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Application Guide
Applying for Funding through the Women’s Program of Status of Women Canada
Call for Proposals

Section 1 – General Information
Section 2 – Overview of the Women’s Program
Section 3 – General Eligibility Requirements
Section 4 – Application Form and Budget
Section 5 – Results Framework
Section 6 - Project Assessment Factors

Section 1 – General Information

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to assist organizations in the preparation of funding applications for submission to the Women’s Program of Status of Women Canada.

Application Requirements

Submission of Application
Receipt of Application

Review Process

Assessment
Approval

Section 2 – Overview of the Women’s Program

When applying for funding, organizations should take into account the following:

Women’s Program Mandate To advance equality for women in Canada by working to create conditions for success for women.
Women’s Program Objective To support action to advance equality between women and men in the economic, social and democratic life of Canada.
Women’s Program Expected Short-Term Result Women and communities have access to supports to address issues relating to equality between women and men.
Women’s Program Expected Medium-Term Result Communities and stakeholders have access to opportunities to advance equality between women and men.
Women’s Program Strategic Outcomes Equality between women and men is promoted and advanced in Canada
Alignment with the Call for Proposals Your project MUST align with the call under which you submit your proposal

Section 3 – General Eligibility Requirements

Applicants are required to meet all of the general eligibility criteria as described below.

A) Applicants

Eligible Applicants

Eligible recipients include legally constituted organizations that are:

B) Project/Activities

Eligible Project/Activities

Funding is provided for activities related to a project that:

Ineligible Project/Activities

C) Expenses

Eligible Expenses

Eligible expenditures are those considered necessary to support the project being funded. They include the following:

Note: Additional information on eligible expenditures is also available at cfc-swc.gc.ca/fun-fin/wcf-fcf/elig-en.html

Ineligible Expenses

Section 4 – Application Form and Budget

Identify your project

Please enter the title of the project for which you are applying in the box provided at the top of the form. The title of the project should be brief and refer to the issue/need being addressed.

Identify your project location

Specify your project location (check the box that applies to you). Note that if the proposed project is located in Nunavut, if the target population is Aboriginal, or if a majority of participants are Aboriginal women/girls, you should check the "Aboriginal" box.

Each box represents a region. If your proposed project is located in more than one region, please check the "National" box.

A - Information about your organization

  1. Enter your organization's full name, followed by its acronym, if applicable. Please use the name shown on the Certificate of Incorporation or Registration.
  2. If your organization has ever operated under a different name, indicate the full, unabbreviated, previous name. If not, indicate "not applicable" (N/A).
  3. Organization’s street address
    Is this information confidential? (i.e. address of a women’s shelter)
  4. Mailing address (if different)
  5. Office telephone number
  6. Office fax number
  7. Organization’s email address
  8. Organization’s website
  9. Indicate whether the organization is for-profit, not-for-profit, Aboriginal government, or "other." If "other," please indicate what type.
  10. Indicate if your organization is registered or incorporated and attach a copy of your Certificate of Registration or Incorporation.
  11. Check one box only to indicate the scope of your organization:
    • municipal - active primarily in a town, city or regional municipality;
    • regional - active across a district or region of a province or territory;
    • provincial/-territorial - active across a province or territory;
    • inter-provincial/ territorial- active across two or more provinces or territories;
    • national - active across Canada; and/or
    • international - active across Canada and in at least one other country.
  12. Indicate if your organization has previously received funding from a government (federal /provincial/territorial/municipal) or private foundation.
    If yes, please state the three most recent funders and include the name of the department/foundation, the contact information (name, telephone number and email address) and the amount of funding.
  13. Indicate if your organization has any outstanding debts to the Government of Canada. If yes, indicate to which department and the amount.
  14. Provide brief information on your organization’s mandate, main activities and organizational structure.
  15. If your organization is an Aboriginal government (including band councils, tribal councils and self government entities) or one of its agencies, explain how you meet the eligibility criteria. Aboriginal governments and their agencies are only eligible for funding in rural and remote areas where there is a lack of capacity among non-profit and for-profit organizations within geographic proximity. If this question does not apply to your organization, leave it blank.

B – Contact Information

  1. Indicate the official language in which you wish to be served.
  2. Give the name, title, address, telephone number, alternate telephone number and email address of the person Women’s Program staff should contact, if they require additional information about your application (preferably the director of your organization or the person responsible for management of the project).
  3. Give the name, title, address, telephone number, alternate telephone number and email address of the person primarily responsible for your organization (president of the board of directors, president of the organization or executive director).

C – Project Information

  1. The location should identify the community and/or city, as well as the province/territory, where the project will take place. If your project involves multiple locations, please list them all.
  2. Indicate the duration of the project in months.
  3. Indicate the amount requested from Status of Women Canada. You will find the amount in the budget form ("Budget per Activity"). The amounts specified in the budget form should match the amounts you include here.
  4. Indicate the total amount of project funding from other sources of revenue, including the amount to be covered by your organization and/or other partners, whether in-kind or financial. You will find this amount in the the budget form ("Budget per Activity").  The amounts specified in the budget form should match the amounts you include here.
  5. Information on the community: Briefly describe how you decided to work with this community. What are its needs? Do existing services address the issue? What are the issues relevant to the need facing the community?
    Community can refer to the physical place where women affected by the issue live. Also, in a broader sense, it can refer to a specific grouping, such as "the business community" or "the immigrant women’s community
  6. Information on your project’s target population: Check the applicable boxes to indicate the primary and secondary populations affected by your project.
    Describe your project’s specific target population.
  7. Issue/Need: Describe the issue/need to be addressed by responding to all questions.
  8. Project Summary: Describe your project by responding to all four questions. Summary must include the main objectives (i.e. what you are hoping to change/achieve by project’s end), key activities (i.e. how you will meet these objectives), and who will be affected by the activities.  You may also want to highlight any notable or innovative characteristics. Note that the description should not exceed two pages.
  9. Describe your organization’s ongoing activities and explain how they differ from the proposed project activities. Note that the project funding should not be directed to ongoing services. If this is another phase of a project previously funded by either the Women’s Program or another source, what was achieved in that project, and how does this proposal build on and differ from the previous project?
  10. Partners: Identify your potential or confirmed partners and describe how they will participate. Provide a brief description (one to three sentences) of their contribution. Indicate whether these partners are confirmed or not.
  11. Expertise: Describe your organization’s expertise relating to the issue/need to be addressed. Give examples referring to other projects you have managed, or prior work done relating to the issue. If your organization lacks some relevant expertise/experience, but will cover this shortfall by engaging partners or consultants, please describe.
  12. Capacity: Describe your ability and experience in managing projects. Demonstrate that your organization has the capacity to manage this project by providing examples from other projects and their achievements. If your organization lacks project management capacity, but will cover this shortfall by engaging partners or consultants, please describe.
  13. Other Efforts: Identify other local/regional/provincial/national efforts being undertaken by other organizations to address the issue/need and describe how your project will complement these efforts.
  14. Sustainability: Explain how your project will continue to have an impact (produce additional results) once it is completed. If you are requesting funds for implementation of activities that you hope to continue after the project’s end, you must explain clearly how they will be sustained in the long term. The following set of Guiding Questions can be used to inform your response:
    • What lasting impacts do you expect the project to have on the community once it is completed?
    • What will have changed as a result of this project that will allow women and girls, not directly reached in this project, to also benefit?
    • What follow-up do you anticipate from other organizations as a result of this project?
    • What long-term changes are you hoping stakeholders and partners will make?
  15. Risks and Plan to Address Risks: All projects have risks; by thinking ahead of potential risks you can work to mitigate them.

    List potential risks to the project: events and/or circumstances that may negatively affect the successful achievement of planned results.

    Plan to address identified risks (risk mitigation):

    List the planned activities to address or mitigate identified risks.
    The following are three examples of potential risks and plans to address them:
    1. Risk: Not enough women will attend the planned activities.

      Plan: The organization will recruit participants in advance, using its own networks/contacts and those of member and partner organizations.
    2. Risk: Women will become discouraged as they try to apply what they have learned in the project to their lives and their communities.

      Plan: Sessions will cover strategies for participants to stay positive. In addition, participants will support each other and communicate by email and in an online forum. The organization will provide updates and additional tools to motivate participants to continue.
    3. Risk: Partners are not able to contribute to the project as planned.

      Plan: Establish and maintain a broad network of others interested in the project who may be able to assist if needed. Identify alternative strategies and plans for adjusting the project that will achieve the same results. 
  16. Results Framework: See Sections 5 below for details on how to complete this section.
Declaration and Undertaking

To process the application, an electronic signature by a person with legal signing authority is required. The signatory is responsible for ensuring the organization meets all the terms and conditions outlined in the Declaration and Undertaking. The signatory must include her/his title and date of signature

D - Budget per Activity

The Budget Form is part of the Application Form. You must use the form provided.

Please make sure that the name of the applicant organization and the project’s title appear in the appropriate boxes of the Budget Template, as this document is separate from the Application Form.

You should consult the Guidelines on Eligible Expenditures prior to completing your budget.
The Budget Form is divided into four tables and each one must be completed (except Table 3, which auto-populates):

Note: Include all Administrative Expenditures in Table 2. Listing Administrative Costs under Direct Delivery Expenditures (Table 1) could automatically result in cuts to the amounts requested under both categories. Therefore, please ensure that descriptions are clear and detailed enough to avoid confusion.

Please note that a detailed description/breakdown of each budget item is required. The detailed description/breakdown should be presented in point form. For example:

Example 1: under Travel:

Example 2: under Salaries and Benefits:

All budget costs should be rounded-up to the nearest dollar.

Table 4: Sources of Revenue:

Organizational Contribution:

Indicate the amount of money and/or in-kind goods/services the organization will contribute to the project.

Indicate the value of in-kind goods and/or services that are directly related to the project and are donated to the project by the applicant organization.

"In-kind" refers to goods and/or services provided instead of money. For your project budget, a reasonable monetary value should be applied to these contributions. In-kind contributions can include staff and volunteer time, services, programs, office space and administrative services.

Others:

List contributions from others – governments, partners, etc. And describe their in-cash or in-kind participation. Identify the in-kind participation in the description box.

Section 5 – Results Framework

What is a results framework?

Sometimes also called a "results chain" or "logic model," a results framework is a depiction of the causal or logical relationships between activities, outputs, and the results (i.e. outcomes) of a given project. It is a strategic document and should not be confused with a work plan.

The Results Framework is divided into five categories: project objective(s), activities, outputs, short term results (immediate), and medium term results (intermediate). Each of these represents a distinct step in the causal logic of a project. The activities and outputs address the how of a project, whereas the results and project objective(s) constitute the actual changes.

Project Objective(s)

The project objective(s) should reflect what you expect to achieve by your project’s end, not how you plan to achieve it. Objectives contribute to the achievement of larger project goals and thus should answer the question, "What will have changed by the end of the project?" For example:

To increase opportunities for industry sectors and communities to advance women in non-traditional occupations.

To engage women and community partners in developing community strategies to increase women’s access to a broad range of economic options.
Key Activities

Activities are key actions undertaken in the course of the project that use inputs to produce outputs. Project activities and their related results will contribute to the achievement of project objectives.

Examples of key activities include: establishing partnerships, assessing needs, resource development, and networking.

You will be required to report on your activities, so ONLY list the most important/relevant ones. Do not provide a detailed description or list sub-activities in the Results Framework. It is recommended that you limit the number to a maximum of six (6).
Key Outputs / Products

Outputs are the products, goods or services stemming directly from the activities of a project, for example: reports, action plans, tools, codes of practice, and protocols.

You will be required to report on your outputs, so ONLY include the most important/relevant ones. It is recommended that you limit the number to a maximum of five (5).
Planned Results

Results can be described as the outcomes and impacts of a project that has completed its key activities. A result is a describable or measurable change that is derived from a cause-and-effect relationship. At SWC, results are the same as outcomes, and are further qualified as short term (immediate), or medium term (intermediate). A result statement outlines what a project is expected to achieve or contribute to.

Short term results flow logically from the activities and outputs. They represent the change brought about by the existence of goods and/or services created through the activities. For example, the provision of training results in increased understanding. Short term results normally represent changes in access, ability, or awareness. Please include the results that you plan to achieve DURING the project.

Medium term results normally represent a change in practice or behaviour. They are the next logical step from the short term results and link logically to the project’s objective. Please include the outcomes you expect to achieve BY THE END of the project or shortly after. At a minimum, you should be able to report progress against medium term results by project’s end.

You will be required to report on your Planned Results, so ONLY include the most important/relevant ones. It is recommended that you limit the number to a maximum of five (5).

SAMPLES PLANNED RESULTS

Project A:

Short Term

  • An industry/sector plan to advance local women's opportunities for prosperity in non-traditional sectors has been developed.
  • Stakeholders can identify the challenges to women's prosperity in non-traditional sectors.

Medium Term

  • Community partners and stakeholders are collaborating to maximize opportunities to advance women in non-traditional sectors.
  • Stakeholders have taken strategic sector-specific actions to advance women in non-traditional occupations.

Project B:

Short Term

  • Effective strategies and/or mechanisms to advance local women's economic security and opportunities for prosperity have been developed.
  • Women and stakeholders can identify barriers to women's economic security and are aware of local opportunities.

Medium Term

  • Local women are actively engaging in and taking on leadership roles to address these pressing issues in their communities.
  • Community partners and stakeholders collaborate to maximize assets to increase economic options for women.
Stakeholders have taken strategic actions to improve the economic situation of women living in their community.

Section 6 – Project Assessment Factors

A) Overview

Assessment for funding is based on the following criteria: 

B) The Organization

Eligibility
  • The applicant organization is an eligible recipient (see Section 3 – General Eligibility Requirements).
Capacity
  • The applicant organization demonstrates knowledge of the issue being addressed.
  • The applicant organization demonstrates that it has the relevant expertise and/or experience to carry out the project.
  • The applicant organization demonstrates the ability to leverage resources and build partnerships with public institutions and other stakeholders.
  • The applicant organization’s history with the Women’s Program or other funding sources demonstrates accountability for funds.
  • The applicant organization demonstrates that it is financially stable.
  • The applicant organization demonstrates that it is administratively stable, and able to manage human and financial resources.

C) The Project

Alignment The proposed project must align with the call for proposals.
Effectiveness and Feasibility
  • The proposed project is feasible in terms of activities, timelines, planned results and potential risks.
  • The applicant organization demonstrates that it is involved with the community.
  • The applicant organization has identified the appropriate level and nature of collaboration with potential and/or confirmed partners.
  • The project proposal includes specific information on how the women or girls affected by the issue will be actively involved in the project.
Project Budget
  • The proposed project’s budget is realistic in terms of proposed activities and planned results.
  • The proposed project’s budget demonstrates efficient use of resources.
  • The proposed amounts in all budget lines are consistent with local standards and with Treasury Board Secretariat guidelines where travel costs are concerned.
  • The proposed project has other financial and/or in-kind support
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