Responsive Community Grants

Apply for a grant up to $10,000

The Responsive Community Grants program offers grants of up to $10,000 for serviceable community projects or programs.
These grants ‘respond’ to local and current needs as demonstrated in applications submitted by local organizations.

The 2025 Responsive Community Grants program is now closed.

The program Guidelines, Eligibility, and Restrictions are available below.

GUIDELINES

1. The concept of community strengthening is the cornerstone of the Foundation’s community grants program. Community strengthening occurs when the resilience, skills, infrastructure, and/or well-being of the community is enhanced.

2. Funding proposals will be assessed against four key pillars of community strengthening:

a. Resilience and Sustainability: Does the proposed project or program increase the community’s or organization’s ability to adapt, survive, and thrive in the face of challenges (e.g., economic, environmental, social)?

b. Skills and Knowledge Development: Does the proposed project or program provide local individuals or groups with new skills, knowledge, or leadership abilities that will contribute to the community’s growth and well-being?

c. Infrastructure and Resource Enhancement: Does the proposed project or program strengthen or develop the physical or organizational resources that the community needs or relies on?

d. Leadership, Collaboration and Community Engagement: Does the proposed project or program foster leadership, encourage collaboration, or increase community participation?

3. The Foundation will consider applications to support general programming, operating costs, small capital projects, or the purchase of equipment and/or supplies for eligible organizations.

4. The Foundation will accept and review one Letter of Intent from an eligible organization. NOTE: In cases where an organization submits multiple Letters of Intent, the first submission received will be considered by the Foundation.

5. The Foundation will award one Responsive Community Grant per year to an eligible organization. NOTE: The Foundation will not award a new community grant to organizations with outstanding Final Project & Expense Reports for previously awarded community grants.

ELIGIBILITY

To be eligible to receive the Foundation’s charitable funding, the applying organization must:

1. Be listed by the Canada Revenue Agency as a registered charity or other qualified donee with a status eligible to receive charitable funding,

2. Benefit citizens of the Sunshine Coast directly through its charitable activities,

3. Use the Foundation’s funding to carry on its own charitable activities and be able to meet the ‘own activities test’ by carrying on these activities through its staff, volunteers or through an intermediary, and

4. Complete the Foundation’s required paperwork:

➤ Community Grants Letter of Intent
➤ Community Grants Application Form
➤ Community Grants Project Budget
➤ Community Grants Agreement
➤ Community Grants Final Project Report
➤ Community Grants Project Expense Report

Are You a Non-Qualified Donee?
Non-qualified donees cannot apply directly to the Responsive Community Grants program. If your organization is a non-qualified donee, you will need to work in partnership with a registered charity (or other qualified donee) whose mandate is similar. The registered charity (or other qualified donee) would take on the application and activities as its own, and engage the non-qualified donee as an intermediary to carry out the activities. If the funding request is successful, payment would be issued from the Foundation to the registered charity (or other qualified donee). The CRA recommends that the relationship between a registered charity and non-qualified donee be documented. Please visit the CRA’s website for more details.

RESTRICTIONS

Responsive Community Grants will not be made for:

✗ Academic research (i.e., research intended for publication only without application to current activities),
✗ Tours or travel outside the community,
✗ Scholarships or bursaries,
✗ Activities of partisan political organizations or religious organizations that serve primarily their membership and/or their direct religious purposes (community programs delivered by religious institutions are eligible),
✗ General endowments,
✗ Major capital or building fundraising campaigns,
✗ Operating or capital deficits, or
✗ Individuals.

LINKS & RESOURCES

Acknowledgement
If you receive a Responsive Community Grant, please acknowledge the Sunshine Coast Foundation as a supporter of your organization and/or project on your website, in your social media posts, and in any media stories, newsletters, displays, and posters, or at any project-related events.
SCF logo – PNG
SCF logo – JPG

Fields of Interest
Grants in support of specific Fields of Interest – youth, health & wellness, the environment, literacy & reading, choral music, fibre arts, seniors, and food & shelter – are also available. To view of list of our Field of Interest funds, please visit Our Endowments.

Grants Management System
Foundant Technologies has created some video and written tutorials to help you navigate the grants management software:
Applicant Tutorial Video
Create an Account/Log on
Apply for a Grant
Manage Your Requests
Additional Information on Completing Forms

Other Sources of Funding
Other local sources of funding include: Town of Gibsons, District of Sechelt, Sunshine Coast Regional District, Sunshine Coast Community Forest, Sunshine Coast Health Care Auxiliary, and TELUS.

Previous Grant Recipients
To view past Responsive Community Grants recipients, please visit this page.

Program Updates
Follow us on social media (Facebook, Instagram) or subscribe to our mailing list to get updates about this program, as well as future grants opportunities.

Questions?
For any questions related to our grants programs, please contact Emily Schach, Communications and Grants Administrator.