“So much of what OTF does is not about writing a cheque,” says Patricia Else, Director of Grant Operations at OTF. “It’s about finding ways to make a difference; being a focal point and a source of contacts. Arguably, our most important work is to help community groups connect with each other so they can find the resources, linkages and information they need to reach their goals.”

One of the most powerful examples of OTF-assisted synergy is happening right now in Ontario’s environment sector. With the world focus on global warming and ways to reduce man’s ecological footprint, OTF has targeted the environment sector for concerted development and funding. We’ve taken a leadership role, not just to help finance innovative, community-grown environmental projects, but to actively seek them out and help bring them to fruition. It’s a challenging and lengthy commitment, but the results we’re helping to produce will have environment-protecting impacts for lifetimes to come.

“I was tremendously excited about the potential of one particular application in 2001,” says Nuala Doherty, program manager for Province-Wide grants. “It was from a co-op that had built a wind turbine at Exhibition Place in Toronto and wanted to bring their know-how to other communities in Ontario.” Doherty was intrigued by the project, but couldn’t recommend it be funded because the applicant organization, although operating as if it were a not-for-profit, had been incorporated with share capital, a condition that made it ineligible according to OTF rules.

Brent Kopperson, Executive Director, Windfall Ecology Centre

Brent Kopperson, Executive Director and Founder of Windfall Ecology Centre, also remembers that first encounter with OTF. “Several others and I started a citizen-based group that was trying to establish community-owned renewable energy projects,” he says. “Some Ontario groups were banding together to build co-operatively owned wind turbines, and I was elected to approach OTF for funding.”

The decision to come to OTF was a calculated one. Kopperson knew there were very few places where fledgling organizations with novel, unproven ideas could go for help, and he believed OTF to be the provincial leader when it came to funding social innovation.  

“It was my first foray into the not-for-profit world,” he continues. “I was used to more competitive granters or lenders who always seemed bent on tearing our project proposals apart. OTF’s approach was remarkable and refreshing. They wanted to help us succeed. They were prepared to act as facilitators, and were willing to work with us or anyone who had a worthwhile project or contribution. It’s an approach that takes time and effort, and one that few funders seem willing to take.”

But Kopperson’s group was a brand new entity with no track record. They needed a lead applicant that would meet OTF’s eligibility criteria, be fiscally responsible and oversee project development.

With Doherty’s help, Kopperson and representatives from the other organizations reworked the OTF application making Hearthmakers, a not-for-profit group that delivered bulk fuel to those in need, the lead applicant. With this new structure, they received an OTF grant worth almost $93,800 over one year to develop case studies and models for producing green energy in 10 Ontario communities.

The project was an astounding success. Workshops were held across Ontario, gathering community members into groups to develop energy co-ops.

“With that one-year grant, they proved the community interest was there and that they could manage the amount of money awarded,” Doherty says. When the consortium came back for more funding in 2002, discussions centred on how to take it to the next level.

“We talked about how the group could organize itself even better to appeal to OTF as an applicant,” she continues. “We wanted it to be a strong, well-structured organization with established roles and responsibilities, community connections, an involved board of directors and good fiscal policies.”

That year, OTF granted $445,500 over three years to the newly created Ontario Sustainable Energy Association (OSEA). It was one of the largest amounts the Foundation has ever awarded.

“Little seeds, big trees,” says Kopperson at Windfall Centre, who was Chair of OSEA at the time. The OTF grant helped them to grow public awareness about renewable energy practices. From there, OSEA was able to influence the Ontario Power Authority to implement its Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program that supports small green-energy-generating alternatives. “And because of the citizen engagement we created, OSEA was hired to make policy recommendations to Ontario’s Ministry of Energy,” he adds.

To date, OSEA members have been involved in over 40 sustainable energy co-op projects across Ontario, blazing power trails with solar energy, wind farms and biomass technologies. Windfall Ecology Centre, Kopperson’s current undertaking, is another OTF-grant recipient that’s blossomed into a $40-million initiative. Today, it’s driving community conservation projects like the 20-megawatt Pukwis Wind Park, located off Lake Simcoe that is being developed by the Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation.

“In 2007, OTF’s board of directors allocated $2 million to a new Future Fund initiative, which strengthened the impact of organizations in Ontario working on environment issues in its first year,” says Pat Else. “We treated it as a call-for-proposals and sent out announcements to organizations that we knew about in the sector.” Of the 140 organizations that received the OTF announcement, 90 responded.

“We see the results of counselling and relationship-building,” Pat continues, “and we’re hoping that, in turn, these results transform into something positive for the environment. Time will tell. But when you see wind turbines on the Toronto skyline or along the shore off Lake Simcoe, you can know that OTF had a hand in that. It’s positive, successful, environment-enhancing change, and the Foundation is playing a part.”