The City of Thorold is seeking applications for its Tourism and Economic Development Grant Program.

The City of Thorold is aware that various groups within the community promote and improve upon the economic well-being of the community. In the course of annual budget deliberation and subject to budget constraints, Council may approve discretionary grants/sponsorship to support and assist community based groups that will be of a direct or indirect economic benefit to the City of Thorold, based on consideration of the terms and considerations of this Policy.

This policy provides for two types of grants/sponsorship: a direct grant of funding and an “in-kind” contribution grant. “In-kind” grants include the contribution of municipal equipment and/or human resources. The financial value of in-kind service requested by applicants will be identified by the relevant municipal departments and submitted to the Recreation Coordinator prior to the applications evaluation process. The Municipality will consider the financial value of the in-kind services during the application evaluation process.

Goals

The goals of the tourism and economic development grant/sponsorship program are:

1. To support tourism development and/or economic development based projects/events in Thorold to benefit residents and/or local business.
2. To enhance and encourage partnerships with local non-profit organizations for projects or events that increase tourism development and/or economic development in the City of Thorold.
3. To encourage and provide financial support to events that can be proven to have true potential for bringing increased non-resident / tourist spending into the City.
4. To promote and enhance the profile of Thorold as a tourism/shopping/business destination through the external marketing and promotion of special events hosted within the City.
5. To promote and assist in the development of self-sustaining tourism and economic development related special events in Thorold.
6. To promote and ensure accountability of public funds contributed to events.
7. To ensure that municipal contributions to events are made based upon reasonable and quantifiable facts and projections, and not upon assumptions or speculation.

Eligibility Criteria

All groups seeking grants/sponsorship must:

• Location
  • Be physically located with The Regional Municipality of Niagara and provide projects/special events of benefit specifically to the City of Thorold.
• Legal Entity
  • Be a not-for-profit organization.
  • Be incorporated and/or registered under the Canada Income Tax Act for the purpose of receiving charitable donations. (This criterion may be waived at Council’s discretion only, depending on the groups and on the nature of the projects/special events offered being complementary to the philosophy and priorities of Council.)
• Organization
  • Should have a formal administrative structure adequate in its numbers, be responsible for the overall management of the group’s resources, be responsible for the administration of its funds and should preferably have a Board of Directors that would be representative of the community it serves.
• Financial Feasibility
  • Provide audited financial statements for the previous fiscal year, and current year budget statements. Other pertinent financial information may be required by Council.
  • It is important to present budgets and financial statements with revenues and expenditures grouped by each individual project/special event rendered by the applicant organization. This may be requested by Council, at its discretion.
• Inclusiveness
  • The applicant’s proposed services should not exclude anyone by reason of race, religion or ethnic background.
  • The tourism and economic development project/special event proposed by volunteer organizations should be separate and distinct from any other activities of the group

For more information, visit City of Thorold.