Community Grant policy adopted by council

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The Municipality of Merrickville-Wolford has officially released its new Community Grants program policy. This was created after a suggestion made by staff that they create a policy to receive all the applications for Community Grants for the year at one time. It was also suggested that the application criteria be standardized, so they could evaluate each application effectively and allocate available funds fairly.

This is a marked departure from the previous piece-meal approach, which made it difficult to keep track of the municipality’s budgetary constraints surrounding municipal grants. In 2018, council waived $12,900 worth of rental fees for the Community Centre, which took up a large part of the $13,650 earmarked for Community Grants. This year’s budget for the grants program is $17,000.

Community Grants include both monetary donations and in-kind services, such as use of municipal property at reduced or no cost, and/or use of municipal equipment (barricades, operational staff support etc.). Eligible applicants include charity organizations, not-for-profits, sports groups, and associations and volunteer groups. They must also be based in Merrickville-Wolford and provide benefit to the residents of the Municipality.

Applications will be reviewed based on the benefits to the community, other sources of funding, financial viability, and community involvement. Successful applications will have to provide a post project/event report, or risk being ineligible for future funding.

The policy dictates that all Community Grant applications must be submitted to the Municipality by January 31 of the calendar year the funds will be spent. For 2019, the Community Grants deadline is May 17, at 4 pm.

For more information and to access the full policy, application form, and post project reporting document, visit the municipal website.

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