2013
Community Grants
Eligibility & Grant Levels
A Community Grant application must meet eligibility criteria in three areas:
· The main applicant must be an IBM employee or retiree (or team of employees and / or retirees) who has demonstrated sustained volunteer activity and registered on the On Demand Community (ODC) site. To register on ODC for employees see link: https://w3-01.ibm.com/ibm/ondemandcommunity/home.wss and for retirees see link: https://www-01.ibm.com/ibm/ondemandcommunity/home/index.jsp
· The proposed recipient organisation must be a charity registered in the UK or a UK school. Unfortunately, not for profit organisations not registered with the Charities Commission / Scottish Charities Commission are not eligible for an IBM Community Grant.
· The grant must be for a specific project or activity – grants cannot be given for general operational costs
Applicants
To qualify applicants must meet the following basic criteria:
· Be a regular full-time or part-time IBM employee or an IBM retiree (in receipt of an IBM pension). Employees approved for Leave of Absence or Disability programmes and who are eligible for IBM benefits also qualify.
· Team applications for 10+ volunteers must include a minimum of 50% eligible IBM employees and/or retirees – the other 50% volunteers may be clients, friends, family members, others
· Each IBM employee / retiree referenced on the grant application must have logged their volunteer hours on the ODC site.
For employees see link:
https://w3-01.ibm.com/ibm/ondemandcommunity/home.wss and click on ‘Track Hours’ on the menu on the left hand side.
For retirees see link:
https://www-01.ibm.com/ibm/ondemandcommunity/home/index.jsp and click on ‘Sign In’ or ‘Register’ if you’ve not previously done so and go to ‘Track Hours’ on the menu on the left hand side.
· Certain applications for a grant must have a corresponding ‘event’ registered on the ‘Volunteer Activity Management (VAM) database on the ODC site. However, this requirement does not apply to retirees. Please see the applicable grant levels and requirements table below.
To register an event on ODC please follow the below instructions/links:
For employees see link:
https://w3-03.ibm.com/communityrelations/volunteer/ccrvol.nsf/WSL?OpenForm and click on ‘Propose an Activity’ under ‘Useful Links’.
· A regular employee or retiree is eligible to apply for one grant per calendar year and / or to be cited as a volunteer team member in up to two grant applications, as follows:
1 individual or team grant as the main applicant and 1 team grant as a team participant
2 team grants as a participant
Organisations
To qualify, an organisation must be one of the following:
· A UK registered charity that offers assistance in areas such as education, the environment, arts / cultural activities, health and human services etc.
· An educational institution inc. preschools or nurseries, primary or secondary schools, colleges and universities. Institutions must be not-for-profit, state or public. Private sector institutions are NOT eligible to receive grants.
· The organisation must not advocate, support, or practice activities inconsistent with IBM’s non-discrimination policies, whether based on race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability or age etc.
· Ineligible organisations include any engaged in party political activity and lobbying, private sector / profit-making agencies, faith based institutions (except in the case of non religious activities delivered by faith based organisations that are accessible and delivered to the whole community e.g. soup kitchens may be supported), employee service organisations (e.g. IBM Clubs), government agencies supported by tax revenues, and ones whose purpose is athletics or recreation. IBM reserves the right to determine which organisations are eligible for grants.
· An organisation may only receive ONE IBM Community Grant in any 12 month period, regardless of the numbers of IBM volunteers involved. Please be aware that if an organisation has received a community grant as the result of another volunteer successfully nominating them they cannot receive a second grant. However individual, local, branches of national organisations may each receive a grant.
Organisations that have received Community Grants previously include (this is not an exhaustive list):
· Schools providing compulsory education
· Preschools / nurseries / childcare centres
· Youth organisations
· Adult and youth literacy programmes
· Job training programmes
· Community and family service agencies
· Museums and other cultural organisations
· Libraries
· Public hospitals
· Substance abuse programmes
· Organisations aiding the elderly
· Organisations providing services for people with disabilities
Projects
Grant applications must be for a specific project or activity in the applicants local community Examples of eligible projects include:
· Transition-to-work programmes (career development)
· Implementing a technology planning solution for a community organisation
· Creating and distributing educational materials to combat drug abuse
· After-school programmes
· Preparing and serving meals in a homeless shelter
· Support for a volunteer service organisation e.g. fire / 1st Aid / mountain rescue
· Computer literacy
· Reading / language skills
· Mathematics / science
· Student assessment programmes
· Curriculum development programmes
· Mentoring a student during the school year
· Youth work projects
· Developing environmental activities and educational materials for schoolchildren
· Ongoing classroom / teacher support in the use of technology in a preschool / nursery
The Community Grants programme emphasises, but is not limited to, participation in and projects supporting IBM’s key Citizenship programmes, including On Demand Community, MentorPlace, Reading Companion, TryScience, KidSmart Early Learning Programme, CityForward etc.
Use of an On Demand Community Activity Kit is not mandatory but will significantly increase the grant value. Approved Activity Kits can be found on the On Demand Community site.
See link: http://www.ibm.com/ibm/responsibility/initiatives/activitykits/
The term Activity Kit replaced the term ‘Solution’. Some Solutions were not converted in to an Activity Kit and are not eligible to qualify for the higher amount grants, these include:
* Becoming a volunteer
* Introduction to not-for-profits for volunteers
* Becoming an effective not-for-profit board member
* Introduction to volunteering in schools
* Volunteering with students with disabilities
* Introduction to the University Environment
* Introduction to Internet Safety
Ineligible projects and expenses include:
· Major capital improvements (land purchase, building construction, major building modifications, etc.)
· Operating expenses (salaries, office supplies, utility bills, etc.)
· Athletic or recreational activities (camping, sports, etc.)
· Projects, such as trips or scholarships, that benefit individuals
· Third-party donations
· Internet hosting
· Auctions, raffles, or fundraising initiatives (e.g. walk-a-thons)
GRANT LEVELS & CORE CRITERIA
Individual - Min. 40 Hrs volunteering - No ODC Activity Kit / Solution used:
- £325
Individual - Min. 40 Hrs volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used:
– £1000 or 1 Young Explorer unit
Individual - Min. 100 Hrs volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
- £2000 or 2 Young Explorer units
3 Person Team - Min 100 Hrs collective volunteering - No ODC Activity Kit / Solution used:
- £325
3 Person Team - Min 100 Hrs collective volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
- £1000 or 1 Young Explorer unit
3 Person Team - Min 200 Hrs collective volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
– £2000 or 2 Young Explorer units
10 Person Team – No Min Hrs volunteering - No ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
– £325
10 Person Team - No Min Hrs volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
– £1000 or 1 Young Explorer units
25 Person Team – No Min Hrs volunteering - ODC Activity Kit / Solution used and the corresponding volunteering event must be posted on the Volunteer Activity Management database on the ODC site:
- £2000 or 2 Young Explorer units
Please note: the supply of Young Explorer (KidSmart) units is subject to availability. IBM reserves the right to substitute cash for equipment.
Advice on the Community Grants Programme is available from UK CC&CA:
Hollie Sherry, Community Programmes Co-ordinator
E-mail: Phone: 3743 3217 / 020 7202 3217
Mark Wakefield, Corporate Citizenship & Corporate Affairs Manager
E-mail: Phone: 3743 3608 / 020 7202 3608