Eligibility Criteria
Who Do We Fund?
Applicants must be Canadian small and medium-sized organizations (SMOs) who want to test innovative solutions to specific development challenges in partnership with local organizations.
Projects should have a focus on advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls in the Global South.
Applicants may seek funding between $150K to $175K to test projects over a 6-10 month period (lower amounts may be considered, but not over $175K).
What is an SMO?
FIT’s definition of an SMO is based on two inclusive criteria:
- Consolidated revenue in the organization’s financial statements is equal to or less than $10 million (this limitation does not apply to post-secondary institutions*), and
- The organization does not have annual overseas expenditures exceeding $2 million in development assistance (i.e. projects administered with the promotion of the economic development and welfare of developing countries as their main objective).
SMOs can be civil society organizations, post-secondary institutions, private sector or social enterprises.
Organizations must legally be incorporated in Canada, and provide proof of legal status (e.g. a letter of incorporation), and a Canada Revenue Agency business number or registered charity number.
*Post-secondary institutions can be SMOs as long as their annual overseas expenditures in development assistance do not exceed $2 million. They are not required to respect the $10 million revenue limit.
Other Criteria
- Applicants must be at the testing phase of their innovative solution. (General development projects do not qualify).
- Applicants must be willing to share/license intellectual property with the Government of Canada.
- Proposed projects must be implemented in a country that is eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA).
See OECD list of eligible countries (PDF). - Proposed projects must not involve any construction (e.g. building a new structure or rehabilitating an existing structure).