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Applicant Guide

2024

Important information to review before begining a request for Innoweave Social Innovation Coaching Support

Contents

Our Approach
Impact Orientation
Working with a Coach
Application Process
2024 Intake Period
Before You Apply
How to Apply for Coaching Support

Our Approach

As a partner, Innoweave helps leaders and changemakers of social purpose organizations and collectives: 

  • Select an approach: Staff guidance to help understand and select the best social innovation approach(es) for your context and needs. 
  • Become “coach-ready”: Support to advance the ideas, plans, conditions, relationships, and commitment needed to successfully learn and implement your chosen social innovation stream(s). 
  • Engage a coach: Financial resources to help engage talented coaches who can deepen your understanding and ability to implement your selected social innovation tool(s). 

Leaders and changemakers that are clear on the social innovation approach that they would like to learn and implement, as well as the coaching that they require to move forward, are invited to request Social Innovation Coaching support.

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Impact Orientation

Strategic clarity: Applicants must have a clear definition of WHAT impact your organization/collective seeks to achieve and HOW your work generates this impact. You will need to demonstrate how the social innovation approach you select fits into your plan. Our application form will ask you for this level of clarity. For more information on how to achieve this, please see Innoweave’s Impact and Strategic Clarity stream.

Learning-based approach: At Innoweave, we want teams to shift away from evaluating simply to meet their perceived reporting needs for their funders. Evaluation should be in service of learning and continuous improvement. Participants will be encouraged to share how they reflected on their work, what they learned, and how they looped that feedback into program improvements to deepen their impact along the way. Indeed, our application form asks applicants how they intend to achieve this. To learn more about Innoweave’s learning-based, impact-oriented approach, please read our blog post Shifting from Prove to Improve. If your application is successful, Innoweave would welcome exploring providing additional coaching supports to help your organization do this well.

Flexibility: At Innoweave, we recognize that—if your application is successful—you will observe and learn as your project unfolds, and your environment may change. This may lead to desired pivots or adjustments to your project plan to improve and deepen your impact along the way. We strive to embrace learning-based, impact-oriented project iterations that may arise, and have developed flexible processes to address these over the course of your proposed project implementation. We encourage you to complete your application based on the best information and intentions available to you at the time. If your application is successful, as partners, we will welcome exploring adjusting the terms of your project and/or our support, as needed, to adapt to your learnings and changing circumstances.

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Working with a Coach

Innoweave provides support to access coaching services. Your coach will guide you through a process to help you create a plan.  

At Innoweave, a “coach” works a bit like a sports coach. Imagine your goal is to run a marathon; they are there to guide you step by step, providing a clear process to help you successfully finish the 42 kilometers. 

Each Innoweave coach brings a unique set of experiences and specialized knowledge to the table. It is crucial to find a coach whose approach aligns with your learning style and objectives. Take the time to review Innoweave’s guidelines for choosing the right coach. Your choice of coach can significantly impact the success of your initiatives, so make this decision thoughtfully.

 

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Application Process

Eligibility 

Changemakers in Canadian charities, not-for-profits, social purpose organizations, and collectives looking to leverage social innovation tools to support their impact can apply for funding through Innoweave.

However, please note that requests must not: 

  • Be made solely for the benefit of an individual, without a plan to apply the learnings to a specific organization. (See related requirement below). 
  • Be part of a general or capital fundraising campaign, for emergency financial needs, to reduce a capital or operating deficit, or to contribute to an endowment.  
  • Be for activities taking place outside of Canada.  
  • Involve partisan political activities or purely religious purposes. 

New Requirement 

Innoweave provides a team-based learning experience for individuals seeking coaching support. We now require 2-5 individuals from the same organization to engage in the coaching process together. These team members should be aware of the Innoweave application and understand the motivation behind seeking coaching. If you progress to the second phase of the application process, you’ll be asked to provide details about the individuals who will be joining you on this learning journey. 

Changes in Funding Structure  

In the 2024 funding round, you may apply for the following maximum amounts. Of these amounts, Innoweave will contribute up to a maximum of 75%. Participant organizations are responsible for the other 25%. * All financial support from Innoweave must be directed toward coaching costs.

Impact and Strategic Clarity  $20,000 over one year to develop an intended impact statement, Theory of Change, and action plan. 
Scaling Impact $15,000 over a year to develop a plan for scaling an already demonstrated impact.
Impact Measurement  $15,000 over one year to formulate and implement an impact measurement strategy. 
Developmental Evaluation  $20,000 over two years to clarify a complex change or implementation situation (this coaching stream is NOT about developing an evaluation framework for an organization). 
Social Enterprise  $15,000 over one year directed at either a feasibility study or developing a business plan. 
Policy Engagement  $15,000 over one year to narrow your strategy and navigate the system to achieve policy change. 
Collective Impact (Early support)   $20,000 over two years to clarify the core working group, the population level change objective, and the collective impact plan. 

*If the program cost is an obstacle to your participation, please get in touch so that we can explore options together. 

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2024 Intake Period

This year there will only be one intake round for Social Innovation Coaching Support. We will also be running capacity-strengthening pilot projects and engaging with our community to refine our offerings. We hope Innoweave can begin supporting other capacity-strengthening needs in the future.

Expression of Interest (stage 1)

Submission deadline 11:59pm PT on Friday, April 26

Request for support (stage 2)

Submission deadline 11:59pm PT on Friday, June 21

 

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Before You Apply

When determining if Innoweave is a good fit for you and your team, it’s essential to evaluate your needs and explore the resources available thoroughly. Here are some steps to help you: 

  • Our approaches: we recommend that you explore Innoweave.ca and learn about all the social innovation streams that we provide support for. 
  • Your selected stream: we recommend that you review our web page for the stream you are interested in and related resources, to familiarize yourself with this social innovation tool. You will find links to recorded information sessions*, a self-assessment tool, case studies, and many other helpful resources.
    * While the content on each coaching stream remains accurate, please be aware that only the deadlines for the April and June funding rounds are currently applicable and that the funding structure has changed (see above). 
  • FAQ sessions: we invite you to join our FAQ sessions to address any questions you may have. These sessions are designed to provide additional clarity beyond what is available on our website or in our Stream 101 recordings. As we are still in the process of updating our materials to reflect our transition to MakeWay, you may still come across references to McConnell Foundation. Please be aware that only the deadlines for the April and June funding rounds are currently applicable.

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How to Apply for Coaching Support

Innoweave uses a 2-stage application process. Below you will find an overview of the application process, including information on what to expect as you work through the platform. 

Register  

  • To begin, if you don’t already have an account, register yourself and your organization through the McConnell Foundation Fluxx Portal. 
  • Note: After submitting your request, please allow for 2-3 business days for our team to process your information. Once processed, you will receive an e-mail with a username and a link to create a password and can continue with your application. Thank you for your patience. 
  • While you are waiting for your registration to be processed, if you would like to see the application questions and begin to draft your responses (offline), you can view a copy of application transcripts (see below).

Stage 1: Expression of Interest 

  • This phase includes: Eligibility Confirmation, Readiness Assessment, Organization Details, Project Details 
  • Innoweave will review your Stage 1 submission and aims to follow-up with applicants within 2-3 weeks following the close of the Expression of Interest intake period. We may seek further details about your submission during or following this period. 

Stage 2: Request for Support 

  • Teams that have their Expression of Interest approved will be invited to complete Stage 2 of the application, a Request for Support. 
  • This phase includes: further details about your learning objectives, specific challenges and needs, project scope, participating team members, selected coach(s), and the funding amount you would like to request.
  • Innoweave will review submissions and aims to follow-up with applicants within 8 weeks following the Request for Support deadline. We may seek further details about your submission during or following this period. 

Notes 

  • We encourage all applications to be led or at least informed and reviewed by the staff person who will receive the coaching and lead the collective learning process. We are expecting that a dedicated team of 2-5 people from the applying organization will take part in the coaching process. These persons should know about the application to Innoweave and the motivation behind applying for coaching.  
  • You will be able to save your application without submitting, so you don’t need to complete it all at once. 
  • If you share your login information with colleagues and/or partners, note that they will be able to view and edit all the applications you have started that are open, and access any other details within your account. 
  • More information about our process can be found on our FAQ page.

Questions & Feedback 

If you need support at any time, please e-mail us at info@innoweave.ca. We also welcome your feedback and ideas to help us improve our processes.

 

To begin a new application, please register or log into the McConnell Foundation Fluxx Portal

 

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