Funders/Grants

Read about the Canada Council's new funding model here

In December, the Canada Council published their newly redesigned  funding model, with which they hope:

...to more strategically support the creation and wide dissemination of excellent Canadian artworks, to more directly and efficiently support Canadian artists, and to more flexibly and effectively support the development of a diversity of high performing arts organizations.

A year ago, the council announced its plan to move away from its pre-existing model, one which was based around artistic discipline, and streamline its funding structure with a goal to more effectively serve grantees and the arts community. The new model is composed of six new programs:

  • Creating, Knowing, and Sharing: The Arts and Cultures of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples
  • Explore and Create
  • Engage and Sustain
  • Supporting Artistic Practice
  • Arts Across Canada
  • Arts Abroad

You can access information about the six new programs, their objectives, candidate and entrance activity requirements, the maximum grant allowance, application deadlines and assessment criteria  here: newfundingmodel.canadacouncil.ca and you can email the Canada Council at info@canadacouncil.ca or call them at 613-566-4414, ext. 5060 if you have questions.

Canada Council developing new funding model

Staff Post
By Anna Mathew

The Canada Council for the Arts has just announced that it is "moving towards the implementation of a new suite of national, non-disciplinary programs", which will reduce the number of funding programs significantly. The Council indicates a number of motivations behind the changes, including increased flexibility and a lessened administrative burden on artists, arts administrators, and Council staff. The Council is working towards a 2017 implementation schedule, with specific plan announcements to be made in summer 2015. 

Read more about the Council's announcement on their website

Update: Read about the New Funding Model

How can I know for sure what’s in the bank? The bank statement isn’t the same as my books…

It’s typical for the bank statement to show a different month-end balance from your general ledger.

Now that online access to banking records is so prevalent, it’s easier to keep track of the differences. However, they still exist, and you need to understand why.

For one thing, you need to pick up bank charges and any interest earned. For another, there may be errors to deal with – yours or the bank’s – which must be identified and corrected by comparing the two sets of records. Finally – and most significantly – there are timing differences between when you initiate a transaction and when the bank sees it.

Your books record payments and deposits in the order in which you issue them. The bank’s records will also contain these amounts – but in the order in which they were presented at the bank. That might be quite a different thing!

Let’s say you issued a batch of cheques dated on the 25th of the month. Getting them signed and into the mail took a couple of days. Some payees may have received and banked their cheques before the 30th, but others won’t cash them till the new month. As far as your books are concerned, these cheques are all current month items – but from the bank’s point of view, some belong to this month and some to next.

Therefore, at the end of this month, the bank will have a higher balance than your books, because the bank doesn’t know what cheques may be in transit.

As this example demonstrates, it’s very important for you to keep your bookkeeping up to date, and use your balance rather than the bank’s. Once you’ve issued a payment, you need to assume the money is gone, even if it hasn’t cleared from your account. You don’t want to try spending the same money twice!

The same problem can happen with other transactions. The deposit you made at the ATM on Friday may not be processed by the bank until Monday. The online purchase you made, or the online donation that a supporter made from their home may be logged on your system today, but may not arrive in the bank’s records until tomorrow.

The tool that you need to understand is the bank reconciliation. It is the document that proves your bookkeeper has compared your general ledger to the bank statement, and identified all problems and timing differences to the penny. If you put your general ledger at your right hand, the bank statement at your left hand, and the bank rec document in the middle, you should be able to see your balance, the bank’s balance, and an itemized explanation of any differences.

CADAC is looking out for you

Staff Post 
by Jerry Smith

A new riff on an old thought:  Big Brother is, how shall I put it, . . . looking out for you, especially when it is in the shape of CADAC, a web based application dedicated to the collection, dissemination and analysis of financial and statistical information about Canadian arts organizations, and in essence a centre of expertise to help monitor the health of the arts sector across Canada.

Young Associates recently hosted representatives from CADAC in order to stay ahead of the curve and assist clients in taking the stress and confusion out of filing their financial and statistical data with CADAC.

Launched in December 2008, CADAC’s objectives include attempt to lighten the burden for arts organizations, improve the accountability and transparency of Canadian arts organizations, as well as developing a significantly enhanced database for research, planning and policy development. Young Associates’ work with clients during the initial ‘CADAC years’ has made us aware of the challenges around changing an organization’s financial data practices to meet CADAC requirements. But as we have all gotten more accustomed to the new CADAC environment, it has become apparent that storing financial data with CADAC has some great information benefits, including comparative analysis with other organizations in the sector.  Our session with CADAC revealed that pulling meaningful comparative reports from the system is becoming much easier.

As part of our ongoing leadership in developing resources to assist clients, Young Associates was particularly pleased to explore the key elements of CADAC’s reconciliation process and how it could apply to clients.  While no-one wants to be categorized as non-compliant and have their CADAC account red flagged to a funder, it most often simply means there is some data missing, and the staff at CADAC would like to assist you in getting back up to speed.

When in doubt, ask; here it is better to ask for permission than forgiveness!

Ministry of Finance’s Procurement Guidelines for Non-designated, Public Funded Organizations in Ontario

Staff Post
By Heather Young 

The Ontario Ministry of Finance is planning to introduce these guidelines for organizations receiving funding from the Government of Ontario.

They propose standards for making purchases (e.g. seeking comparative quotes) — and will set expectations for how publicly funded organizations should behave in making their expense decisions. At the moment, they are guidelines — not requirements.

This is happening in the wake of the 2010 Broader Public Sector Accountability Act, which issues procurement *directives* to an array of organizations including hospitals, school boards, colleges, universities, Community Care Access Centres, Children’s Aid Societies and organizations that receive more than $10 million in funding from the Ontario government.

The Ministry is seeking feedback on its proposed guidelines.

The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) is one sectoral association that’s addressing this topic on behalf of all of us. They are circulating copies of the draft guidelines and will assemble the comments they receive into a report for the Ministry.

If you’re interested in learning more, please contact Sue Wilkinson, ONN’s Director at 416-642-5786. She needs your comments by DECEMBER 14, 2011, in order to include them in her report.