More than 60 agencies made requests for City funding for events

The City turned down nearly half of the applicants who requested subsidizing from Ottawa’s Civic Fund to help pay for their community events.

According to a memo sent out by Donna Grey, general manager of community and social services to city council on Thursday, June 23, the City received applications from 62 agencies through an open call for proposals that was launched on May 16.

Altogether, the amount of money requested was $172,000.

However, the City only has $65,000 allocated through its civic fund, so only 37 applications made the cut.

On September 25, 2019, city council approved the new community funding framework.

Included under the new framework was funding for civic events, which will be used to deliver family-friend events in local communities and neighbourhoods.

This funding envelope includes $65,000 of annual funding, allocated to a maximum of $3,000 per event.

The purpose of civic events, the Grey said, is to fund events that:

• Promote neighbours meeting neighbours in their local, geographic community;
• Include multiple activities, family entertainment and attractions;
• Appeal to residents in a specific geographic neighbourhood/district or ward;
• Promote community well-being by welcoming all community members; and
• Promote equity and inclusion.

The call for proposals was directed toward small community organizations hosting one-to-two-day community events.

The City of Ottawa's allocations committee reviewed every applicator and provided a rating based on the organization’s alignment with the goals of the community funding, the goals and objectives of the event, the financial position of the organization and the viabilities of the event budget.

Once the ranking was done, further adjustments to ranking were made to reflect the equity lens which include, but was not limited to, priority groups, priority neighbourhoods, service areas, wards and whether resources are being targeted and aligned to areas of the city facing the greatest needs or greatest inequities, Grey explained.

Gray added that community agencies have been notified of the results of the allocation process.

A full list of successful agencies approved for funding is available online.