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Systems Change Grants

Grants from $20,000 to $300,000 for charities and other qualified donees with projects that take action to address the root causes of pressing social, environmental or cultural issues in BC.
Amount: $300,000 over three years
Application Open: July 3, 2018
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Systems Change Grants: Overview

Systems Change Grants support projects that take action to address the root causes of pressing social, environmental or cultural issues by influencing the behaviours of populations, organizations, and institutions.

What does this mean? Systems thinking takes a step back and looks at the bigger picture. A systems change project must tackle the root causes of an issue by disrupting the ways that systems work – sometimes this means challenging the way things have worked for generations. And they must support work that benefits communities and populations as a whole. Why? Because we believe that this helps contribute to meaningful and lasting change.

Systems Change Grants may fund charitable projects in and across any sector. In addition, some of our funding is specific to social services, children and youth services, health, vocational or technical training, education, arts and culture, environment, and animal welfare sectors. But no matter the issue area, they must be led by a registered charity or other qualified donee listed by Canada Revenue Agency.

Are you working on a pressing social, environmental, or cultural issue affecting communities in BC? If so, then we’d love to receive your proposal.

Types of grants

There are three different grant types available, depending upon the stage of your project.

1. Develop grants (up to $20,000, for up to one year)

Develop grants are short-term grants to help teams generate ideas and a project plan for systems change that can be submitted to funders. They offer up to $10,000 towards the project's process, and up to an additional $10,000 to support community's participation in the process. Develop grants are a one-stage application, can be submitted anytime, and decisions are  made by the end of the following month.

2. Test grants (up to $100,000 per year, for up to three years)

Test grants are multi-year grants to help project teams test their influence on systems and learn what works. You can apply for a Test grant during either the spring or fall granting call, and decisions are made by the beginning of June or December. Test grants are a two-stage application. Applicants begin their application by submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI), and if successful, are invited to submit a Full Application.

3. Scale grants (up to $100,000 per year, for up to three years)

Scale grants are multi-year grants to help project teams extend the influence of an existing systems change project to a different scale within the system. You can apply for a Scale grant during either the spring or fall granting call, and decisions are made by the beginning of June or December. Scale grants are a two-stage application. Applicants begin by their application by submitting a Letter of Intent (LOI), and if successful, are invited to submit a Full Application.

Eligibility quiz

To help you understand if your organization and project meet our eligibility criteria, we’ve developed a quick and easy online quiz. 

Take the eligibility quiz now.

Guidelines

Our Systems Change Grants Guidelines are designed to give you the information you need to apply. The guidelines provide an overview of the program, eligibility criteria, an introduction to systems change and social innovation, practical questions to help you think about your project, and tips for making a successful grant application.

In addition, our guidelines include step-by-step application instructions, including every question you will be asked throughout the online application process.

Download our guidelines, and get started today.

Download Guidelines

Key dates

We appreciate grant applicants need to plan their time in advance to work on new proposals. The following key dates are updated every month, so please check here regularly for updates on our granting cycle.

July 3, 2018: Open for online grant applications
July 20, 2018: Deadline to submit online Letters of Intent for Test and Scale Grants
Early September, 2018: Decisions on Letters of Intent for Test and Scale Grants
Early October, 2018: Deadline to submit online Full Applications for Test and Scale Grants (invite only)
Mid-December, 2018: Decisions on Test and Scale Grants 

January 2, 2019: The next spring granting cycle opens for Test and Scale Grants. 
July 2, 2019: The next fall granting cycle opens for Test and Scale Grants.

Please note that Develop Grant online applications can be submitted at any time throughout the year, beginning July 3, 2018. Decisions on Develop Grants are made by the end of the following month that they were submitted. 

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How to Videos

detailed instructions on how to use the online application system.