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Community involvement

Community Builder Grant Program

As a community credit union, Libro Financial Group has a long history of contributing to worthy organizations in southwestern Ontario. We're proud to give back a portion of our profit each year. Because we're owned by our customers, our decisions about how and where to grant money always reflects their priorities. This approach makes sense for everyone: recipient organizations, our communities, our customer-owners and the credit union.

We believe in taking action to help build vibrant and prosperous communities. The objective of our Community Builder program is to support programs that give youth the opportunity to develop leadership and career skills while participating in and leading community development projects.  We hope to help build confident youth and we know that helping the next generation helps everyone.

Community Builder Assessment Criteria

Libro Financial Group will consider funding projects that meet all of the following criteria.

1. Support programs that involve young people up to age 23 by providing them with channels to develop leadership and personal career skills through active participation in community development projects. Active participation may include:

  • Idea origination
  • Design
  • Proposal development, presentation, funding solicitation
  • Implementation or program delivery
  • Project management, reporting, accounting

2. Engage the community to support youth through participation in beneficial projects. Community participation may include:

  • Libro staff, elected Owner Representatives, customer-owners.
  • Partner organizations such as schools, student associations, service clubs, charities and not-for-profit organizations, other businesses.
  • Other members of the community (public, government, media).

3. Build stronger communities in southwestern Ontario in a specific, measurable way. This may include one or more of the following:

  • Improved health care service, facilities or access.
  • Increased levels of physical fitness or wellness for a significant portion of the local population.
  • Enhanced quality of local environment.
  • New or better infrastructure for local community organizations dedicated to economic, cultural or social advancement.

4. The project design will make specific provision for credit union naming and communication on the project.

5. Once the project is completed, end results will be sustainable long term without the credit union's support for ongoing operating costs.

Not Eligible

Libro Financial Group will not approve the following

  1. The project or its sponsoring organization is inconsistent with Libro values and its Community Builder program objectives.
  2. The project will result in a requirement for support for ongoing operating costs.
  3. The project delivers benefits to individual persons or families to the exclusion of others.
  4. The project requires or requests credit union funding for travel, meal and accommodation expenses.
  5. The project funding will be devoted to conferences, banquets, research or feasibility studies.
  6. Funding the project would attach significant legal exposure or financial risk to Libro Financial Group.
  7. The project or its sponsoring organization benefits partisan, political or religious events, programs, activities or purposes.
Funding Levels

The Libro Community Builder program has two levels:

Branch Grant

Supports projects approved by each Branch Council up to $10,000 per year (minimum $5,000). Projects can extend over three years and branches can partner to support larger projects (for example, if two branches partnered on a project over three years, they could commit up to $60,000). Total branch grant funding will amount to around $150,000 per year.

Each Libro Branch Council of Owner Representatives, which has been elected from among credit union customer-owners, reviews and evaluates applications, and has authority to approve grants at the local level.

Corporate Grant

Allocates what is left after Co-op Young Leaders sponsorships and other small donations plus branch grants are funded. These projects will be too large for the branch level but very important to our communities. Corporate grants will be in the range of $20,000 to $130,000 per year, and can also extend over three years.

Corporate grant applications are reviewed and evaluated by the Community Investment Advisory Panel who will make recommendations to the Board of Directors. The panel is made up of six Owner Representatives, one Director and three staff members.

Depending on the size of the request and project, the application will be forwarded to the appropriate Branch Council or the Community Investment Advisory Panel for review and consideration.

Timeline

Libro will review and grant money under the Community Builder program once per year.

Application deadline:  March 15, 2010.

Notification of funding decision for 2010 applications: July 15, 2010

Application Procedure
  • Complete the online version of the application.
    • To save the form to your local computer you must be using Adobe Reader 8.0 or higher.
    • Data entry boxes are limited to the visible space - they do not expand.
    • Data entry boxes highlighted in red are required fields. These must be completed before the application can be submitted.
  • Attach the completed application document to a blank email message, in your preferred email program (Outlook, Hotmail, etc.), and send to the email address indicated on the application form.
  • The subject line for the email should read Community Builder Grant Application.  You will receive notification, be reply email, when your application has been received if you have used this email subject line.
  • Have all supporting materials ready to include as attachments to the email(s).
    • Keep total email / attachment file size to 3MB or less.
    • More than one email may be sent if necessary.
    • Additional email(s) can be sent using this form or by regular email to the email address included on the application form and should reference the original application by project name and sponsoring organization.

Click here for the application.

Important Information
  • Carefully read the Libro Community Builder grant assessment criteria to determine if the application is eligible and whether it is a good fit with our program.
  • Applications must be submitted using Libro's standard electronic application form.
  • The application form supports the Adobe suite of products and may not function properly with other PDF readers and generators.
  • You can download free Adobe Reader software from the Adobe site.
  • Libro will not accept paper-based applications.
  • If you are requesting funds for more than one program please complete a separate application for each program.
  • Past experience has shown high levels of application usage in the days just before the application deadline. To avoid delays caused by high usage submit your application early!
  • Libro will not accept applications received after the application deadline.
  • If you need more information or you encounter difficulties you may contact us through this form or by calling 519-672-0124 or toll free at 1-800-265-5935.