THE BELL COMMUNITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT FUND

What is the Bell Community Economic Development Fund?
Objectives
Project Eligibility
Eligible Recipients
Selection Criteria
Procedure for Grant Application

Bell Canada and CEDTAP have established a new, leading-edge partnership whereby both organizations are committing $1 million each to foster community economic development in up to 100 community economic development initiatives nationwide.

The Bell Community Economic Development Fund will provide $ 2 million in support to stimulate growth and innovation through improved communications technology. This fund is the third iteration of a program that was started by Bell Canada in 1998 to help Community-based Organizations (CBOs) stimulate growth and innovation through improved communication technology.

Bell Canada is a leading private sector company committed to improving the social-well being of communities. Active in community development, Bell has supported initiatives through the Bell Canada Economic Development Fund, in place from 1998-2000 and the Bell Canada Community Development Fund (2001-2003) which together provided $1.8 million in assistance to 82 communities in Ontario.

CEDTAP is Canada's largest non-profit (non-governmental) granting agency in the field of Community Economic Development. National in scope, this bilingual program serves all provinces and territories in Canada. CEDTAP was founded in 1997, with funding provided by the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation and the administrative support and pedagogical expertise of Carleton University, in response to economic and social challenges facing Canadians and underscored by expert groups engaged in CED.

OBJECTIVES

• To foster sustainable development by providing financial and technical support to help Community-based Organizations (CBOs) ;
• Assign priority to projects that include the use of effective technology-based solutions that advance community development.

The Bell Community Economic Development Fund complements CEDTAP's mission to enhance the legitimacy and effectiveness of CBOs engaged in Community Economic Development.

PROJECT ELIGIBILITY

The Bell Community Economic Development Fund through CEDTAP, supports early stage and mature Community Economic Development Organizations (CEDOs) in three different areas:

• Technical assistance ;
• Learning exchanges ;
• Technology enhancement.

Grants are available to access technical assistance, facilitate learning exchanges and to acquire critical computer resources and technical support to engage in CED. Further the Fund will continue to support projects aimed at enabling the most vulnerable groups and communities to carry out activities which are sustainable and beneficial.

Please refer to the How to apply page for more information and to download a Program Description in PDF format.

ELIGIBLE RECIPIENTS

To be eligible for financing under the Bell Community Economic Development Fund, groups should be located in the business areas serviced by Bell Canada (Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Québec) they should demonstrate sound management in their operations and include the following:

• Early stage and mature Community Economic Development Organizations (CEDOs) ;
• Non-governmental Organizations ;
• Non-profit Community Based Organizations (CBOs).

SELECTION CRITERIA

Notwithstanding the program's core focus on community economic development, projects that promote the use of effective technological solutions to advance community economic development will be given a high priority. Such solutions may include, but will not be limited to, web based applications, portals, CD ROMs, hardware and software acquisition, virtual volunteer support, e-commerce capabilities, video-conferencing, e-learning interfaces, tools and programs, as well as DSL/broadband solutions for high-speed connectivity. Computer-based mentoring and on-site technical assistance will also be considered.

The Bell Community Economic Development Fund will generally be managed under the following criteria:

• Incorporated, non-profit organizations are eligible for CEDTAP funding, including community-based organizations, business development associations, Community Futures corporations, cooperative organizations, educational institutions, and native organizations involved in CED ;
• Organizations should be community managed and show good governance ;
• Projects must improve community well-being and should focus on community groups that are generally shown to be at a disadvantage ;
• Projects must demonstrate long-term, sustainable local impact and value to the constituencies they serve ;
• Projects should strive to use or develop innovative strategies and approaches to address long-term CED issues in specific communities ;
• Organizations applying for support should demonstrate strong organizational capacity and credibility ;
• Projects must clearly identify the level of funding support being secured from other sources (i.e. public, community or private support) ;
• Projects must also clearly demonstrate how the initiative is sustainable, how it will leverage other resources in the community, how replication can and will be encouraged and how cost effective the proposed initiative or project is.

PROCEDURE FOR GRANT APPLICATION

The Bell Community Economic Development Fund is part of the overall CEDTAP pool of funds. All applications for assistance follow the same normal procedure, they must be submitted through CEDTAP using the application form and guidelines available from Our Services and How to apply pages.

For further information or to discuss potential projects and obtain guidelines contact a CEDTAP project Coordinator.

Webmaster:

secretariat-patdec@cedtap.com