Step 1 in our grant application process is to try and figure out if your project would be eligible for YPC grants. You can take care of this step by carefully reading the funding guidelines below, which explain who can receive funding, what kinds of things are and are not eligible for funding, and what our grant calendar/timeframe is.

After reading guidelines, if you think you and your project are a fit for what we can fund, whenever you’re ready you can proceed to Step 2 and submit a letter of intent.

Who can apply?

Youth and youth workers in Greater Vancouver—but there’s a really important catch:

Applications must come from qualified organizations—those that have federal charitable status or public institutions like school districts, libraries or municipal recreation centres. That means you’ve got to have the support of an adult that works for one of these organizations who can be an ally for you and your project. If you’ve asked around and still can’t find a qualified organization to work with, contact us and we’ll try to connect you with some good peeps.

• We can not make grants to individuals or businesses. That includes your mother. And 7-11.

What kind of projects are eligible?

• Projects that are youth driven, and/or include youth in their design, implementation and decision-making processes.
  
• Projects that build good youth partnerships and connections
  
• Projects that increase awareness of the diversity of youth ideas and experiences in Vancouver.

What we don’t fund. Sorry. Nope.

These are some of the common things we have to say no to:

• 100% of a project’s costs (we do consider in-kind contributions as part of a project’s revenue/expense)
  
• an organization’s operational or core expenses
  
• retroactive funding, or any project expenses made prior to the Foundation’s decision date
  
• office equipment and furniture (e.g., computers)
  
• activities of religious organizations that serve primarily their membership and/or their direct religious purposes, unless the community at large will benefit significantly
  
• individual scholarships or bursaries
  
• student exchanges
  
• amateur sports teams

How much can we ask for?

• Grants typically range from $500 to $5000 (note to reader: surprise, surprise, many of the requests we see come in at the top end of this range. However, try to ask for what you need instead of asking for as much as you can). Please note that new for 2012, we will be accepting grant requests ranging from $1,000 to $10,000.

How do you define youth?

• Generally, as human beings age 12–24.

Grant Timeframe

Timing, as they say, is everything. At this time, we make grants once a year, so there are a few key dates to keep in mind when applying for funding.

• First, our application deadlines. Obviously important. In 2012our letter of intent deadline is February 24. If your letter of intent is a fit for our funding, we will invite you to submit an application. That application will be due April 2.
  
• Second, and admittedly less obvious, is that we should receive a letter of intent, which we just mentioned up there, at least 4 weeks before the deadline. This is a soft deadline, but the earlier we get it, the better the chance we can invite an application. 
  
• Third, whatever you apply for needs to happen after YPC recommendations get approved by our Board. That means we can only fund stuff that starts after June.
  
• We don’t have any specific rules on how fast you have to spend the money, but we expect that you’re going to provide us with your timeframe/calendar in your application, and spend it and report on it accordingly. Generally, start to finish, you should be able to report back to us within the year. If it’s a three month project, you should report to us soon after you’re done.