Grant Information

Purposes Beneficial to the Community - Organizations which normally qualify as charitable include those with the following purposes: "providing public amenities to benefit the community", "establishing safety rescue operations", and "providing facilities for people with special needs". The first could cover such activities as grants for radio equipment and/or courses in schools, youth organizations, or homes for the elderly, or disabled. The second may apply to investment in equipment for Amateur Radio Emergency Service groups, who support their local communities and the Canadian Red Cross with public service and disaster communications. The latter could apply to support for equipment, courses, or development of suitable devices or techniques for the handicapped or disabled.

Donor Designation

RAC has decided to offer four categories for donor designation and grant applications:

1. Scholastic grants - scholarships and bursaries for radio amateurs (must be licensed at time of grant application) for full-time attendance at educational institution - university or community college;
2. Research grants - research or development must be related to furtherance of amateur radio technology
3. Community grants - grants for amateur radio equipment or courses relating to schools, community, seniors, youth or disabled homes or centres, for the benefit of that or surrounding community.
4. Emergency grants - grants for amateur radio equipment or courses relating to emergency communications, search and rescue communications, and related public service communications.

Size of Grants

Decisions on grant size will be at the sole discretion of the RAC Directors or their designees. They may choose to disburse several smaller grants or one larger grant in the same amount depending upon their evaluation of the relative merits of the grant applications. To deal with initial limitations of disbursable income, RAC has set a minimum of $250 for a grant. That means if a year end disbursable amount in a particular grant category totals less than $250, then no grant will be disbursed that year, and, at the discretion of the RAC Board or their designees, the amount will be allowed to grow for another year, or transferred to another category. The faster the Foundation assets grow, the sooner this initial startup problem will be overcome.

Grant Applications

Decisions on grant awards will be made on the merits of grant applications, within the limits of the RAC Foundation earnings on donations in that donation category. Under Canadian tax regulations, Foundations may disburse funds only to institutions which are themselves charitable. All disbursement cheques must be made payable to the charitable institution which the grant applicant designates on the grant application form. The cheque will be sent from Community Foundation of Ottawa to Radio Amateurs of Canada, Inc. for presentation to the grant applicant, who will then deliver the cheque to the institution. Only institutions listed by Revenue Canada as Qualified Donees are considered qualified for support by a Foundation under Canadian tax regulations. Canadian universities, community colleges, hospitals, and most seniors', youth, and community centres qualify. Before deciding on the merits of a grant application, the RAC Board or their designees will check the institution shown on the grant application to confirm that it is listed by Revenue Canada as a "Qualified Donee".

RAC Foundation - Scholastic Grant Application Form

RAC Foundation - Project Grant Application Form

The RAC Foundation
c/o Radio Amateurs of Canada
720 Belfast Rd., Suite 217
Ottawa, ON K1G 0Z5