The Sustainable Recovery Grant (SRG), a multi-year partnership from local funders, provides entrepreneurial coaching to charities to help them build sustainability and resilience in four key areas: revenue, operations, leadership, and impact. This focus of this grant is a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
COACHING AND SUPPORT FOR CHARITIES IMPACTED BY COVID-19
The pandemic highlights the valuable services charities provide in our communities. Over the last several months, 45% of charities report increases in demand for their services with many seeing demand grow faster than their capacity. Innovation and experimentation inside charities has increased sharply.
In the past 12 months, the SRG, a collaborative partnership from local funders, has helped participating charities to launch and grow social enterprise revenue streams, improve internal and external communication, redesign programs and services, improve financial sustainability, and to navigate very difficult and complex leadership challenges. This coaching helps to provide the capacity and capability leaders need to succeed in these challenging times.
Successful applicants to the SRG fund will receive one-time grant funding for customized coaching and support through Purppl’s Resilience & Recovery Program. Purppl helps social purpose organizations build financial resilience, improve their impact, and develop their leadership skills.
The Sustainable Recovery Grant aims to build the capacity and long-term sustainability of charities in the Southern Interior region of BC. This is a multi-year collaboration among local funders including United Way South Interior BC, Interior Savings, Community Foundation of the North Okanagan, the Community Foundation of the South Okanagan Similkameen, and Valley First, a Division of First West Credit Union.
“The work supported by the Sustainable Recovery Grants has proven to be effective in building the capacity and resilience of participating charities during these challenging times. We are pleased to partner with Purppl and our fellow SRG funders to provide charities with the opportunity to strengthen their ability to serve the community during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.”
– Kahir Lalji, Executive Director, United Way SIBC
ORGANIZATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Must be a registered charity, with preference given to charities with social enterprise initiatives
- Facing challenges or opportunities in one or more of the four sustainability focus areas (revenue, operations, people, impact)
- Must have at least one paid staff position
- Located within the geographic boundaries of the United Way Southern Interior BC (Central Okanagan, South Okanagan Similkameen, North Okanagan Columbia, Shuswap)
- Able to contribute $400-500 per month to program costs for the duration of the 6 or 12 month program
PROGRAM FOCUS AREAS
- Revenue: Build, refine, and grow a sustainable revenue model. Deepen your understanding of the metrics that impact your sustainability.
- Operations: Improve capacity and operational efficiency. Evolve products, services, or technology to meet changing demands.
- Leadership: Strengthen teams, culture, and leadership. Establish objectives, key results, accountability, and focus.
- Impact: Define your desired community impact, develop steps to get there, and relevant impact metrics. Develop communication marketing strategies to tell your story.
Eligible charities are invited to submit a short application to the Sustainable Recovery Grant. The deadline to apply is Monday, June 7th, 2021 at 5:00pm PST. Successful applicants will be notified on June 30, 2021.
For more information on the grant, please contact Christine Cirka, Programs Manager of Purppl CCC at christine@purppl.com or Sherry Ferronato at sherry@unitedwaysibc.com, Director of Community Investment & Wellness with United Way SIBC.
