Donations and Grants

Policy No.: 2015-3
Supersedes: 2014-­2
Effective Date: December 21, 2015
Approval By Council Motion No.: 27

Purpose:

This policy has been developed to assist Town Council in administering its annual donations and grants budget as well as providing guidance on the allocation of funds to applicants. The maximum funds available for donations and grants will be determined by Council during the preparation of the annual budget.

Objectives:

• To provide Council with a consistent response to requests for donations and grants.
• To provide clear procedures for staff when responding to requests for donations and grants.
• To ensure donations and grants are administered in accordance with the Municipal Government Act.

Definitions:

Donation: Any direct monetary contribution or provision of programs, services, facilities or equipment that benefits the Town or stakeholders.

Grant: Any direct monetary contribution to a non-profit organization usually for an ongoing operation, specific purpose, or special project, and requires some level of compliance or reporting to Council.

Interpretation:

• Requests for consideration of a donation or grant must be filed using Appendix “A” of this policy.
• To be considered, all requests will be received by January 31st of each year or the last business day of the month, with the exception that Council may consider other donations or grants for special purposes that may not be known by the January deadline for requests. *Exception for the budget year 2016-17 deadline will be February 29, 2016.
• Council, at its discretion, may or may not agree to a request for a donation or grant for a single event or a number of events relating to the same cause.
• All applications will be reviewed by staff according to funding requests. Staff will then a make recommendation to Marketing and Economic Development Committee in regards to which applications requires a presentation to the Marketing and Economic Development Committee. The Committee will review all applications and the recommendation list and give staff a final list of presentations that the Committee would like to hear. Staff will organize the presentations on the dates set by the Committee.
• Final reports must be submitted to staff within 60 days of completing the event. If the final report is not complete, it will be reflected on any additional funding requests.

Criteria:

To be considered eligible for a donation or grant an individual, group or organization must:

• Be based in, affiliated with the Town of Annapolis Royal or be deemed by Council to be based in a location such that is appropriate for the Town to provide support;
• Agree to acknowledge Council’s contribution in all publicity relating to the events or activity to which the donation or grant applies;
• Council may at its discretion consider requests and/or the distribution of funds outside the Town for events relating to appeals of regional, provincial or national significance.

Other:

• Donations and grants can only be given for purposes and/or to organizations authorized under Section 65 of the Municipal Government Act.
• Pursuant to Section 65 of the Municipal Government Act the Town shall annually publish a list of the organizations and grants or contributions, in a newspaper circulating in the municipality.
• An annual amount will be budgeted for the purpose of donations and grants each year as needed.
• The amount budgeted for donations and grants shall be evaluated on an annual basis prior to the preparation of the annual budget.
• In memorial donations which the Town provides from time-to-time are excluded from requirements of this policy.
• All former policies with respect to Donations are hereby repealed and this policy substituted therefore.

Donations and Grants Policy- Signed

Download Appendix A – Request for consideration of a donation or grant