Charitable partnerships

We support charities in the communities where we operate. Review our charitable partnership criteria and apply for support.

Sometimes a helping hand needs a helping hand

EPCOR helps non-profits and charities ensure youth in need have a chance at a better tomorrow. Whether it be through improving literacy, helping youth finish high school or inspiring the next generation of STEM professionals – all these things matter. We look for partnerships that offer sustained programming that can make a lasting difference.

Our 3 focus areas

We focus our support on three critical educational milestones that can mean the difference between poverty and prosperity.

Ready - Learning readiness and achieving early literacy milestones
Set - Staying in school and moving towards high school completion
Go - High school completion and pursuit of post-secondary education or other career-related pursuits

Our support model

With our charitable partnership program, we go beyond just cutting a cheque. We look for multi-year partnerships (up to three years) in the range of $30,000 to $50,000 per year and look for opportunities to mobilize our employees, facilities, and other resources unique to EPCOR. Our goal is to create a true partnership that has more impact on young lives and to bring profile to the work we are doing together.

The organization requesting funding should:

Be a federally-registered charitable organization (for at least 1 year).
Request support for a specific initiative.
Demonstrate the ability to successfully execute the initiative.
Demonstrate the ability to provide measurable outcomes of the initiative's success that align with our education focus.
Demonstrate the ability to work with us to cultivate a partnership and bring profile to the work we are doing together.

The initiative should:

Directly support at least one of our three education focus areas.
Take a root cause, sustainable approach.
Support a socially-vulnerable demographic.
Provide ongoing support to a consistent group of youth. For example: a program that reaches the same group every day or every week.
Be delivered within an EPCOR operating community.
Provide opportunities to engage EPCOR like employee volunteering or showcasing types of careers, etc.

Use of funds:

Funds must be applied only toward the approved initiative.
Funds must be applied within one year of being granted.
A report must be received prior to re-applying for a previously-funded program.
If re-applying for a previously-funded program, the application must be submitted no earlier than one year from the time the original funding was received.

The following organizations and/or activities aren't eligible to receive funding as charitable partners.

Organizations:

Organizations that are not federally-registered or have not been registered for at least 1 year
For-profit businesses
Advocacy or lobbying organizations
Fraternal organizations or commercial third-party fundraising organizations
Community/Family Foundations, Trusts or Funds

Activities:

Programs that only briefly interact with a group of youth. For example: a one-time half day program
Capital campaigns to build infrastructure or cover general operating costs
Events, including charity dinners, conferences and tournaments
Utility rebates
Advertising or promotional initiatives
Individual/team applicants or individual/team pursuits
Contingency or deficit funds
Research
Sports programs or tournaments
Health-related causes or conditions
Political or religious causes
Endowments or matching grants
Programs delivered outside EPCOR's operating communities
Retroactive funding for program expenses incurred prior to EPCOR's funding decision
In-kind donations
Scholarships or bursaries

You can submit your application anytime throughout the year. EPCOR reviews applications twice per year following our intake cut-off dates:
- March 15
- October 15
Applications for support of initiatives in our operating communities outside of Edmonton will be reviewed once per year following our October 15th intake deadline.
There are two parts to our application form: Stage 1 and Stage 2.
After you complete the Stage 1 form, we will conduct a preliminary review of your request. We may reach out to you to ask that you complete the Stage 2 section to provide greater detail and insight into your program.
We will reach out to you regarding the success of your application 2-4 weeks after our intake deadline date.
Due to the volume of requests we receive, we're unable to respond to telephone or email inquiries regarding the status of your request.