LETTER OF AGREEMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT

Transcription

1 LETTER OF AGREEMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF DISCRETIONARY GRANT LFO grant no.: Grant recipient: Grant period begins: Maximum total grant: Project title: Grant period ends: Date of Board approval: We are pleased to inform you that the Trustees of The Law Foundation of Ontario have approved a grant as described above. We look forward to supporting your initiative and wish you every success. A. Importance of this Letter This Letter of Agreement, together with your grant application in its approved form, set out the formal terms and conditions for your grant. In addition, this Letter contains important information to help you manage your grant successfully. Please sign two copies of this Letter, retain one for your records, and return the second to us within 90 days of the date of this Letter. Should you have any questions, or if you need further information about the Foundation's policies and procedures, do not hesitate to contact your Grants Officer. 1

2 B. Using the grant funds i. You are responsible for ensuring that grant funds are used only for the purpose(s) approved by the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. The approved purpose(s) is as set out in your funding application, including your budget and including any amendments made up to the time the Foundation approved your request. ii. If you think that the project activities or budget need to be changed significantly during the course of the grant period, you must contact your grants officer in writing ( is fine) to request prior approval; your request must describe the change needed and the reason(s). In some instances, your desired change may require prior approval from the Foundation s Board. iii. In particular, any compensation paid to individuals (e.g. salaries, stipends, honoraria, etc.) must be paid strictly in accordance with the budget that the Foundation approved. You must consult your grants officer before making any changes to compensationrelated budget lines. iv. If you need to extend the end date of the grant, you must advise your grants officer in writing at least 30 days before the scheduled end date for the grant. v. We must approve significant changes in writing before you implement them. vi. Grant funds cannot be used for expenses incurred before the start of the Grant Period, unless we have approved an exception in writing. vii. We will pay only for expenses actually incurred. If, at the end of the grant, you have spent less than we have paid you, you must return the extra funds to us when you submit your final report. viii. If we have approved funding for capital acquisitions (e.g. equipment purchases), we reserve the right to take title to those assets. ix. Your project lead or delegate must view the Grantee Orientation webinar before we will release the first payment. x. You must contact your grants officer immediately to advise of any change in key personnel responsible for this project. C. Payment schedule i. We pay grants in advance and in instalments. Wherever feasible, we will structure the timing and amounts of the payment schedule to coincide with your project s milestones. The payment schedule is attached to and forms part of this Agreement. ii. We generally hold back at least 10% of the grant amount until the completion of the grant, and will release it on receipt of a satisfactory final report. iii. We will release the first instalment upon timely receipt of the executed Letter of Agreement, upon meeting any special conditions that may be tied to the first instalment, and in accordance with the attached Payment Schedule. iv. We will release subsequent payments only upon receipt of reporting that we consider to be satisfactory. v. If changes to the payment schedule are required during the term of this Agreement, you must contact your grants officer in writing with the requested change and an accompanying explanation. 2

3 D. Reports i. You are responsible for submitting reports in accordance with the attached Payment Schedule. ii. Financial reports must show budget-to-actual figures, and must be itemized in the same way as shown in your approved grant application (or in a revised format that we have approved after the start of the grant period). iii. Financial reports do not need to include back-up documentation (e.g. receipts, invoices, etc.). However, you are responsible for maintaining adequate support records and providing all back-up documentation if we ask for it. iv. Interim narrative reports must contain a description of the progress made towards achieving the goal(s) of the grant and assurance that the work has been conducted in conformity with the terms of this Letter. Final narrative reports must describe what was accomplished by the entire grant, including reference to the original proposal. Before preparing financial or narrative reports, review the Foundation s Reporting Guidelines posted on its website. v. Unless otherwise specified in the Payment Schedule, all reports (both interim and final) must include both activity and financial information. vi. Grantees shall consult with staff before beginning work on their project to determine which of the Foundation s quantitative measures to report on and the final report must include the required quantitative measures. vii. If the status of your organization changes you must notify your grants officer in writing. A change of status includes, but is not limited to, a change in charitable registration or tax-exempt status, a winding-up of your organization s existence, a merger or a similar corporate re-organization, and bankruptcy or insolvency. E. Acknowledgements and disclaimers i. You must include appropriate acknowledgement of the Foundation s support in all materials, of any format or medium, created under this grant in compliance with the Acknowledgment Guidelines found on the Foundation s website. ii. All products must include, where practical, the following disclaimer: While financially supported by The Law Foundation of Ontario, the [name of author or organization] is solely responsible for all content. If you have any questions regarding the practicality of this requirement, contact your grants officer to discuss. iii. Where a Foundation grant is used to support an event (workshop, conference, symposium, etc.), acknowledgement should be included in all registration and program materials. We may also loan a sponsor poster for you to put on display (we will pay the cost of delivering the poster to you and returning it to our office). F. Automatic copyright permission You own the intellectual property of materials produced with this grant, and may copyright those materials. If you decide to exercise copyright, we reserve the right to use these materials without payment or royalties. You are responsible for notifying any potential commercial publisher of this right. 3

4 G. Compliance with applicable legislation i. You are responsible for ensuring compliance with applicable legislation (federal, provincial, municipal). Legislated obligations include, but are not limited to, employment and workplace safety requirements, human rights, records retention, taxes, and privacy. ii. If you breach a legal obligation while carrying out activities funded by this grant, we reserve the right to cancel this grant. Cancellation may include a requirement to refund some or all payments made, at our sole discretion. H. Audits or evaluations i. In the event that we decide to conduct a financial audit, which will always be at our sole expense, you agree to cooperate in every respect by providing timely access to information to us or our agent. ii. We reserve the right to require a financial audit at any time before or after the grant end date. iii. From time to time, the Foundation conducts evaluations to assess the effectiveness of its granting programs or specific grants. We may ask you to participate in an evaluation before or after the end date of your grant. If you agree to participate, we will cover all costs associated with the evaluation. I. Cancellation We may cancel this grant if: i. You do not execute and return this Letter to the Foundation within 90 days of the date on this Letter, ii. If we are not satisfied that sufficient progress is being made on the funded project, iii. We deem you to have abandoned the project because you have not responded within 60 days to our written request for an update, iv. You have breached this Agreement to such an extent that we deem cancellation to be necessary and appropriate, or v. You have a change of status in the absence of specific written agreement to the contrary. If we cancel this grant, we may require you to refund some or all funds paid to you by the date of the cancellation. You may cancel this grant by notifying us in writing; the notification must be submitted by an authorized representative of the grantee. Your notice of cancellation must include: i. The effective date of the cancellation and reason(s) for the cancellation, ii. An updated financial report as of the effective date of the cancellation, iii. An updated activity report describing work completed, and iv. Refund of any unspent funds we have already paid to you. 4

5 J. Consequences of non-compliance Where we deem you to have breached a term of this Agreement, we may, at our sole discretion: i. Withhold or reduce funding for this grant, or require repayment to the Foundation, ii. Cancel the grant, iii. Conduct an audit of your finances, or iv. Any combination of the above. We will always give you a reasonable opportunity to explain issues and to rectify problems before we take any action that could negatively affect your financial situation. K. Other conditions The following additional conditions apply to this grant: L. Signing grant Agreement Two copies of this Letter must be signed by one of your duly authorized signing officers, signifying your agreement with these terms and conditions. One signed copy must be kept in your records; return the second to the Foundation within 90 days. THE LAW FOUNDATION OF ONTARIO ACCEPTANCE BY GRANT RECIPIENT On behalf of the Grantee, I hereby accept and agree to the terms of the grant as set forth in the above letter. I am a duly authorized signing officer of the Grantee. By Date Print name Title 5