Community requests for grants in Cold Lake will have separate committee

Community organizations and groups considering applying for funding from the City of Cold Lake must do so before Thursday, February 4.

This comes after the city formed the Cold Lake Community Grant Advisory Committee which is meant to streamline the majority of requests for grant funding.

In the past, this was done by city council and the Recreation and Culture Grant Committee.

This committee will have two members of council and two community members-at-large for a two-year term, who will review funding requests and make recommendations to council.

“We wanted to even the playing field and streamline the process for applying for municipal grants,” said Mayor Craig Copeland in a press release.

“This new committee will meet to review funding applications only four times per year, so community groups and organizations will need to plan ahead and be proactive with their requests.”

Those requesting funding are required to submit an application no less than 60 days before the event or program is set to begin, the city said.

The Grant Advisory Committee will then meet four times per year to review applications, and applicants will be notified no more than 20 days following the application deadline, whether or not their request has been approved.

Grant applications will be accepted under the following initiatives (grant streams):

• Development Incentive – up to a maximum of $2,500.
• Community Event Incentive – up to a maximum of $10,000.
• Major Community Tourism Event – up to a maximum of $20,000.
• Travel – up to a maximum of $500 per individual or $1,000 per team.
• Equipment – 50/50 matching grant with the City matching up to a maximum of $2,500 per organization.
• Leadership – 50/50 matching grant with the City matching up to a maximum of $750.00 per individual and/or $2000 per organization.
• Arts, Culture and Heritage – up to a maximum of $1,500 for an outcome-based program and/or a maximum $3,000.
• Screen-based Production – up to a maximum of $10,000.
• Other funding and goodwill requests – where a request for funding is not covered under any of the above initiatives or is excluded based on the criteria of an existing policy/program, the organization may wish to make an application directly to the Community Grant Advisory Committee for funding consideration. This could include a situation where an organization is requesting sponsorship funding from the City, based on a structured fundraising program (ex: bronze, silver, gold sponsorship).

In addition, the Community Grant Advisory Committee will accept and review applications for the Community Capital Project Grant. Funding is available for up to one-third of total project costs.

Application deadlines for all grant requests are as follows:

• Winter: 4:30 p.m. on the first Thursday in February
• Spring: 4:30 p.m. on the first Thursday in April
• Summer: 4:30 p.m. on the first Thursday in August
• Fall: 4:30 p.m. on the first Thursday in September

Community organizations and groups considering applying for funding during the winter period are reminded of the upcoming deadline on Thursday, February 4, 2021.

Application forms, an outline of each grant stream and information regarding application/evaluation criteria is posted on the City’s website at https://coldlake.com/content/recreation-and-cultural-grant-program.