The Northwest Territories Power Corporation is committed to investing in the communities where we live and operate. Through our Community Investment Program, we provide community support through charitable donations, sponsorships and in-kind contributions. The Corporation demonstrates its commitment to corporate social responsibility by setting and achieving objectives related specifically to this aspect of doing business. Donations and sponsorship are not recoverable from customer rates.
Program Guidelines
Funding Areas
Through the Community Investment Policy, the Corporation supports groups and organizations that operate in the following broad community sectors:
- Education – encouraging development of a strong northern workforce
- Health & Wellness – promoting health and wellness, including sports & recreation
- Community - supporting activities that enrich community, cultural and family life
- Environment - promoting energy conservation, individual or community-based renewable energy projects and overall environmental stewardship.
Donation Applications – Criteria, Exclusions and Application Guidelines
Donation applications will be evaluated against predetermined criteria and with due regard to the value of the donation request. Also to ensure that the Policy achieves approved objectives and is applied with consistency, some exclusions are included, together with application guidelines.
Criteria
Preference is given to groups and organizations that:
- Are non-profit and can demonstrate community support and involvement
- Are working for the benefit of a wide range of stakeholders, in particular the youth of a community
- Request support for a specific program/activity
- Demonstrate the ability to execute the program, commitment to the program, and have administrative and organizational capabilities to undertake the program
- Can demonstrate how the money or in-kind donation is to be spent and the expected outcome of the event
- Commit to acknowledging the Corporation's contribution, such as throughplacement of various promotional banners, brochures, posters and the Corporation's logo on promotional material
Exclusions
The following are not eligible for support:
- Individuals
- Travel outside the NWT
- Organizations, projects and other activities outside NWT
- Reducing or donating the cost of electricity services
- Religious organizations (churches, synagogues, mosques and other houses of worship), or other organizations primarily promoting religious purposes. Other faith-based community service organizations or schools may be considered eligible if their programs:
- are open to all individuals in the community regardless of religious belief
- serve a secular purpose, such as food pantry, homeless shelter or education
- do not require participation in prayer, worship or other religious activities as a condition of receiving service(s) offered; and
- do not use the individual donation or resulting match for religious purposes
- Political parties or political candidates
- Professional fund-raisers working on behalf of an organization
- Generic request that may have been sent to various organizations – 'To whom it may concern' letters
- Applications that meet general criteria, but may negatively impact the reputation of the Corporation (for example, events that pose significant risk of injury to participants or public, events perceived to have negative environmental impacts, etc.)
Information regarding approved donations and sponsorships will be published in the Corporation's annual report.
Email requests for donations or sponsorship to: info@ntpc.com
Application Guidelines (refer to Appendix A)
APPENDIX A – APPLICATION GUIDELINES
In order to be considered, requests for sponsorship or donations must clearly meet all applicable criteria, and be submitted in short written form, in a letter delivered either via e-mail or post to the address indicated below.
They should include the following:
Requests up To $500 (Donations)
- An outline of the project or event for which the donation is being requested and the expected outcome
- The amount being requested
- Information and commitments that will meet the criteria listed in this Policy
To qualify for support and to assist with processing, applications should be submitted at least six weeks prior to the scheduled project or event.
Requests over $500 (Donations)
- An outline of the project or event for which the donation is being requested and the expected outcome
- The amount being requested, together with a total budget or projected cost
- A list of all project contributors or partners, particularly companies, foundations and government departments or agencies
- A list of personnel involved in running the organization
- Information and commitments that will meet the criteria listed in this Policy, particularly as they relate to recognition
To qualify for support and to assist with processing, applications for donations of any amount should be submitted at least six weeks prior to the scheduled project or event.
In general, organizations are not eligible to receive financial support from the program more than once in a fiscal year (April 1 - March 31).
In special circumstances, Corporation staff responsible for administering this program can waive any or all of the above requirements in the best interests of the parties concerned.
1. Donations – Philanthropic Grants
All applications for philanthropic grants, which are normally for larger amounts of money, should be forwarded to the Communications Manager for evaluation and further action.
In evaluating philanthropic grant applications, consideration will be given to:
- Scope Relevance – does the cause relate to any project in which the Corporation has a vested interest and will giving have a direct or indirect benefit to the Corporation with respect to the project.
- Social Relevance – does the cause have a great deal of public support, do supporters receive associated credibility and profile and will customers and stakeholders perceive the Corporation is exploiting the cause or making a positive difference?
- Opportunities – will support enhance the perception of the Corporation and profile of senior management?
- Quality of Program – does the organization have a credible track record, is it financially stable and does it meet high professional standards as a non-profit organization?
- Leveraging Media – is the cause or program appealing in a positive way to the media, is there a planned media strategy and will the Corporation be recognized and how?
- Measurability – does the organization have the resources to deliver what it promises, can the results be measured and how will they be reported?
To qualify for support and to assist with processing, applications for philanthropic donations should be submitted at least two months prior to the scheduled project or event.
2. Sponsorships
Sponsorships are essentially business partnerships by which the Corporation normally provides financial support for an event or activity in exchange for specified benefits that can include, but not be limited to, various forms of recognition such as advertising, display of banners and corporate material, presentation and speaking opportunities for senior Corporation staff, and employee involvement in volunteer roles. Because of the amounts and nature of the financial support that sponsorships normally involve, the Corporation expects and needs to achieve a greater return on those investments. As such, the best sponsorships are those which more clearly match the Corporation's strategic objectives and maximize opportunities to position the Corporation as a supporter of a positive initiative.
The Corporation supports select events throughout the year that contribute to the quality of life in the communities in which operate or in which we have a presence.
Furthermore, those opportunities that allow the initiative to be replicated into many of the communities served by the Corporation will generally receive more favorable consideration than initiatives that affect a single community.
Sole sponsorship or joint sponsorship with two or three other compatible organizations is the preferred position of the Corporation.
To qualify for support and to assist with processing, applications for sponsorships should be submitted at least two months prior to the scheduled project or event.
All sponsorship and donation inquiries should be directed to: Doug Prendergast, Communications Manager, 4 Capital Drive, Hay River, NT, X0E 1G2, by fax to 1-888-332-9640 or e-mailed to info@ntpc.com.