Loans and Grants

What Is the Vision Fund?

The Youth and Young Adult Vision Fund was established at the 35th General Council in 1994.

The purpose of the Vision Fund is to support innovative, creative, and new congregational youth and young adult ministry in The United Church of Canada. The Vision Fund is available to members and ministries of the United Church of Canada.

A Vision Fund Committee with representatives from across the country administers the fund. The committee meets regularly to evaluate and approve applications.

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2011 Grants

$100,000 has been set aside for the fund in 2011! The Vision Fund is joining the many efforts made by the United Church to reduce our carbon imprint on the planet. Each Vision Fund application will include questions about the environmental impact of the project. Assessment criteria will also include consideration of the environment. Extra consideration will be given to projects that have an intentional focus on the environment.

Congregations or groups can receive up to $5,000 per year. Each application is eligible for a grant of up to $2,500 per year. If local fundraising is done by applicants, a matching grant application can be made for up to an additional $2,500. A matching grant application is only accepted if a prior grant application has been approved.

In general, the grants are spread equally across the Conferences.

Application Deadlines

• March 4
• June 3
• September 9
• November 25

Who Can Apply?

Ideally, applications are made by a congregation or a group of congregations in Canada. However, youth ministry also happens outside congregations, so we encourage groups who are not connected to a specific congregation to apply (camps, education centres, campus ministries, community ministries, etc).

A relationship to some accountable United Church group is required.

• Vision Fund Application Form [PDF: 5 pp/48 KB]
• Vision Fund Matching Grant Application Form [RTF: 2 pp/275 KB]
• The Vision Fund Handbook [PDF: 4 pp/34 KB]
  This handbook will help you through the process to a successful application. See also Evaluation of Applications for criteria that guide the Vision Fund Committee.

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The Vision Fund Committee

The Vision Fund Committee receives and evaluates applications, informs local congregations or groups of the success of their application, receives reports and evaluations from local congregations or groups, and evaluates and promotes the fund on an ongoing basis. The committee consults with congregations, groups, and the Conference when necessary.

Voting members of the committee may provide feedback and input on applications for which they have personal knowledge but are not part of the decision-making for those applications. General Council staff are non-voting members of the committee.

The Vision Fund Committee is open to consultation on applications in process or to discuss decisions made by the committee: Magdalena Jennings (Atlantic Region), Laura Hofer (Ontario/Quebec), Adam Gerhard (Manitoba/Saskatchewan), and Lauren Martens (BC/Alberta/ANC)

• Evaluation of Applications
  Grant applications are evaluated against the priorities established for the Vision Fund as well as the Youth and Young Adult Ministry Vision. [PDF: 2 pp/24 KB]

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Evaluation of Projects and Programs

Evaluation is an important part of any project or program funded by the Vision Fund. Successful applicants must commit to an evaluation of the program or project, and to submit this to the Vision Fund Committee.

These evaluations are used as a form of accountability, but more importantly, they are used to support and justify the fund for future years. Creative and interesting evaluations are encouraged and should include commentary on the difference the project/program made and the impact it had on the viability and success of the project/program. In 2010, a focus toward environmental concerns has been added to the criteria for Vision Fund–supported programs.

If you are stumped on how to provide an evaluation, you can use this format:

• Vision Fund Evaluation Tool [RTF: 1 p/15 KB]

For more information, please contact:

• Program Minister, Children and Youth
  The United Church of Canada
  3250 Bloor St. West, Suite 300
  Toronto, ON M8X 2Y4
  Tel: 416-231-7680 ext. 4186
  Toll-free: 1-800-268-3781 ext. 4186
  Fax: 416-231-3103, Attn. Vision Fund
  E-mail: Vision Fund