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 of between $150K to $175K to implement projects over a 6-12 month period (lower amounts may be considered, but not over $175K).
What is an SMO?
FIT’s definition of an SMO is premised 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 educational institutions), and
- 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, education institutions, private sector or social enterprises.
Organizations must legally be incorporated in Canada, and upon request, make available 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).