later than one month after the conclusion of the project, or by Devember 30, 2017 (whichever is soonest) showing how the funds were spent, the results achieved, and how the project contributed to the project objectives. The report must include original receipts for all funds spent. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

1. What are the key dates for the UTown@UBC Community Animation Grant Programs?

Please note that we are no longer accepting applications for the spring cycle of Utown @ UBC Community Animation Grants. 

  • Application deadline – February 12, 2017 at 11:59 pm
  • Grant recipients notified – Mid March
  • Project completion – December 15, 2017
  • Report deadline – No more than one month after the project completion date. 

2. Do I need to live on campus to be eligible for a Community Animation Grant?

No, while UTown@UBC Community Grants (Community Grants) are restricted to UTown@UBC residents, those who are eligible for Community Animation grants include UBC staff, faculty and students who do not live on campus as well as members of the Musqueam community.  Please see additional info about what is required for project criteria and eligibility.

3. What are ineligible expenses?

We do not provide funding for:

  • ongoing operational or core expenses.
  • retroactive funding, or for any project expenses to be incurred prior to the notification of a successful grant application.
  • equipment and furniture purchases. In some situations, funding may be provided for equipment that is fundamental to the project success, with a written explanation of why it is essential.
  • activities of groups that serve primarily their membership unless the community at large will benefit significantly.
  • instructor or speaker fees. Honorariums not exceeding 20% of the total grant value may be given to service providers in lieu of fees. Should you require more funding for a specific honorarium that is crucial to the success of the project, please provide a written explanation.
  • honorariums or other financial compensation for project organizers.
  • damage deposits.
  • expenses not specifically approved when the grant is issued.

4. Which projects are given priority?

Funding for Community Animation Grants is limited; therefore priority is given to new projects and initiatives, to help support community-led growth and innovation. To ensure fair distribution of funds, priority will also be given to projects and initiatives which are not already receiving funding from C+CP or the UNA.

5. I am a UBC staff or faculty or Musqueam employee. Can I receive funding for a project that is part of my departmental/operational activities?

No. The intention of this new grant category is to help promote community at UBC and in the nearby Musqueam community by supporting projects that would otherwise not be funded by UBC or Musqueam Administration.  Additionally, the funds are intended to support capacity for projects that are community-driven rather than driven by any departmental or unit mandate.

6. What happens to applications once they are received?

Grant proposal review: Applications will be reviewed by Utown@UBC Grant Administrators and then the UTown@UBC Community Grants Selection Committee, made up of volunteers from our community will determine which projects receive grants based on the applicant eligibility, funding criteria and the amount of funding available.

7. I have a speaker, elder or cultural leader in mind who asks for a specific honorarium.  Can Community Animation Grant funding be used for this?

Honorariums should not exceed 20% of the total value of the grant. However, should you require more funding for a specific honorarium that is crucial to the success of the project, please provide a written explanation in your application. 

8. What should I do with any remaining grant funds after the project has been completed?

Any unused funds must be returned by the grant recipient to C+CP in the form of a cheque (made out to UBC), along with their evaluation report. Unused funds that are less than $75, should be donated to the AMS Food Bank  or to the Musqueam Community Services Deptartment (funds will be allocated to an active fundraising initiative). A receipt should be included with your final report.

9. The cost of my project is higher than anticipated. Can I apply for more funding?

There is a limit of $1,000 per cycle awarded to each grant at the beginning of the grant cycle. In the interest of fairness, and to support as many community-building projects as possible, additional funding will not be awarded during the project cycle.

10. My project incurred some unexpected expenses along the way. Can I use Community Animation grant funding for this?

Should a grant recipient wish to make revisions to the approved funding guidelines, or use funds for a project expense not indicated in their initial application, a written request must be submitted to their appointed Grant Administrator. Revisions to approved funding are at the discretion of the UTown@UBC Community Grant Selection Committee. Should the request be denied, the grant recipient is responsible for expenses that do not meet the original funding purposes approved.

11. What is the evaluation report that grant recipients have to complete?

When you are awarded a Community Animation Grant you will be provided with an evaluation report template. The evaluation report is due no later than one month after the conclusion of the project, or by December 15, 2017 (whichever is soonest).

12. When can I expect to receive the funds?

Please allow up to four weeks from the date you receive your grant offer.

13. Why do you not fund off campus projects?

Community Animation Grants are jointly funded by Campus + Community Planning and the Vancouver Foundation and are designed to provide the opportunity to enhance community vibrancy and wellbeing on campus and within the Musqueam community.

If you are a staff, student or faculty member who is looking for funding to support a project for your off-campus neighbourhood, we encourage you to investigate a number of other funding sources, including a Vancouver Foundation Neighbourhood Small Grant in your local community or neighbourhood.  

14. Who decides if I get a Community Animation grant?

Our UTown@UBC Community Grant Selection Committee is comprised of volunteers from UBC staff and students, residents from the University Neighbourhood Association and Acadia Park (SHHS) and the Musqueam community. 

Contact

Please contact Mustafa Akhtar, Coordinator, Community Programs and Outreach to find out whether your project is eligible. Phone calls are most welcome and encouraged!

Email: mustafa.akhtar@ubc.ca

Phone: 604-822-2278 

Apply Now

Applying is easy:

1. Contact us before applying to discuss the application process, your community grant project idea, or eligibility.

2. Submit your application form by February 12, 11.59 PM. by simply printing and filling out the grant application and send it to us at:

Online: www.utown.ubc.ca/grantapplication

Email: mustafa.akhtar@ubc.ca

Mail or in person:

(UBC Point Grey Campus):

UTown@UBC Community AnimationGrants

CIRS Building, 2260 West Mall, 3rd Floor

Vancouver, BC

V6T 1Z4

(Musqueam):

Musqueam Indian Band Administration Office

6735 Salish Drive

Vancouver, BC V6N 4C4