For $400M Community Services Recovery Fund, feds tap Canadian Red Cross, United Way Centraide Canada, and Community Foundations as national funders
Why It Matters
Unlike many grants on offer, the federal Community Services Recovery Fund isn’t focused on supporting new programs and services, but rather provides a much-needed injection of cash to support organizational capacity building and innovation. The organizations tapped to distribute the funds have power over who accesses support.
[aesop_image img=”https://futureofgood.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/all2b-1-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”On Nov. 22, in Ottawa, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development Karina Gould (centre) announced the three national funders who will deliver the $400 million Community Services Recovery Fund. (Courtesy: United Way Centraide Canada).” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
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In Ottawa on Tuesday, on the unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, Karina Gould, announced the launch of the $400 million Community Services Recovery Fund and the three organizations selected to deliver it.
The selected national funders are United Way Centraide Canada, Community Foundations of Canada and Canadian Red Cross, the same three charities the government partnered with to deliver the $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister Gould said the aim of the CSRF is to support community sector organizations across the country to adapt and modernize based on the disruptions caused by the pandemic. “These organizations play a crucial role in helping communities across the country and they need to continue to be able to do their important work,” she said.
Andrea Dicks, President of Community Foundations of Canada called the announcement “historic,” given the size of the capital the government is investing in supporting organizational adaptation — a type of funding social sector organizations often struggle to access — and given the “inclusive” approach the government is taking to eligibility.
The fund will welcome applications from charities, non-profits, Indigenous governing bodies, and, a rarity — unincorporated grassroots initiatives that operate exclusively for social welfare.
The three selected national funders will be responsible for distributing funds to eligible projects across the country, and will begin this process in short order.
The grant applications for interested community organizations will open on January 6 and will be due about six weeks later, on February 21, 2023. Projects have about a year-long runway, running from May 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024, according to a federal FAQ document.
The CSRF was one of a handful of funds the government promised more than a year and a half ago to the community sector in federal Budget 2021.
[aesop_image img=”https://futureofgood.co/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/DanClement1-1-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” align=”center” lightbox=”on” captionsrc=”custom” caption=”Dan Clement, CEO of United Way Centraide, said on Tuesday the announcement of the CSRF is a victory for the charitable sector. (Courtesy: United Way Centraide Canada)” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]
CSRF will offer a shot in the arm to beleaguered sector organizations
Eligible community service organizations can apply for a variety of projects through the CSRF, including upgrading outdated IT infrastructure, developing and implementing new approaches to fundraising, and training staff and volunteers to deliver services in new ways in light of the pandemic.
Dan Clement, CEO of United Way Centraide Canada, said, in an interview with Future of Good on Tuesday, that the funding announcement is a victory for the many charitable sector organizations who have advocated for this type of support. “It’s the type of money organizations often struggle to get…there’s always lots of pressure on program and service delivery, but these dollars are really about investments in the organizations themselves.”
In delivering the program, each of the national funders will handle applications focused on different project themes. United Way Centraide Canada will handle applications focused on program and service innovation and redesign, Canadian Red Cross will support organizations with projects focused on investing in staff and volunteers, and Community Foundations of Canada will administer funds for projects focused on organization’s internal systems, such as data, evaluation or IT tools.
Dicks said that regardless of the project focus, the CSRF has a core focus on supporting the people who power Canada’s social service sector — front-line volunteers and staff, boards of directors, custodial and support staff and others — and ensuring community service organization teams have what they need to be resilient.
CSRF project budget sizes will be based on scope. Organizations that offer local support will be eligible to apply for grants that range from $10,000 to $200,000. Organizations offering support nationally or across several provinces and territories are eligible to apply for funding ranging between $20,000 and $500,000.
Each of the three national funders will decide independently on local-level projects, Clement said, whereas the three national funders will decide jointly on national projects.
No Black or Indigenous-led organizations among National Funders selected
Over the last several years, Indigenous and Black philanthropic leaders advocated strongly for governments and funders to resource their organizations directly. Despite this, the government did not select a Black or Indigenous-led organization as a national funder.
‘Cúagilákv (Jess H̓áust̓i), co-founder of the Indigenous-led, Right Relations Collaborative, expressed disappointment about this approach.
“Indigenous communities are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic due to the effects of systemic oppression underlying the effects of COVID-19,” they said, in an email to Future of Good, following the announcement. “We should have a hand in ensuring relief funds are distributed in a just, responsible, and culturally safe way for the benefit of Indigenous communities’ healing.”
H̓áust̓i said despite the absence of an Indigenous-led national funder, they are hopeful the three selected organizations will “look to the wisdom” of Indigenous-led leaders in the philanthropic space, such as the Circle on Philanthropy; and that national funders, including the three selected, will prioritize resourcing grassroots-led initiatives like the Northern Manitoba Food Community Culture Collaborative and the Right Relations Collaborative.
In response to a Future of Good question about the absence of a Black or Indigenous-led national funding partner, Minister Gould said on Tuesday that the government is investing $200 million in Black communities directly, through the Black-led Philanthropic Endowment Fund; and that there is an “inclusion and equity lens” built into the funding agreements with each of the three selected national funders.
Amanuel Melles, executive director of the Network for Advancement of Black Communities, said, in an interview with Future of Good on Tuesday, that despite the absence of a Black-led national funder, he is optimistic that CSRF funds will reach Black-led organizations.
Melles said during the earlier stages of the pandemic, his organization worked closely with each of the three now-selected national funders on the $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund to ensure funds flowed to Black communities.
With the Canadian Red Cross, for instance, NABC created a reference group of Black leaders to advise the disaster relief organization. With United Way Centraide Canada, they created “clusters” to help Black-led organizations without charitable status to access funding, he said.
Each of these experiences built trust, Melles said. “[And] that experience is what gives me a level of reassurance today to say, ‘Yes, we can recreate that pattern with them.”
Victoria Grant and Wanda Brascoupe, co-creators of the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, too, welcomed the news about the selection of the three national funders based on positive experience with the ECSF.
In a joint interview on Wednesday morning, Grant said she feels the three selected national funders “did a very good job” in the delivery of the ECSF, including by ensuring funds reached Indigenous communities.
Asked if she feels disappointed an Indigenous-led organization isn’t among the selected national funders, Grant said her organization, with a staff of just six, wouldn’t have the capacity to deliver a national program of this size; and further that Indigenous People’s Resilience Fund is interested in securing “unencumbered funds” to support their communities, rather than the outcomes-bound dollars the government is offering to the three national funders with the CSRF.
Brascoupe added that she is hopeful the selected funders will continue to engage deeply with Indigenous communities as both an opportunity and responsibility “as part of their own practice of reconciliation.”
Organizations interested in applying for the CSRF can access more information about the application process in upcoming webinars on December 6 and January 12, and can find more information about the federal program via a new program website.
This story has been updated to reflect that projects will begin May 1, not May 2 as we originally reported. The May 2 date was reported from a federal government FAQ document, which has since been updated as well.
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