FAQs

Small Change Fund has offices in both Toronto and Kitchener but our organization is really located across Canada. The heart of Small Change Fund is our network of advisors who live coast to coast to coast from Iqaluit to Victoria to Antigonish. We work through the power of communications technologies but value face-to-face meetings when we can arrange them.

Small Change Fund is different. Sounds bold but it’s true.

We make direct connections to local action
Small Change Fund connects you directly to projects at the local level, unlike a lot of other organizations that profile local projects but have control over how your gifts are spent. At www.smallchangefund.org you know exactly where your money will go, told to you in the words of the groups themselves. It’s true bottom-up giving.

We are deeply rooted in communities
Small Change Fund is not simply another on-line marketplace that acts as a clearinghouse for charitable projects. Small Change Fund is deeply rooted in expert advisors from coast to coast to coast who bring decades of social and environmental expertise to the projects you see on our site. Local scientists and activists, leaders of small networks and coalitions, teachers, journalists, photographers, and national environmental leaders – they are the heart of Small Change Fund. They help us make good decisions, connect us to projects in their communities, and lend us their wisdom, experience, and expertise.

We are a rare source of support for grassroots groups
We help you get money into projects and issues that find it hard to get support any other way. Did you know that less than 1% percent of Canadian giving goes to grassroots groups and only a fraction of that goes to support projects like the ones you find on smallchangefund.org? Local projects on the ground are often overlooked, especially when they’re needed most – it’s a funny thing, but tough times and complex challenges are just when small, local solutions make the most difference. As the only Canadian organization of its kind, Small Change Fund helps you make that difference.

We are local and global
Because we work in Canada and participate in the Global Greengrants Alliance of Funds, Small Change Fund is at once local and global. We are working with our international partners to identify global priorities, like climate change and indigenous peoples’ rights, and figure out how best to translate those priorities into local action.

Small Change Fund is the Canadian partner of the Global Greengrants Alliance of Funds. Other partners in the Alliance include Socio-Environmental Support Center-CASA in Brazil, the Samdhana Institute in Southeast Asia, and Fondo Acción Solidaria (Fund for Solidarity in Action) in Mexico. We also have other informal partners in Russia, Africa, India, and China. Together the Alliance supports local environmental action and mobilizes new regional and international support. We also collaborate to strengthen local and national networks, build strategic capacity-building resources, and advocate for the power of small change.

Our advisors are a diverse group of knowledgeable experts in the field who are deeply connected to the local work happening in their areas of expertise, and in the places they live and work. Our advisors are local scientists and activists, leaders of small networks and coalitions, teachers, journalists, photographers, and national environmental leaders. Small Change Fund is committed to diversity. We chose advisors from across the country, from different backgrounds, of different ages, with different perspectives and expertise. Ensuring diversity on the advisory committee is a value we uphold and will be an on-going priority.

Our advisory network is the heart of Small Change Fund. Advisors help us make good decisions. They connect us to projects in their communities. They lend us their expertise, wisdom, and experience. They engender trust and make the process simple, inexpensive, efficient, and credible. They are our direct link to supporters and to grassroots leaders across the country figuring out and fixing the problems in their communities.

The first group of advisors was selected through a recruiting process by staff and board of Small Change Fund. In future years, volunteer advisors will continue to be recruited by our staff and board, but we know that there are other Canadians outside our networks who would be interested in volunteering. If you, or someone you know, is interested in becoming a volunteer advisor, please contact us.

Yes! Become a fan on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/smallchangefund and follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/smallchangefund

We are always interested in volunteers and interns who share the vision of Small Change Fund and want to help us realize that vision. Please contact us for more details.

Yes! We’d love it if you could help spread the word. Please contact us at info@smallchangefund.org to obtain permission to use our logo.

Yes. Please contact us for materials to distribute. We also have plans to develop brochures, t-shirts, posters, and other materials you can use to promote Small Change Fund and the projects that inspire you.

We are committed to ensuring that the information you share with us is recorded accurately, retained securely, and used only according to your wishes. Click here to see our full privacy policy.

You can donate any amount of money to the projects that inspire you on www.smallchangefund.org. Money will be sent to the charity as soon as funds are raised. No wait. No fuss. We believe in honouring your donations even if the group you are supporting doesn’t reach their goal. For grassroots groups, every little bit helps so even if they don’t raise all the money they hope to, they can still use your gift to build their capacity and work in their communities to be a voice for a healthier future.

Send them a note of congratulations and look for other worthwhile projects on smallchangefund.org to support. The projects on our site are posted with the backing of our team of advisors so you know that each project is a powerful tool for change. Your support can make a profound and enduring difference in these communities where people are working to shape a healthy future. Use our search function to find projects, or simply go through the list and be inspired!

Small Change Fund wants to see that the projects on its website get the support they need. But it costs money to help make that happen. Small Change Fund is committed to moving your gifts at a minimal cost but we still need resources to ensure that we do that efficiently and effectively. A donation to Small Change Fund will help us find the most compelling and urgent projects across the country, support our advisors, build the capacity of grassroots groups, and participate in international conversations about global priorities and local action. If you are interested in supporting Small Change Fund, click here and you'll be directed to our donations page.

The power of Small Change Fund is its advisory network. We have dozens of advisors across the country – leaders in environmental and social grassroots action with deep roots in their communities and strong connections to the organizations working in the field. All projects on www.smallchangefund.org have been reviewed by advisors so we know that they are sound, credible, and important. By putting confidence in the wisdom of those closest to the ground who know where the most urgent and promising work is happening, we bring together decades of social and environmental expertise to help increase the impact of our charitable giving and move funds at a minimal cost.

Yes, the money goes directly to the charity as soon as their support is raised. No wait. No fuss.

Small Change Fund’s 10% fee helps cover the costs of sourcing compelling projects across the country,  presenting them on the website, and connecting you to grassroots groups and local action. This also includes the fees imposed on us for credit card processing. Because funds go directly to the project, your contribution goes much further than most other giving options. And you always have the option of adding 10% to your donation so you know that 100% is going to the groups that inspire you.

Of course you can contact the charity directly to make a donation. But by donating through Small Change Fund you may help a project gain new support and secure additional funds. It’s the collective power of making small gifts through our website. As others see you donate and become involved in promoting the project, they will be inspired to give too.

The easiest way is to make a donation on the website by credit card. But you can also send us a cheque by mail to Centre for Social Innovation – Annex, Suite 311, 720 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON, M5S 2R4. Just make sure to make the cheque out to Small Change Fund. And let us know where you would like us to direct your money. We can direct it to a specific project of your choice or use it to build the capacity of Small Change Fund to help us support local action in Canada and abroad.

The minimum donation is only $5.00 which is still enough to start something big! But you can provide donations of any amount. All gifts are welcome and appreciated.

If this happens, contact us immediately. But remember that during the donation process, you can click the back button and there is always a final confirmation stage when you can check all your information, including the amount you would like to donate.

Small Change Fund uses GiftTool to process our donations. GiftTool takes security very seriously. That's why they use the latest encryption technology to make sure that credit card payments are secure before, during, and after every transaction. They encode every transaction using 128-bit encryption. Your information is encrypted before it leaves their computer, throughout the transaction, and, as it is stored in our database. GiftTool uses the very best Secure Socket Layer Certificates of Thawte. This certificate means that they are who they say they are and that your secure data transmissions will not be decrypted. They are also enrolled in AmbironTrustWave's TrustKeeper Remote Compliance Program to confirm that they are compliant with the card associations' security requirements. If you would like more information on GiftTool’s security policies and practices click here.

Tides Canada Foundation will issue your receipt(s). As a registered charity, Tides Canada provides charitable tax receipts for your donations to the Small Change Fund and directs them towards the projects you choose. If you are donating online a tax receipt will be sent to your email address within minutes of your donation.  If you are donating by cheque or through Tides Canada head office in Vancouver then a tax receipt will be sent within 4-6 weeks.  As a registered Canadian charity, Tides Canada Foundation is bound by the regulations and policies of the Canadian Revenue Agency (CRA).

If you have any issues with your tax receipts please contact:
Michael Dorsey
Direct: 604.647.6611 ext. 241
Toll Free: 1.866.843.3722 ext. 241
michael.dorsey@tidescanada.org

No, Small Change Fund does not issue refunds. Once a donation is made to a project your money goes directly to the organization you have chosen to support.

We have a strict privacy policy for your protection and the protection of the groups we work with. Unfortunately this means that we cannot release contact information about any of the groups or supporters we work with. If you would like to send a message to a group you have donated to, please contact us and we will forward your message to them.

No. We strictly adhere to our privacy policy and will not share your information with anyone without your consent.

Promote the projects you like on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social networking sites. Comment on the projects you like on www.smallchangefund.org. Host a Small Change Fund party. Set-up a challenge with your friends or co-workers. Give people “a pocketful of small change” for their birthday to spend on the projects that inspire them. Email as many people as you can to let them know what inspires you.

The answer is simple. Video. Video is a powerful tool to communicate in a real and personal way. We work with the groups on our website to help them create short, meaningful videos that will speak to you about the difference you’ve made through your gifts. Videos will be posted on our website under the project descriptions.

We connect people to amazing grassroots projects across the country - projects like yours that just need a few dollars to realize their potential. We provide a platform for you to raise the funds you need from individual donors and other sources of support, and connect you to a community of grassroots action from coast to coast to coast. Through Small Change Fund groups are getting the support they need.

As it stands now we can accept proposals from groups that are either charitable organizations or “qualified donees” under the Income Tax Act. In other words, Small Change Fund is able to support and profile on its website any organization that can issue official tax receipts for gifts that individuals and corporations make to them.

Who exactly qualifies? Canada Revenue Agency has much more technical language to explain it. “These organizations include registered charities, registered Canadian amateur athletic associations, registered national arts service organizations, housing corporations resident in Canada constituted exclusively to provide low-cost housing for the aged, municipalities in Canada, the United Nations and its agencies, charitable organizations outside Canada to which the Government of Canada has made a gift during the donor’s taxation year, or in the 12 months immediately preceding the period, the Government of Canada, a province or a territory, under proposed legislation, for gifts made after 8 May 2000 to municipal or public bodies performing a function of government in Canada.” For more information please see CRA’s website: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/chrts/plcy/csp/csp-q01-eng.html

We welcome applications from First Nations communities if they are considered “qualified donees” under the Income Tax Act. To qualify, the First Nation must be considered a public body performing a function of government. In other words, Canada Revenue Agency has said that if your band has (i) passed by-laws under sections 81 and 83 of the Indian Act; or (ii) has reached an “advanced stage of development” as was formerly recognized by section 83 of the Indian Act, you can apply. If you don’t fall under either of these categories, you may still be able to apply if your band “performs functions and provides services in a manner generally exhibited by a government.” For more information have a look at http://sites.google.com/site/cagcircle/

If there is any question about your status as a qualified donee, please fill out this form and send it to us.

We are deeply aware that a lot of exceptional work at the local level is done by individuals or groups that are not charities. But Small Change Fund is governed by the Canada Revenue Agency and must comply with their rules and regulations. At Small Change Fund, we want to find ways to support non-charities within our legal limits and are actively working to explore ways we can do that. If you think there is some way we can help you, please contact us.

We want to make sure that as many groups as possible have a chance to post a project on www.smallchangefund.org so we are asking groups to please just submit one project at a time. Your project will be reviewed by our advisors. If your project is chosen to be profiled on Small Change Fund, great! If not, you can always submit another project idea. If you submit more than one project, we will simply review the first one we receive.

We want grassroots groups to get the funding they need: open, accessible, and responsive. This means that we don't have deadlines. Instead we have an open submission process. You can submit an application for a project to be profiled on www.smallchangefund.org anytime. We will have our reviewers vet it and get back to you to let you know whether it will be a Small Change Fund project and, if so, what you can do to get the support you need.

Of course. We will be in touch with you by email about whether your project will be posted on the website or not. If your project is going to be posted, start to circulate the news to your friends, family, and networks so you can get as much support as possible. If your project is not going to be posted, don't be discouraged. We encourage you to apply again and stay involved in the Small Change Fund community.

If your application is not accepted it could mean a couple of things. It could simply mean that you are not a registered charity or that there was critical information missing from your application; it might mean that our advisors did not see the connection to the goals and objectives of Small Change Fund; or it may mean that we were overwhelmed by the number of proposals we received and that our advisors had to make some hard decisions about which projects to post and which not to. These decisions are not easy but our advisors try to make sure that we post the most urgent or compelling projects given national and international priorities, and that we make sure there is a diversity of projects from across the country, on different issues, serving different populations.

The first thing you can do is send us a compelling project proposal that we can post on the site. This includes a well-crafted paragraph about what you want funding for, a good photograph, a catchy quote, and a tangible, achievable fundraising goal. Be personal. Tell your story. Connect people to the real issues in your community so that you inspire their support.

The second thing you can do is promote your project far and wide. Email as many friends and family as possible. Promote your project on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other social networking sites. Add comments about your project on www.smallchangefund.org. Host a Small Change Fund party to let people know about what you are doing and why. Set-up a challenge with your friends and co-workers. Give people “a pocketful of small change” for their birthday and encourage them to direct it to the work you are doing. You can also promote your project by putting up posters at work, in your community centre, favourite coffee shop, or grocery store. Be creative. Spread the word. Get people inspired.

It is important that you stay actively involved in promoting your project while it’s on the website so you can raise as much support as possible.

Your project will remain on the website for approximately 3 months, or longer if you need the time to raise additional support. We'd like all projects to get the funding they need but, from time to time, we may have to take a project down from the site if it's not attracting resources, if the project is no longer timely, or if it's been on the site for too long.

We hope every project succeeds in reaching its goal and we encourage groups with projects posted to do everything they can do to get people to the website to help grassroots action in Canada. But it may happen that not every project will be 100% successful in reaching its financial goal. Regardless of whether your project reaches its goal, your project is important and the work you do at the local level is critical to the health of our communities. We are committed to honouring our supporters’ gifts and helping to build the capacity of grassroots groups across the country. Any gifts made to your project will be sent to you. No wait. No fuss. We believe that for local groups, every little bit helps so even if you don’t raise all the money you hope to, you can still use your gifts to build your organization’s capacity to help your community realize a healthier future.

You will receive any money raised for your project once you reach your fundraising goal. We hope that every project reaches its goal but even if your project doesn't, we honour the gifts made by donors that have chosen to support your project and will send you a cheque with the amount raised, minus the 10% that helps cover the costs of sourcing compelling projects across the country, presenting them on the website, and connecting people to grassroots groups and local action.

You will know when donations have been made by tracking your project on our website. As donations are made, the site updates your profile to show how much you’ve raised and how much more you need to fulfill your fundraising goal. But you won’t know who made the donations. We have a strict privacy policy for your protection and the protection of our supporters. Unfortunately this means that we cannot release any information about the people supporting local action on www.smallchangefund.org.

Yes. It’s important for any group that receives money through Small Change Fund to report on what happened as a result of any funding raised. This is important for a number of reasons. First, it is just good practice. Second, it’s essential to Small Change Fund as a responsible funder and facilitator. Third, and equally important, it helps you connect to your supporters who will likely want to continue to support you if your project goes well. And it can also serve as an educational and fundraising tool for Small Change Fund and the community of grassroots groups we support.

The answer is simple. Video. Video is a powerful tool to communicate in a real and personal way. For you, it’s much simpler and more fun than pulling together a paper report. We will be posting resources on our website to help you think about how you can create short, meaningful videos that explain what you’ve done to make change in your communities. For us, it’s an inspiring way to speak to our supporters about the difference you’ve made through their gifts. It’s a win-win as we help each other start something big. If your organization does not have the resources to create a video report, we can help.

Our advisors take an active role in Small Change Fund’s activities. We encourage our advisors to comment on projects, share them with their networks, and be a voice for Small Change Fund in their communities. Some advisors may want to actively promote a project or two that they feel strongly about. Others may not want to weigh in on specific projects but may want to, instead, promote a certain issue or region like water conservation or the Arctic. It’s up to them to decide how they want to get involved but regardless they are all strong advocates of the power of small change.