Opportunity Fund
Background
The Trust
Fund Board established the Opportunity Fund to support
conservation projects in the Islands Trust Area. It is funded
by donations from the general public and Islands Trust Fund
fundraising initiatives. The Opportunity Fund consists of
public donations formerly dedicated to general, where
most needed and undesignated donations.
All proceeds from sales of Islands Trust Fund birthday
calendars are directed to this Fund to support its partners.
The Islands Trust Fund encourages its donors to make a gift to the
Opportunity Fund to support regionally important projects
in the Islands Trust Area.
As the Board wishes to assist partners who are willing to
act on conservation opportunities in the Islands Trust Area,
the Fund was named the Opportunity Fund.
Purpose
The Opportunity Fund’s purpose is to provide funding
to partner agencies working on regionally important conservation
projects. The Fund will generally provide support for hard
to fundraise costs associated with land protection, or
will be used to lever increased donations to land acquisition
projects.
Eligible
Organizations
As the Islands Trust Fund is a qualified donee of the Canada
Revenue Agency, Opportunity Fund donations may only be made
to registered charities working in the Islands Trust Area
to protect natural ecosystems and habitats.
Eligible Requests
Funding requests that support the Trust Fund Board’s
conservation goals, as outlined in the Regional Conservation
Plan, will be considered a priority.
In general, the Board will consider the following types of
requests:
- Acquisition and covenant costs (baseline, survey, appraisal,
legal, etc.)
- Acquisition purchase costs where the Board is a partner
on the project (used to match designated donations to the
Islands Trust Fund for the project on a 1:1 ratio)
- Other types of projects may also be considered at the
Board’s discretion
The Board may accept or reject requests for funding at their
discretion.
Ineligible Requests
The Trust Fund Board will not provide funding towards properties that are involved in a development application.
Request Timelines
The Board will consider funding requests at their bi-monthly board meetings.
Requests should be received in writing two weeks before the
meeting date. However, late submissions that are time sensitive
may be considered.
Application
Requirements
Opportunity Fund request letters to the Trust
Fund Board should be addressed to:
Chair
Trust Fund Board
Islands Trust Fund
200 - 1627 Fort St
Victoria, BC
V8R 1H8
Letters should be no longer than 2-3 pages and should include:
- Iinformation on the organization making the request (budget,
staff/volunteers, track record, etc.)
- Project history
- Project objectives
- Project partners
- Project timelines
- Project budget and revenues (committed and pending)
- amount of request
- Whenever possible, applications should explain how their
project supports the goals of the Trust Fund Board’s Regional
Conservation Plan
Opportunity
Fund Granting Principles
When evaluating requests the Board will consider:
Opportunity
Fund Management Principles
Distribution Levels
No more than 20% of the balance of the Opportunity Fund
(as of April 1 of each year) will be donated or committed
as matching funds in any one fiscal year. Generally, grants
will be in the range of $500-$5,000.
Restrictions
The Trust Fund Board will not release designated acquisition
donations or Opportunity Fund matching funds until it is certain
that sufficient funds have been raised to complete the property
purchase.
Opportunity Fund monies will not be used for Island Trust
Fund property acquisition or management costs or any other
regular expenses.
Maintaining the Fund
The Trust Fund Board will solicit donations to the Opportunity
Fund on an on-going basis, especially through its annual donor
campaign.
Funding Equity
Regional equity for funds will be considered in the context
of the Regional
Conservation Plan priorities.
Reviewing and Revising Guidelines
The Opportunity Fund guidelines will be reviewed, and revised
if needed, once a year at the same time as the Regional
Conservation Plan.
Partner agencies and the public are welcome to provide feedback
to the Trust
Fund Board on these guidelines and can direct their comments
in writing to the Board Chair at the address given above.
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