
The Sustainable Recovery Grant (SRG) Provides Coaching and Support for Charities
The Sustainable Recovery Grant (SRG), a multi-year collaborative partnership from local funders, provides entrepreneurial coaching to charities to help them build sustainability and resilience in four key areas: revenue, operations, people, and impact.
The Sustainable Recovery Grant (SRG), a multi-year collaborative partnership from local funders, provides entrepreneurial coaching to charities to help them build sustainability and resilience in four key areas: revenue, operations, people, and impact. When these areas are predictable and sustainable, charities can focus on what they do best – serving the vulnerable people of our community – even when unforeseen events happen. The focus of this grant was a direct response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but the challenges charities face continue to evolve.
Grant to support sustainability to charities in recovery from the impacts of COVID & other challenges
The pandemic highlighted the valuable services charities provide in our communities. Numerous natural disasters during 2021 compounded this. Last year, many charities reported growth in demand, faster than their capacity. As a result, innovation and experimentation inside charities have increased sharply, which is unlikely to change in 2022.
Over the past five years, the SRG has helped participating charities launch and grow social enterprise revenue streams, improve internal and external communication, redesign programs and services, improve financial sustainability, and navigate complex leadership challenges. This coaching helps to provide the capacity and capability leaders need to succeed in these challenging times.
Successful applicants to the SRG fund receive one-time grant funding for customized coaching and support through Purppl‘s Resilience & Recovery Program. Purppl helps social purpose organizations build financial resilience, improve their impact, and develop leadership skills.
The Sustainable Recovery Grant aims to build charities’ capacity and long-term sustainability in the Southern Interior region of BC. It’s a collaboration between local funders, including United Way British Columbia (UWBC) – Southern Interior, Interior Savings, Community Foundation of the North Okanagan, Community Foundation of the South Okanagan | Similkameen, and Valley First, a Division of First West Credit Union.
“At Penticton’s Discovery House, we’ve been working with Purppl through the SRG for the past six months. It has been an extremely valuable and supportive experience, giving us new tools to make key decisions on our social enterprise ideas. Our coaching time has helped us clarify the impact we’re trying to achieve, plus provided specific one-on-one & team coaching specifically tailored to our needs. We have received support with financial modelling, risk management, task prioritization, and business management training that has been invaluable to the success of our Social Enterprise.”
– Jerome Abraham, Executive Director, PRRS
ORGANIZATION ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA
- Registered charity operating a social enterprise or committed to launching/expanding a revenue-generating program
- Facing challenges or opportunities in one or more of the four sustainability focus areas (revenue, operations, people, impact)
- Must have a paid leadership staff member ready to participate in bi-weekly coaching meetings
- Located within the geographic boundaries of Central Okanagan, South Okanagan Similkameen, North Okanagan Columbia, or Shuswap
- Able to contribute a minimum of 25% of the program costs ($400-$500 per month) for the duration of the 6 or 12-month program. Some organizations with greater ability to contribute more may be asked, but not required, to do so
PROGRAM FOCUS AREAS
- Revenue: build, refine, and grow a sustainable revenue model
- Impact: Define your desired community impact, develop steps to get there, and relevant impact metrics.
- People: Strengthen teams, culture, and leadership.
- Operations: Improve capacity and operational efficiency. Evolve products, services, or technology to meet changing demands.
For more information on the grant, please contact Naomi Woodland at NaomiW@uwbc.ca, Regional Coordinator, Community Impact and Investment with UWBC, or Domenica Chieffo, Programs Operations Coordinator of Purppl CCC at domenica@purppl.com.
Photo of a kinSHIFT Workshop. kinSHIFT is a project of IndigenEYEZ, a community-based initiative that was one of the SRG recipients in 2021. They have been empowering emerging Indigenous leaders since 2013.