Information for current grant holders

Due to the long-term nature of our partnerships with funded programs, please note that no region-wide call for applications is anticipated for SMART Grants or CFAI Grants.

SMART Grants for Health Promotion Programs

Named after former VCH staff member Sharon Martin, SMART Grants support health promotion programs (and longer-term projects) that build the collective capacity of population groups within the VCH region to proactively improve their health and prevent illness. Grants are for one, two or three year terms with the possibility of renewal based on program performance and on continued alignment/compliance with SMART guidelines and priorities.

Community Food Action Initiative (CFAI) Grants support community-led projects that build the collective capacity of communities within the VCH region to improve food security. Grants are for one, two or three year terms with the possibility of renewal based on program performance and on continued alignment/compliance. The funding criteria and list of fundable/non fundable expenses outlined on page 2 and 3 of the SMART Grant guidelines also apply to CFAI grants.

• February 15th  – Requests for significant changes to the Outcome Measurement Framework (OMF) due
• April 15th – 2022/2023 annual narrative report and Outcome Measurement Framework (OMF) due
• May 15th – 2022/2023 annual financial report due
• May 15th – Requests for approval of surplus carry-over due
• June 15th – 2023/2024 annual budget due

When you contract is up for renewal, your Grants Coordinator will be in touch to arrange for a meeting to discuss the program, including an in-person site visit if possible. Site visits may also occur during other times in the contract term, and we encourage organizations to initiate a site visit at any time to share activities and learnings and discuss their funded program.

In a contract renewal year, we will typically request that the organization complete a more comprehensive narrative report. During review years, organizations will complete a simplified version of the narrative report.

When your organization receives a SMART or CFAI grant, your Grants Coordinator will work with you to develop an OMF. The OMF shows a path between what an organization’s programming is doing and what changes that enables for participants and partners. It strengthens accountability for the use of grant resources, and can help to make wise planning and management decisions.

The OMF should be a living document that guides the work of a program, and is adaptable as experience builds and context changes. If you would like to make changes to the OMF in response to emerging community strengths or needs, please discuss this with your Grants Coordinator beforehand. This helps us work together to ensure that program activities remain within the SMART or CFAI funding criteria.

If you are planning to make substantial changes to your OMF, please let your Grants Coordinator know by February 15th.

When reporting on the outcomes of your organization’s activities, we ask that you collect information directly from your participants. Actively involving participants in the planning and evaluation of your program can increase interest and engagement, so we do encourage you to survey participants and find another forum for continual feedback, such as an advisory committee. Surveying should happen when it makes the most sense for your program and not necessarily at the end of the fiscal year when your report is due.

For grantees using the Common Outcomes tool (for social connectedness and/or food security activities), a pre-established survey that matches your OMF is available to use. We have the survey in the following languages in addition to English, as needed: French, Punjabi, Cantonese, Mandarin, Tagalog, Italian, Spanish, Farsi, and Vietnamese. Your Grants Coordinator can send this to you if you do not have it.

For grantees not using the Common Outcomes tool, please feel free to develop your own survey. Your Grants Coordinator can offer support with this.

If surveying participants is not possible, please complete the report using your observations and comments from program participants.

If your program has surplus funds in a given reporting year, we invite you to request a carry over to be used in the upcoming fiscal year. Your annual report must show this surplus, and the surplus carry over must be requested by May 15th, prior to submitting the budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

Note that surplus carry-overs will only be considered for one-time-only investments to your program. A surplus cannot be incorporated into the program’s annual operating budget and used for annual expenses.

To request a surplus carry-over, please contact your Grant Coordinator and provide the following information:

• When you have a surplus (for example, a staff role you budgeted for was vacant for 2 months)
• How much of the surplus you would like to carry over (you can request the full amount, or a partial amount)
• What you would like to use the surplus for (for example, you run a peer-led cooking program and you would like to buy a new fridge, which is a one-time-only expense)

Annual Financial Reports are due May 15th of each year. Budgets for the upcoming year are due June 15th of each year.

Please report only on the SMART or CFAI funding related to the program that your grant supports. Finance reports must be balanced as they report only on how the funds provided through SMART or CFAI grants are spent; a report in deficit will not be accepted. Please ensure that you are reporting expenses on the appropriate corresponding line.

Use the Notes section at the bottom of the financial reporting template to inform us of any discrepancies from the budget to your actual costs spent. If additional costs for your program are covered by other revenue sources, including significant in-kind costs, please note the amount and sources here as well.

Pay close attention to your administrative expenses and ensure they do not exceed 10% of your total SMART or CFAI funding.

Please complete and submit the One-Time-Only Health Promotion and OCB Grant Narrative and Expense Report by May 31st (unless stated otherwise in your Grant Letter). For support with your One-Time-Only Health Promotion Project, contact us at community.investments@vch.ca.

For more information about ACTION Mini-GRANTS, please visit VGH Trauma Services website.

Tips for reporting on One-Time-Only Grants

• Reports should clearly indicate the outcomes of the activities proposed in your application for funding.
• Please share photos and testimonials as much as possible – be sure you have written consent from subjects identifiable in photos. Photos help us to develop a better understanding of your program, but we also want to ensure that we are respectful of personal privacy. Once submitted, photos become the property of VCH and may be used on our website, in program promotional material, in annual reports, etc.
• If you have developed materials through your project that you feel could benefit other organizations in the VCH region please feel free to share with us. We have a collection of resources we share, when relevant, with partner organizations.
• Tell us about your successes and challenges! Every project experiences challenges; we want to know what challenges you faced while implementing your project. Not only does this help us to further develop our grant programs, it also helps ensure we're aware of emergent community challenges and can best support your organization, and other grant recipients.