Charis Foundation

When we grant to an organization, we are entering a relationship that requires careful attention and regular contact.

Application Process

Guidelines

We only fund charitable organizations that are registered charities or that have qualified donee status within Canada.

We only fund those organizations, agencies or individuals that are accountable to an independent board or similar committee.

We will not fund a project or organization without reviewing that organization’s financial statements.

We do not typically fund churches based in Canada, believing in most cases the local community has the capacity to fund its own initiatives. We recognize there may be exceptions.

We do not fund education under the graduate level within Canada. We fund education at all levels in the majority world.

We will not directly fund the reduction of debt.

How to Apply

The first granting round of 2025 is now open. The deadline to submit an LOI is January 31.

Stage 1

Please review our guidelines for funding as well as our vision, mission and values to determine whether you are eligible for a grant and aligned with The Charis Foundation.

Stage 2

Deadline: Friday, January 31, 2025

If you wish to be considered for a potential grant, we invite you to submit a one- to two-page Letter of Inquiry (LOI) outlining who you are, what your ministry does and a brief description of your funding request including the amount requested. Your LOI will be reviewed by The Charis Foundation. Upon review, you will either be invited to submit a full grant proposal or be notified that your request has been declined. Please submit your LOI to info@charisfoundation.ca and include in the subject line “LOI: your organization name.” If you have any questions about the process, please do not hesitate to reach out to Martha Arevalo at martha@charisfoundation.ca.

Stage 3

If your LOI has been approved for the next stage of the application process, please provide the information requested below in a succinct application package.

Note: If you have provided the requested organizational information in a previous grant application within the last two years and there have been no changes, you can concentrate your application on the current funding request.

Organizational Information
  1. Complete the organizational information required in the online portal.
Current Funding Request
  1. Executive Summary (0.5 pages)Please provide a brief description of the following:
    • Your organization (who you are and what you do)
    • The project for which funds are being requested including time frame, target beneficiaries, total budget and desired outcomes
    • A specific financial request
  2. Expanded Proposal (2.5 pages)Please expand on the Executive Summary with as much detail as is needed to understand the purpose, scope and intended impact of the project.
  3. Financials (1.5 pages)
    • 3.1 Complete Project Budget
    • 3.2 Overall Organizational Financials
      • A breakdown (%) of sources of income (eg., individual donors, churches, foundations, government, etc.)
      • A breakdown (%) of how donations are spent (eg., administration/overhead, core support, debt reduction, regular programming, capital projects, etc.)
  4. Goals (1 page)State and describe the measurable goals of this project. For each goal please tell us:
    • How will you measure it?
    • What might prevent you from reaching this goal?
    • How does this goal fit with the overall mission of your organization?
  5. Impact (1 page)
    • What is the desired impact for this initiative?
    • How will you assess if you are achieving the desired impact?

Completed Grant Applications are now uploaded to our Salesforce portal. We will give you a login to use during the application cycle.

We will acknowledge receipt of all applications by return email. If you do not receive an acknowledgement within seven calendar days, please call Martha Arevalo at 905.849.8552 and she will get back to you within one business day.