Resources and information
If you need to access funding, information and advice in developing and implementing the goals and priorities your community has set for their high-speed future, there are many organizations available to lend a hand.Below is a diverse listing of links where you may find the expertise or funding assistance you need. This list is provided to save you many hours of searching. Before contacting any of these organizations, please open each link and explore its contents to ensure the organization could be of use to you.
Federal Government Funding
The following list includes federal agencies with programs that may be useful to communities seeking funding for the implementation of aspects of their Community Internet Strategies:Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA)
Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) is a federal government agency. Headquartered in the Atlantic Region, ACOA's goal is to improve the economy of Atlantic Canadian communities through the successful development of business and job opportunities.
Community Development
One of the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency's (ACOA) main goals is to help build economic capacity in Atlantic Canada by investing in communities.
Innovation
Launched in 2001, the Atlantic Innovation Fund (AIF) is helping Atlantic Canadians compete in a global knowledge-based economy through the development of new ideas, products, businesses and markets.
Business Development
Eligible activities for the Business Development Fund include business studies, capital investment, training, marketing, quality assurance, and not-for-profit activities that support business in the region. Assistance is also available to help you bid for and acquire public and private procurement contracts or to develop an innovative product or service.
Innovative Communities Fund
The Fund focuses on investments that lead to long-term employment and economic capacity building in rural communities. Urban initiatives that stimulate the competitiveness and vitality of rural communities may be considered on a selective basis.
Women in Business Initiative (WBI)
Through the Women in Business Initiative (WBI), ACOA provides financial support to not-for-profit business organizations in Atlantic Canada to offer women business owners the resources they need to grow their businesses and compete.
Young Entrepreneur Development Initiative (YEDI)
ACOA's Young Entrepreneur Development Initiative (YEDI) provides financial support to not-for-profit organizations, educational institutions and municipalities to offer business skills training, information and support to Atlantic Canadians under 35 years of age. With the right business skills and tools, aspiring and existing young entrepreneurs will be well equipped to successfully create and grow their businesses.
Community Business Development Corporations
This is a network of autonomous, not-for-profit organizations that work with all levels of government and the private sector to meet the needs of small business. In rural Atlantic Canada there are 41 Corporations dedicated to the development of small business and job creation.
Canada Council for the Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts supports, promotes, and celebrates the work of Canadian artists and arts organizations. Canada Council for the Arts funds media arts.
Media Arts
The Canada Council for the Arts provides research, creation, production and dissemination support to artists, organizations, groups and independent collectives in film, video, new media and audio, as well as providing support for festivals, travel, operating activities and equipment acquisition.
Canadian Young Business Fund
Helps young Canadians who have a great business idea and require financing, mentoring, and the right business resources to start a business.
FACTOR, Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings
FACTOR is dedicated to providing assistance toward the growth and development of the Canadian independent recording industry. The foundation administers the voluntary contributions from sponsoring radio broadcasters as well as two components of the Department of Canadian Heritage's Canada Music Fund Council's programs to support the Canadian music industry.
Canadian Heritage
Canadian Heritage is responsible for national policies and programs that promote Canadian content, foster cultural participation, active citizenship and participation in Canada's civic life, and strengthen connections among Canadians. Canadian Heritage offers relevant programs, including the following:Citizen Participation:
The Citizen Participation Branch helps Canadians to better understand both the diversity and the shared aspects of the Canadian experience, and seeks to connect Canadians to one another and their communities.
Media Arts
List of links to funding opportunities for the media arts
Young Canada Works
Young Canada Works (YCW) offers students and recent graduates the chance to put their skills to the test, build career equity, earn money for their education or get started on the right career path.
Industry Canada
Industry Canada provides resources for business and communities in a number of relevant areas, including:eCommerce
Canada is a world leader in the adoption, use and development of e-business. The Electronic Commerce Branch of Industry Canada aims to build on this foundation to support and facilitate continued growth of e-business in the Canadian economy.
Contributions Program
This program provides consumer and voluntary organizations with the means to produce high quality and timely research on consumer issues affecting the marketplace.
Regional and Rural Development
Industry Canada has various agencies and initiatives that promote economic development, jobs, investments and infrastructure in Canadian communities.
Provincial Funding Programs (Nova Scotia)
The following list includes provincial government agencies with programs that may be useful to communities seeking funding for the implementation of aspects of their Community Internet Strategies:Nova Scotia Economic and Rural Development
Encouraging and rewarding community initiative is a commitment explicitly made in Nova Scotia's economic growth strategy, Opportunities for Sustainable Prosperity. Staff in the Rural Development section of Nova Scotia Economic Development work to keep this commitment; they are based at the following locations:Service Locations
Nova Scotia's Regional Development Authorities
RDAs facilitate economic development in the communities they serve by focusing on: Community Development Business Counseling
- Skills & Learning
- Regional Promotion
- Investment Recruitment
- Information & Research
- Sites & Premises
- Innovation
- Business Retention and Expansion
The Governments of Canada and Nova Scotia announced the creation of a Community Development Trust in Nova Scotia to aid vulnerable communities experiencing difficulties due to the impacts of globalization, and economic slowdown in the United States.
Community Economic Development Investment Funds
A CEDIF is a pool of capital, formed through the sale of shares (or units), to persons within a defined community, created to operate or invest in local business.
Employment Programs
NSED funds employment programs that are geared towards specific groups or locations, including students.
Other key divisions of NSED, that may provide relevant funding include:
Business Information
Trade
Procurement
Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage
The Department provides program funding for development in the following areas:
Tourism
Culture
Heritage
NS Tourism Partnership Council
An industry and government partnership that shares in planning and decision making for tourism marketing, research and product development in Nova Scotia, the TPC is working with industry stakeholders to realize Nova Scotia's potential as a world class four season destination.
InNOVAcorp
InNOVAcorp helps high potential early stage companies commercialize their technologies and succeed in the global marketplace. Our internationally recognized High Performance Incubation (HPi) business model incorporates incubation, mentoring and investment.
Corporate Social Responsibility programs
The following are some of the formal corporate funding foundations and organizations that currently exist in North America. Most of these organizations are based in the USA. However, some have specific funds directed at Canadian organizations, and others will consider applications from all over the world, including Canada.American Express
Especially interested in proposals that cultivate leadership opportunities for diverse communities within the nonprofit sector or that focus on innovative leadership development programs for emerging leaders of world-class institutions. Specifically target programs for emerging nonprofit leaders in the arts, environment, higher education and social service sectors. In addition, accept a limited number of requests for programs outside the US to support entrepreneurs to become future business leaders.
Cisco Systems
Support for non-profits. Invest in community organizations that align with company's investment areas of education, economic development, and basic human needs. Cash grants for qualifying organizations are awarded at global, regional, and local levels.
Adobe.com
The Adobe Action Grants and Adobe Community Investment Grants programs are designed to increase Adobe's impact in the community through support of more organizations and strengthen its role as a corporate partner by creating deeper, stronger, and richer partnerships.
Air Canada
Supports organizations that focus on improving the lives of Canadians. In the Community support is twofold: investment in a community's social fabric by supporting charitable organizations that help children and youth through the Kids' Horizons programs, and sponsorship of local events or activities by non-profit organizations that contribute to a community's economic growth.
Ben and Jerry's Foundation
Grant applicants need to demonstrate that their projects will:
- lead to societal, institutional and/or environmental change;
- address the root causes of social or environmental problems; and
- lead to new ways of thinking and acting.
- help ameliorate an unjust or destructive situation by empowering constituents;
- facilitate leadership development and strengthen the self-empowerment efforts of those who have traditionally been disenfranchised in our society; and
- support movement building and collective action. Applicants should:
- develop a plan for long-term viability;
- articulate a clear analysis of the underlying causes of the problem; and
- outline specific goals and strategies of their organizing campaign or program.
The Citi Foundation is committed to enhancing economic opportunities for individuals and families, particularly those in need, in the communities where it works so that they can improve their standard of living. Globally, the Citi Foundation focuses its strategic giving on:
- Microfinance and Microentrepreneurship to help people, especially women, improve the lives of their families
- Small and Growing Businesses at the next stage of development that create employment and support economic growth
- Education with a focus on increasing the supply of high quality basic education in local Citi markets internationally
- Financial Education and Asset Building to help individuals and families develop the skills and incentives to gain financial stability, grow and preserve financial assets
- The Environment with a focus on sustainable enterprises that create jobs and support economic development while preserving the environment
- In the United States and Canada, the Citi Foundation also supports Community Development programs with a focus on increasing the supply of affordable housing and revitalizing neighborhoods
The Coca-Cola Company and its philanthropic arm, The Coca-Cola Foundation, aim to make a greater impact around the world by being responsive to the citizenship needs of the communities where the company lives and works. Working with local community, governmental and nongovernmental organizations, it supports projects most relevant to community needs.
Encana
The organization must be located in and serving an EnCana community. The organization should be a registered charity which is eligible to issue official tax receipts for donations, or an established not-for-profit community organization. The objectives of the organization must reflect the principles and objectives of capacity building. The organization must be in sound financial condition or able to demonstrate that it has an effective plan for eliminating any financial difficulties.
Gap Foundation
In developed countries including Canada, the Foundation focuses on underserved youth and its cause is career exploration and job readiness education.
General Electric
The GE Foundation focuses on improving access, equity and quality of education in targeted GE communities. It funds focused, research-based grant initiatives and partners with schools and organizations to develop high-impact efforts.
HP Canada Philanthropy
In Canada, the HP Technology for Teaching initiative funds projects that are engaged with transforming teaching and learning through the integration of technology in the classroom and beyond.
IBM Corporate Citizenship
Focus is on improving public schools around the world, efforts are focused on preparing the next generation of leaders and workers. The company also supports community priorities and concerns.
IBM's World Community Grid
invites public and not-for-profit organizations to apply to use its powerful grid technology at no cost for projects that benefit humanity. Grid technology enables researchers to access tremendous amounts of power, exceeding that of several supercomputers, to run complex computations and to accelerate the pace of their research. Research results must be made available to the global research community and will be made available on World Community Grid's web site.
Mattel Children's Foundation
Partnering with charitable organizations dedicated to directly serving children, Mattel offers funding through the Mattel Children's Foundation, product donations, grant making and the work of employee volunteers.
Microsoft Community Engagement and Investment
Focus is on a commitment to creating sustainable technology solutions that make a lasting difference in people's lives. Through monetary grants, software and curriculum donations, technology solutions, and employee volunteer hours, Microsoft supports programs and organizations that address the needs of communities worldwide.
Motorola Foundation
The Foundation's focus emphasizes the following:
- Education: With programs that encourage an interest in science, technology, engineering and math - particularly among girls and the underserved minorities.
- Connecting the unconnected: To help bring the transformative power of wireless communication to communities that might otherwise be overlooked.
- Critical community needs: To support a wide variety of programs that have a direct impact in the communities where Motorola does business.
The Oracle Foundation sponsors ThinkQuest and makes select educational grants to over 80 partners. ThinkQuest is a protected, online learning platform that enables teachers to integrate learning projects into their classroom curriculum and students to develop 21st century skills. It includes the following: a project environment where teachers and students engage in collaborative learning; a competition space where students participate in technology contests; the award-winning ThinkQuest Library, a learning resource visited by millions; and a professional development program for educators.
ThinkQuest supports 400,000 participants in 60 countries and is free for primary and secondary schools around the world.
Proctor and Gamble Investing in Canadian Communities
P&G recently adopted a corporate cause - P&G Live, Learn and Thrive™. The aim of P&G Live, Learn and Thrive is to help children in need, ages 0-13, live by ensuring a healthy start; to provide them with places, tools and programs to enhance their ability to learn; and to help them develop skills for life so they can thrive.
Royal Bank of Canada
Its approach is to support endeavours that empower organizations to make a difference and inspire others.
TD Bank
Education is the key to unlocking future opportunities for young people, whether they are grasping how to read or are embarking on the path to higher learning. TD contributes at many different levels, from sponsoring reading clubs for kids to funding student scholarships.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo directs its giving to areas that it believes are important to the future of American vitality and success: community development, education, and human services.
Philanthropic foundations (Canada)
Here are some of the philanthropic foundations that operate in Canada. There are many others, whose funding focus is on environmental or other issues not directly related to education and community economic development.Carthy Foundation
The Carthy Foundation, based in Calgary, Alberta, is a private foundation established in 1965. Our mission reflects both the intentions of the founders, and the needs of the country in the new millennium. With the view of enhancing the future prosperity of Canada, its mission is to create opportunity with, and provide education for young people.
Laidlaw Foundation
The Foundation's current work promotes positive youth development through inclusive youth engagement in the arts, environment and in community. It recognizes that all young people need the unconditional support of significant adults in their lives and need multiple opportunities to locate an individual talent and the resources necessary to develop that talent.
The JW McConnell Family Foundation
The Foundation's objective is to encourage active citizenship and to create resilient communities. As a national funder it seeks initiatives, often innovative in nature, that have the potential for country-wide impact. The Foundation recognizes that money alone seldom, if ever, solves problems and is committed to systematically learning from its own and others' experience, and to sharing that knowledge as widely as possible. The Foundation welcomes applications for funding that further the objectives given above and that meet the eligibility criteria. The Grants Database provides information on a selection of recent grants made by the Foundation.
The John and Pat McCutcheon Charitable Foundation
The foundation was established to provide support in the areas of environmental protection and community economic development and implement programmes that will become self-sufficient. Its mission is to help people to help themselves by working with organizations to develop and implement programmes that will become self-sufficient.
Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation
The Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation aspires to the ideal of a sovereign Canada that is dedicated to the security and well being of all Canadians and committed to tolerance, pluralism and democratic participation.
The Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science and Technology
The Foundation aims to further human knowledge by supporting artistic, scientific and technological research. Revealing the interdependency between ourselves and our omnipresent technological environment is at the core of the Foundation's questioning.
The Foundation seeks to bring art and science closer together within a technological context on two levels: first, by nurturing a critical awareness of technology's impact on ourselves and on our natural and cultural environments and second, by promoting the exploration of aesthetics reflecting the environments that we shape. The Foundation also seeks to promote the emergence of knowledge founded on local practices that contribute to the growth and well-being of people in their communities and environments.
FACTOR, Foundation Assisting Canadian Talent on Recordings
FACTOR is dedicated to providing assistance toward the growth and development of the Canadian independent recording industry. The foundation administers the voluntary contributions from sponsoring radio broadcasters as well as two components of the Department of Canadian Heritage's Canada Music Fund Council's programs to support the Canadian music industry.
Philanthropic foundations (USA)
Carnegie Corporation of New YorkCarnegie Corporation of New York was created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to promote "the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding." Under Carnegie's will, grants must benefit the people of the United States, although up to 7.4 percent of the funds may be used for the same purpose in countries that are or have been members of the British Commonwealth, with a current emphasis on Commonwealth Africa. As a grant-making foundation, the Corporation seeks to carry out Carnegie's vision of philanthropy, which he said should aim "to do real and permanent good in this world."
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
The foundation makes most of its grants to U.S. tax-exempt organizations that staff independently identify. A small percentage of grantmaking occurs through Requests for Proposals (RFPs). The foundation does not make grants to individuals. The Foundation looks for projects that:
- Produce measurable results
- Use preventive approaches
- Promise significant and long-lasting change
- Leverage support from other sources
- Accelerate work the foundation already supports
The Web Foundation was recently established by Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with the invention of the Web. It is currently developing plans to fund projects around the world through these strategically integrated programs:
- Web Science and Research
- Web Technology and Practice
- Web for Society