How to prepare your application

A. Complete the Application for Funding Form

A covering letter to the Fund under which you are applying and a completed Application for Funding form should be included at the front of your proposal.

B. Detailed project proposal

This section describes all the elements that need to be included in your proposal. You are encouraged to follow this sequence as it will assist departmental staff in assessing your proposal in a more timely fashion. Also, please make sure that the information you provide is complete. Missing information will delay the processing of your application.

1. Background on the organization

If you are applying as an organization, please provide the following information:

• The full name of the organization along with any abbreviations frequently used.
  
• A copy of the certificate and articles of incorporation or letters patent.
  
• Your organization's mission statement.
  
• Date your organization was established.
  
• Background on the programs and services your organization provides.
  
• The geographic area your organization serves.
  
• An indication of the kinds of client groups your organization is intended to serve as well as a list of the groups, organizations, or government bodies that actually use your services.
  
• Evidence of your project's and your organization's community support, partnership and other linkages. Please include supporting documentation such as endorsements or letters of agreement or support if they are available.
  
• The reasons that qualify you or your organization to undertake this project. This should include an indication of your expertise, your skills, interest and experience in the project area, and your previous experience with such issues. You can include letters of support from relevant individuals or organizations.
  
• Information on previous and current funding received from the Department of Justice Canada including dates, amounts and results achieved, where possible.
  
• A letter of support/endorsement of the project from the relevant provincial government department (applies to Child-centred Family Justice Fund applications only).

2. Description of the Project

In this section provide a detailed description of your project. You must include the following information:

a) Name of the proposed project.

b) Project summary: The project summary provides a brief explanation of what the project is. It should describe the activities, who will be affected by these activities and why you want to undertake the project (i.e. what do you want to change).

c) Project team. Identify each member of the project team and include contact information. You should describe the roles and responsibilities of each team member and specify who will prepare the final report.

d) Project timeframe (start and completion dates). Be sure to set realistic timelines and include projected start and end dates for all preparation, implementation and evaluation steps.

e) Description of the issue or needs your project would address. Departmental staff will consider the kind of background research you have done to prepare for your project. In developing this section, clearly define the need for your project using relevant and reliable data (e.g. recent reports and statistics) and describe how your project will help respond to the issue or needs you have identified. Include an outline of the environment and factors (e.g. demographic, geographic, socio-economic, political, technological, legal, etc.) that point to the need for your proposed project.

f) What makes this project innovative and different from other work being done on the issue or needs. You may want to include background information on related work done by other stakeholders that would help put your proposed project in context.

g) Project objectives. These must be results-based and should identify what you expect to achieve by the end of the project. It is important to think about what your project, once completed, will achieve and what the impact will be. What kinds of change(s) do you intend to make through your project? This should include information about who will be affected by these changes. You should also show how your project objectives link to the mandate and priorities of the Department of Justice Canada and the objectives of the Fund under which you are applying. Remember, be specific about what you want to achieve. This will help you to measure the success of your project when it is time to evaluate it. Also, choose realistic objectives that you will be able to achieve and measure. For example, "Improving the justice system for all" is a broad, complex objective that would be difficult to credit to a single project and would be impossible to measure.

h) Reach of the project. Identify the priority groups or the specific social or community groups (e.g. women, children and youth, Aboriginal peoples, persons with disabilities, immigrants, judges, police) for whom the project is targeted. You should also identify any other groups and communities that may benefit from your project. Reach also includes those stakeholders involved in different aspects of a project such as planning, developing, implementing, or communicating results. Typically this might include the Department of Justice Canada, other departments, municipalities, provincial/territorial government, private sector, justice practitioners, other communities.

i) Diversity and gender equality. All proposed projects should demonstrate sensitivity to diversity and gender equality issues. Your proposal should show how you will address the needs and experiences of participants/beneficiaries who come from different social and cultural groups, equity groups and diverse communities. Many projects use focus groups, community involvement in the project, an advisory committee or assessments/questionnaires to ensure that the project is sensitive to diversity concerns. (Please refer to Appendix A for more information).

j) Official Language Minority Communities. The Government of Canada is committed to enhancing the vitality of the English and the French linguistic minorities in Canada and in supporting and assisting them in their development; and fostering the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society. Where applicable, your project should demonstrate sensitivity to the needs of official language minority communities. Your proposal should show how you will address the needs of participants/beneficiaries who come from these communities. Many projects use focus groups, community involvement in the project, an advisory committee or assessments/questionnaires to ensure that the project is sensitive to the needs of official language minority communities.

k) Anticipated results and indicators of success. Results are the changes a project hopes to achieve. They are the reason why you are doing your project. Results focus on what the project makes happen rather than what it does (i.e., the intended results of the project, not the process of achieving them). For each project objective, identify what results are expected as a consequence of your project's activities.

For example, your objective might be:

• To increase awareness, knowledge and usage of non-adversarial dispute resolution in family matters.

Your anticipated result, or the changes in behaviour you expect your objective to achieve might be:

• An increase in resolution of legal matters through Alternative Dispute Resolution;
  
• Parties gain knowledge of dispute resolution; and,
  
• Durability of and increased compliance to agreements.

At this point, you must also give some thought to how you will measure your success and how you will assess the progress of your project. What indicators will be used to measure project results? (Qualitative and quantitative indicators should be appropriate to the size and complexity of your project) (See Appendix B for more information on identifying indicators and measuring success.)

l) Project linkages and partnerships. The Department of Justice Canada will always consider the number and types of partnerships that will be established as a result of a potential project. You must identify and describe the type and degree of community and/or provincial-territorial support and involvement in the project, including funding partners. You should identify the full scope and level of participation, cooperation and volunteer involvement that you anticipate for your project. Perhaps there are different levels of involvement from priority groups/beneficiaries at various phases of the project. Perhaps there are other stakeholders. This section of the proposal should identify how the various partners will contribute towards reaching the project objectives. Explain the different activities that each partner will be involved in, and point out how links will be made between and among partners. Often, this takes the form of a steering or advisory committee. It is helpful to provide letters of commitment or endorsement from partners or stakeholders.

3. Work Plan and Project Design (Activities)

In this section, you must include a complete description of all activities you will carry out to achieve the project objectives. The work plan must show:

• A listing of all activities and how each activity supports the project objectives
  
• What is the sequence of tasks (what steps will be undertaken for each activity)
  
• How much time is required for each task or stage in the project (including approximate start and end dates)
  
• The human resources, skills, time and financial resources needed for each activity
  
• How you will monitor and evaluate the project's success or effectiveness (see Section 6 below)
  
• The anticipated date(s) of your progress/interim report(s)
  
• The date of your final report.

Be realistic about the amount of time required. Make sure you and your partners agree on time lines that will suit your needs and situations.

Each proposal must include a workplan that shows the timetable for major project activities and who will be responsible for carrying them out.

4. Project Deliverables (Outputs)

The products, goods or services you expect to produce or deliver as part of your project MUST be clearly stated. Often these deliverables take the form of reports, training sessions, manuals or publications.

Please note that, upon completion, all funded projects are required to complete a project summary report (a copy is included in your kit) and an executive summary. The executive summary (1-2 pages) briefly describes your organization, your project objectives, a summary of activities, the anticipated outcomes and the actual outcomes. The executive summary and the completed Project Summary Report, along with any other materials that you expect to produce as a result of your project, should be listed in your proposal as your deliverables. Please note, under the Access to Information and Privacy Acts, this information is public information.

5. Communication Plan

An effective communication/dissemination plan has two or three clear objectives that link to the project objectives. It identifies the priority groups and others that will be reached and indicates the methods of communications that will be used to reach them. Describe how you will communicate the outcome of this project to your target or priority group(s), the Department of Justice Canada, your partners and other stakeholders. Many project strategies include community-based communication services, ethnic media, information sessions, meetings and presentations, web-based information, radio and television appearances and newspaper articles.

6. Evaluation Plan

Your proposal must include an evaluation framework. Evaluation is an essential part of project planning. It helps you connect your objectives to your achievements; shows what worked well and helps you understand what did not work so well. As you develop your proposal, plan the information you will need to collect throughout the project to measure results. You must think about questions like:

• Who will be responsible for monitoring? For evaluation?
  
• What is the timetable for monitoring and evaluation?
  
• What reporting arrangements do you have with your partners?
  
• How will you identify success and risk factors?

Short-term project (1 year or less) evaluation tends to focus on process and implementation questions, since attitudinal and behavioural change is usually a longer-term process. These evaluations may examine:

Process

• Was the project implemented according to plan? If not, why not?
  
• Is the project reaching its targeted priority groups or beneficiaries?
  
• Is the role of the partners appropriate?

Results

• Did your project achieve what you planned to achieve?
  
• What results did your project achieve or produce? Did it result in new skills, new information, changed awareness?
  
• How do these results compare with the results that were anticipated at the beginning of your project? (i.e., were there any results achieved that were not anticipated, either positive or negative?)

Resources

• Were they sufficient?

Conclusions/Recommendations

• What worked well?
  
• What did not work well?
  
• What changes are needed?
  
• What were the lessons learned from this project?
  
• How can these lessons be used?
  
• How well did your partnerships function?

Multiple-year projects should collect information to assess the overall impact of the project. The evaluation will move beyond implementation/process questions to changes that can be attributed to your project. You will ask the same questions as above plus:

• What difference did your project make?
  
• Given the results of your evaluation, what would be some potential next steps?

Once your project is finished you will be required to submit a completed Project Summary Report. This questionnaire asks many of the questions identified above and will, essentially, be your evaluation report to the Department. If you gather the evaluation information as your project progresses, it will be easy to fill in the Project Summary Report. A blank copy of the Project Summary Report is in your funding kit, and is available electronically upon request.

C. Detailed budget (inputs)

You must submit a detailed project budget that follows the government's fiscal period (April 1 to March 31) and includes:

• Itemized fees and expenses; total cost of the project
  
• The total amount of financial and in-kind support (i.e., volunteers, services, furniture, facilities, supplies and accommodation) you expect to receive from other sources, including your own in-kind contribution
  
• The amount of revenue your project may generate
  
• The amount of funding requested from all sources (i.e., the Department of Justice Canada, other government departments, foundations, etc.)

NOTE: All applicants must indicate the GST/HST rebate (i.e., percentage) they will receive from Canada Revenue Agency.

Appendix C provides more detail about the types of questions that the Department's financial officers will be asking when reviewing your proposal. The more information you can provide up front to respond to these questions, the less time it will take for the financial review to occur.

The proposal review process is much quicker when applicants submit complete and comprehensive proposals. To prevent delays or extra work, please review your proposal carefully before submitting it. Use this guide and the checklist at the back of this guide to be sure your proposal is complete. ²

²See Appendix D for a list of criteria used by the Department of Justice Canada officials to assess your proposal.

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