General FAQs

You may apply for any project that will bring your community together, build community strength and resilience, or tackle social isolation.

Some common types of Neighbourhood Small Grant projects include care package deliveries or teaching people a new skill, but there are also many unique projects that don’t fall into these categories.

Any product, service or event created with the support of a Neighbourhood Small Grant must be offered for free.

You can ask for up to $500 for any Neighbourhood Small Grant program.
You can use the grant to offset any expenses that were needed for the project. This includes products, transportation or services.

You may ask for up to $350 to provide honorariums to anyone who contributes skills or knowledge to your project — including yourself.

For example, if you plan to host an online cooking class and will be teaching it yourself, you may pay yourself an honorarium. If you are inviting a guest to teach it, you may pay them the honorarium instead. You can also use the grant to purchase the ingredients needed for the class as well as a premium subscription with a platform like Zoom to host many attendees in your class.

You may not fundraise for other projects and/or organizations. However, we encourage you to seek donations or gifts in-kind from local businesses to help support your project.

Applications are reviewed by volunteer Neighbourhood Grants Committees and final funding allocations will be awarded upon the discretion of each local committee. For more information, contact your Community Coordinator.

Anyone who lives in British Columbia (B.C.) can apply. You must find out which NSG community you belong to by visiting the Communities page.

You may not apply on behalf of a business or registered organization, but you may apply on behalf of an informal group (for example, a meetup or shared interest group).

Your project can take place either online or in-person. All in-person events should follow your local public health guidelines.

If your project requires any permits, such as a city or park board permit, they must be acquired and approved prior to applying for any Neighbourhood Small Grant.

Most projects will not require liability insurance, but bigger projects or events may need them. If you do, you must purchase it ahead of applying for any Neighbourhood Small Grant.

For NSG communities that accept applications on a rolling basis, you will hear back from us within two weeks. For NSG communities that only accept grants for a limited time, they will contact you between 6-8 weeks after your submission.

No. You may apply for one Neighbourhood Small Grant program at a time. You may apply for another project once you complete your project and submit your project story to your local coordinator.

No. Non-profits, businesses or any other types of registered organizations are not eligible for a Neighbourhood Small Grant.

You are one of the lucky few people who can choose which community they want to apply to — but you must choose. You will only be able to apply in one community.

A committee of volunteers who also live in your community decide which applications will get funding and distributes the funds between those projects. They are called the Neighbourhood Grant Committee.

Vancouver Foundation is a community foundation that started the Neighbourhood Small Grants program in 1999. Vancouver Foundation partners with local community organizations including neighbourhood houses, community centres as well as other community foundations to deliver the program.

We are not a government program. In some NSG communities, a local partner may be a municipality or a government agency.

Vancouver Foundation is funded by private donors, just like most foundations and charities are.