CMNS 3251
Assignment 3
Letter of Intent and Funder Grant Profile
The Organization and the Chosen Funder
The Northwest Territories Literacy Council (NWT) works in the promotion of literacy development of official languages used in the region(Nwtliteracy.ca, 2019). Given the fact that only 42% of people aged 16 to 65 have the necessary literacy skills(Gov.nt.ca, 2019), NWT plays a crucial role in ensuring the remaining 58% acquire these skills. As a non-profit organization, the council depends on funding from interested and like-minded organizations. Canada Bayer, British Columbia, BMO Financial Group, and Prosper Canada were identified as potential sponsors of NWT’s activities. After extensive evaluation, BMO Financial Group emerged as the most feasible and pragmatic donor.
Funder’s Grant Guidelines and Funding Criteria
BMO Financial Group is focused on providing financial support to non-profit organizations that are registered by the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency as charities. The organization can fund any applicant whose primary interest is improving literacy. NWT qualifies for funding since it is a registered charity under the agency. BMO Financial Group also offers flexible funding amounts depending on the grantee’s needs. Considering these two factors, NWT is a suitable beneficiary of BMO Financial Group’s funding opportunities. On the other hand, the funder will benefit by achieving its goals of supporting Canadian charities by partnering with the right grantee.
Letter of Inquiry
The Northwest Territories Literacy Council
5122 48 St.
Yellowknife, NT X1A 1N6
Tel: 416-218-0010. Toll-free: 1-800-303-1004
Fax:+1-416-104-0010
Email: [email protected]
Director, Community Giving, or Senior Manager, Community Giving
BMO Financial Group
Corporate Communications, Government and Investor Relations
100 King Street West, 28th Floor
Toronto, Ontario M5X 1A1
Dear Sir/ Madam,
RE: LITERACY PROJECT FUNDING
We are writing this letter of inquiry to seek financial assistance to implement a literacy program for all official languages in the Northwest Territories.
We are seeking funding of$8,000 to implement the aforementioned literacy program. This project is directly related to your organizational objectives since it solely deals with literacy. We believe that the project is theright candidate for funding from BMO Financial Group because it is squarely within your domain. The project’s goals also align properly with your organization’s overall objective of improving literacy.
The required information about our organization can be found in the attached addendums.
Board of Directors
Anu Bhalla: Board Chair
Herman Hansen: Board Vice-Chair
Andrea Baldwin
Korinne Collins
Timothy Davison
Alex Fisher
Mike Luff
Jo-Ann McArthur
Jordan Schubert
Matthew Shulman
Brian Trnkus
Shane Wark
Charitable Registration Number:132097957RR0001
Organizational Description
The Northwest Territories Literacy Council (NWT) is an organization that seeks to promote the development of official languages spoken in this territory. The organization has noted that less than half of the active population in the region has the required literacy. Given that its primary role is the improvement of literacy in this region, NWT feels a deep need to change this situation. The organization has implemented other similar projects in the past and intends to continue with the same course through this funding.
NWT was started in 1989 following a conference organized by the federal government. The federal government was interested in determining the level of interest among stakeholders to change the illiteracy landscape in the region. After the conference, a council was formed to govern the organization. NWT had the inaugural community literacy development project in 1996. Since then, it has rolled out many similar projects that involved the provision of resources, training or information to communities. Its primary working model has been partnering with funders and trainers who provide adult basic education.
Statement of Need
The need for elevating literacy among the people of the Northern Territories is dire. Low literacy has prevented the residents from accessing health, social and economic opportunities that are available to more literate populations (Beatrice et al., 2017). Stakeholders in the community literacy space, such as NWT, have the mandate to change this situation. Since NWT is a not-for-profit organization, it cannot meet funding needs it requires to implement its programs. This means that it has to rely on like-minded organizations with the capacity to provide the requisite funding. For this project, the organization needs the money to purchase learning materials and pay language trainers. Funds received for this project are not intended to be used for the day-to-day running of the organization.
Methodology
One of the challenges contributing to the high illiteracy rates is the unavailability of resources, including personnel and learning materials. NWT aims to address this problem by availing the requisite resources to the community. The organization will acquire relevant learning materials and distribute them to partnering community organizations and learning centers. NWT will oversee the acquisition and distribution of these materials to ensure the process is coordinated to meet the organization’s original objectives. Besides learning materials, the organization will also mobilize language trainers and adult learning specialists who will guide program participants. Since such personnel will require remuneration, funds provided by BMO Financial Group would be supportive to this end.
Conclusion
NWT is seeking funding to support its language literacy program in the Northern Territories region. The partnership between NWT and BMO Financial Group will help many inhabitants of the Northern Territories to improve the reading and writing skills. This will give them a better chance of accessing social amenities that have, hitherto, been unavailable to them. NWT is a good fit for the funding, given its history and current focus on improving literacy within the region.
References
Beatrice, A. B., Elizabeth, M., Meaghan, R. B., Lynn, R., & Rebecca, T. (2017). The Ontario Food and Nutrition Strategy: Identifying indicators of food access and food literacy for early monitoring of the food environment. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada: Research, Policy and Practice, 37(9), 313-319.
Gov.nt.ca. (2019). NWT receives results from international literacy assessment report | Government of Northwest Territories. Retrieved from https://www.gov.nt.ca/en/newsroom/news/nwt-receives-results-international-literacy-assessment-report
Nwtliteracy.ca. (2019). History. Retrieved from https://www.nwtliteracy.ca/about/history
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