Unlocking Funding Opportunities: A Guide to Finding Grants and Loans

We at the Federation of Black Canadians (FBC) know that funding through grants is an essential revenue stream for non-profits and finding grants can sometimes be the hardest part.  Grants provide financial support to fuel innovation, drive social impact, and expand outreach. Finding grant applications can be a massive time commitment without the right resources at your disposal. Whether you are a new venture or have been driving social causes for years, the following resources can help make your grant application process easier:

Best Resources for Finding Grants

Finding grants can be daunting, especially when you don’t know where to look, here is a list of places to look for grants.

1. Grantstation (PAID): A comprehensive web-based platform tailored to assist organizations, especially non-profits, in identifying funding opportunities, managing grant applications, and enhancing their grant-seeking endeavors.
2. Local/Public Funding: Local government websites at the federal, provincial and municipal level often provide information on grants and funding opportunities available within specific regions. Here are some examples of places that release public funding in Canada. Department of Heritage Funding Opportunties, Department of Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC),  Department of Public Health Agency of Canada.
3. Charitable Foundations/Bank Foundations: Many charitable and corporate foundations offer grants to support various causes and initiatives. Exploring their websites or contacting them directly can uncover potential funding opportunities. Some organizations like the Black Opportunity Fund offer grants specifically for Black owned or Black serving organizations. If you’re a Canadian Black non-profit,  we strongly recommend you look at these. We at FBC offer various grants throughout the year, including  for our Black Entrepreneurship Program and our Black Health Defence initiative.
4. Newsletters: Subscribing to newsletters like this one from relevant organizations, foundations, or funding agencies can provide regular updates on grant opportunities and application deadlines. If you haven’t sign up for our newsletter to get up to date and relevant information on the Canadian Black non-profit world!

Streamline Your Grant Writing

Creating a system for organizing grants is crucial for efficient management and utilization of funds. It not only ensures proper record-keeping but also helps in streamlining the grant application process, monitoring progress, and reporting activities accurately. This allows you to keep track of due dates, priorities grants based on effort, feasibility and value awarded. 

Project Management Tools for Grant Writing

Solid Project management tools for organizing your grant writing are Asana, Tello and Jira.

1. Asana: is a user-friendly project management tool that offers intuitive task management, collaboration features, and customizable workflows, suitable for teams of all sizes. We at FBC use Asana to track our grants and keep on top of specific requirements
2. Trello utilizes a visual card-based system to organize tasks and projects across customizable boards, fostering flexibility and simplicity in project management. 
3. Jira is a robust project management and issue tracking tool primarily geared towards software development teams, offering extensive customization options, agile planning features, and seamless integration with development tools.