The United Way E-Newsletter

Proposal forms and General Information

Proposal forms and General Information

To work on the Call for Proposal form, you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader 9.0 or a more recent version. Go to the Adobe website to download your free copy at http://get.adobe.com/reader/ or    

The Call for Proposal Appendix   is a companion document to the Call for Proposal form and provides helpful information about key dates, eligibility, funding and evaluation criteria, the notification process as well as detailed information on focus areas and priority goals and a glossary of terms. 

The Call for Proposal: Tools, Tips and Resources is a guide to help you complete and submit your proposal with tips for downloading, working on and submitting your proposal as well as other helpful resources and reminders

Proposal due date

Proposals must be submitted:

• Electronically by the end of day on November 1, 2010.

 AND

• All required signatures AND any attachments  that have not been sent electronically  must be delivered or mailed in hard copy to the office of United Way Ottawa at 363 Coventry Road, Ottawa ON  K1K 2C5 by 5 p.m. on November 1, 2010. If mailed, the proposal must be postmarked no later than November 1, 2010.

Funding Cycle
The funding cycle is from April 1st to March 31st.

General Eligibility Criteria

• Organization must be a registered charity or have a formal sponsorship agreement with a registered charitable organization (RR Number). Obtain a sponsorship agreement form.
• Organization maintains a volunteer board that meets regularly.
• Activities must benefit residents in the City of Ottawa boundaries.
• Organizations’ primary focus and mandate is within the social services sector.
• Proposal must clearly support stated priority goal(s).
• Late or incomplete submissions will not be accepted.
• Organization must be financially solvent.
• Organization must carry sufficient liability insurance to cover the program/project seeking United-Way funding.

Activities that are Not Eligible for Funding

• Non-eligible costs
• Retirement of debts or budget deficits
• Cost for major capital equipment or expenses related to construction, development of facilities, or the purchase of furniture and equipment

• Non-eligible applicants
• Registered charitable organizations sponsoring for-profit organizations or for-profit ventures, with the exception of social enterprise or non-profit community economic development activities
• Hospitals, clinic-based services or medical treatment programs
• Educational institutions and organizations, including school boards, schools, universities, colleges and parent-teacher associations
• Faith-based organizations, political parties or organizations that require an adherence to or promotion of a religious faith or political affiliation as a condition of receiving supports or services
• Fundraising events or organizations, service clubs and foundations that act primarily to raise funds for their own or other organizations
• Organizations whose policies or practices contravene the Ontario Human Rights Code

Funding Criteria

Proposals will be assessed for funding according to the evaluation criteria listed below.   

All proposals that meet the eligibility and funding criteria will be ranked according to the degree to which they meet the established criteria and the degree to which the program/project will assist in realizing the priority goal(s).  Proposals receiving the highest ranking will be considered for funding. The total funding available will be determined by the dollars raised in the annual campaign through the Community Fund.

Requests for multi-year funding will be assessed on a case-by-case basis with a maximum period of three (3) years.

 Funding is provided on a ‘funding for results’ basis.   This means that the funding can be used for the costs of the program/project as the organization deems appropriate, other than for non-eligible costs as identified above.

Evaluation and Notification Process

Proposals will be evaluated in four phases as detailed below.

The proposals will be reviewed and evaluated under the direction of the Community Services Investment Committee, which comprises of community volunteers and stakeholders, with expert input and guidance provided by United Way staff and representatives from the volunteer/stakeholder groups actively involved with each of the priority goals.