CSI announces Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto Grant Recipients!

The Centre for Social Innovation is absolutely thrilled to announce the grant recipients of the Enterprising Non-Profits Toronto pilot program!

Enterprising Non-Profits (enp) is a social enterprise capacity-building and funding program. Support from enp allows nonprofit organizations to develop and grow revenue generating programs. In 2008 we partnered with twelve incredible funders to bring the enp program - which began in 1997 in British Columbia - to Toronto. The pilot program was an incredible success, building the capacity of over 120 organizations through skills-building workshops, and awarded grants to 16 successful applicants.

Our attention now turns to fundraising efforts to bring the program back to Toronto in 2009. Our hope is that enp-Toronto will be an ongoing program and a first-step toward a province-wide social enterprise program.  

See the attcahed file for the stories of the sixteen funded projects.

Here's a list of grant recipients:

1. Dream Now Canada Inc. (Technology and Social Change): $5,000 to develop a website strategy to increase revenue-generating capacity of the Continuum Project, an initiative that helps non-profits maintain momentum following major events and conferences.

2. Family Transition Place (Social Services): $4,550 to undertake a feasibility study for delivering fee-for-service violence prevention workshops entitled Transitions Training.

3. FoodCycles (Environment and Food Security): $8,960 for a marketing implementation plan to create an urban farm.

4. Hot Docs (Arts): $10,000 to create a business plan to develop the Digital Doc Shop, an online storehouse of Canadian documentaries.

5.   Literature for Life (Social Services, Arts): $3,000 to help develop an advertising and marketing strategy for Yo'Mama and SOLACE, publications directed at young and single mothers.

6. Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests (Environment): $9,500 to undertake a business planning exercise to offer an expanded menu of landscaping products and services as part of its Backyard Blooms social enterprise.

7. The Neighbourhood Centre (Social Services): $5,500 for a feasibility study for The Hope Project, which will convert an underutilized space at Hope United Church into a self-sustaining community hub.

8. Pegasus Community Project (Social Services): $2,500 toward a business plan to improve in the efficiency, productivity, income and sustainability of the Pegasus Thrift Store.

9. Regent Park Women and Families (Social Services and Marginalized Employment): $7,000 for a business plan for Women's Dream Social Enterprise, a South Asian tailoring service serving and employing the local Bangladeshi community.

10. RiverSides (Environment): $10,000 to hire to hire a logistics consultant who will improve operational procedures and efficiencies of RainBarrel Program.

11. Somali Business Development Centre (Social Services and Marginalized Employment): $3,000 toward business plan development for CultureLink Printshop, a commercial print shop with a focus on training and employment for disadvantaged immigrant youth.

12. St. Stephen's Community House (Social Services): $7,500 grant to develop and implement a business development plan intended to increase profitability of St. Stephen's Conflict Resolution Services social enterprise.

13. The Theatre Centre (Arts): $7,000 to explore the feasibility of opening a café/bar in the newly acquired Carnegie Library Performance Hub.

14. Toronto Renewable Energy Co-operative (Environment): $7,000 to assess the feasibility of evolving the Our Power energy efficiency information service into an enterprise model.

15. WoodGreen Community Services (Social Services and Marginalized Employment): $7,200 to undertake a market analysis and a business planning process for the Peer-Worker Bedbug Response enterprise.

16. Working Skills Centre (Social Services and Marginalized Employment): $8,000 to undertake a long-term marketing plan and to rebrand its existing community-based training program as the Academy of Computer & Employment Skills.

Congratulations to our first round of enp-Toronto funded projects!