FAQs

We understand that potential applicants and people wanting to learn more about us may have questions, which is why we’ve compiled a list covering the most common ones.

You’ll find information on what we do, how we work, investment criteria, supports, and more.

Select a topic below to get started.

About Northpine

Before you apply

Submitting an application

After you apply

About the Northpine Foundation and what we do

What does the Northpine Foundation do?

The Northpine Foundation uses a venture philanthropy approach to invest in underserved and underinvested communities across Canada. Our mission is to catalyze scalable impact for these communities.

We provide tailored financing and non-financial supports to organizations across sectors and solutions to support ventures that, if successful, have the potential to sustain and scale catalytic outcomes for our communities.

Our measure of success is to fund initiatives that produce significantly improved outcomes for underserved or underinvested populations and continue to scale after our involvement. Sometimes that scaling of those outcomes could be through more funding to provide services, policy or process change, changes in broader society – whatever is best suited to ensure the trajectory of those positive outcomes continues to improve.

We invest in organizations to open up opportunities to significantly improve outcomes that would not have been available before our investment and work to ensure those improvements continue on their trajectory.

What is venture philanthropy? How is it different from traditional philanthropy?

Traditional philanthropy typically provides grants and donations to achieve social impact. In contrast, venture philanthropy offers diverse financial resources and non-financial supports fitting the aims of social impact organizations to catalyze continuous positive social outcomes.

A venture is an effort to significantly improve the most meaningful outcome for the community, given their respective context.

Northpine’s venture philanthropy approach is not limited to specific sectors. We focus on ventures that sustain and scale these meaningful outcomes, whether charities, nonprofits, cooperatives, or for-profit organizations achieve them. Like business investors, we provide financial support, knowledge, and relationships to actively assist organizations in reaching their goals.

What does scalable impact mean?

Scalable impact refers to the capacity of a venture to find ways to expand its positive outcomes. This expansion could be growing the scope and influence of your efforts to make a broader impact (reaching more people or communities) or a more significant positive difference (improving the outcomes for the population you already serve).

Scaling does not necessarily mean building bigger programs and organizations. It could mean changes in policy, markets, processes, or social behaviours, ultimately reducing the work of the organization leading the effort.

Consider a program aimed at improving literacy rates among children in underserved communities. The program may start with a small group of students, helping them develop reading skills.

As the program proves successful, it can scale by broadening its impact to reach more students — training more tutors and setting up the program in more schools and community centres.

The program might also scale by deepening its impact through implementing a more comprehensive curriculum, providing more intensive support, and working with the children longer, helping them build the necessary skills for lifelong success.

Both scenarios are examples of scalable impact.

What types of organizations does the Northpine Foundation invest in? Can for-profit ventures receive funding from your foundation?

We support various organizations, including charities, nonprofits, social enterprises, for-profit private companies, cooperatives, and venture capital funds. We fund and invest in ventures with missions that align with our focus areas.

What are your current focus areas for investment?

To invest in the most underserved and underinvested areas in Canada, we have chosen five specific focus areas to start with where we believe our investments can make a significant impact. 

  • Formerly Incarcerated Persons during their first three years of reintegration, or planning to scale to serve Formerly Incarcerated Persons during their first three years of reintegration 
  • Adult Refugees in Canada during their first three years of arrival, or planning to scale your impact to adult refugees in Canada during their first three years of arrival
  • Solving socio-economic challenges in Rural Newfoundland & Labrador, or a proof of concept, successful elsewhere, that you can scale to Rural Newfoundland & Labrador 
  • Solving socio-economic challenges in Scarborough, or a proof of concept, successful elsewhere, that you can scale to Scarborough 
  • Climate & Nature: scalable solutions within local food systems that aim to mitigate the climate impacts associated with food production, distribution, and consumption.

While we may expand our priorities in the future, if your proposed venture aligns differently from one or more of these focus areas, we currently cannot invest in your initiative. Stay tuned for tools that can hopefully help you find mission-aligned funders!

Before you apply

What types of organizations does the Northpine Foundation invest in? Can for-profit ventures receive funding from your foundation?

We support various organizations, including charities, nonprofits, social enterprises, for-profit private companies, cooperatives, and venture capital funds. We invest in ventures with missions that align with our focus areas.

What are your current focus areas for investment?

To invest in the most underserved and underinvested areas in Canada, we have chosen five specific focus areas to start with where we believe our investments can make a significant impact. 

  • Formerly Incarcerated Persons during their first three years of reintegration, or planning to scale to serve Formerly Incarcerated Persons during their first three years of reintegration 
  • Adult Refugees in Canada during their first three years of arrival, or planning to scale your impact to adult refugees in Canada during their first three years of arrival
  • Solving socio-economic challenges in Rural Newfoundland & Labrador, or a proof of concept, successful elsewhere, that you can scale to Rural Newfoundland & Labrador 
  • Solving socio-economic challenges in Scarborough, or a proof of concept, successful elsewhere, that you can scale to Scarborough
  • Climate & Nature: scalable solutions within local food systems that aim to mitigate the climate impacts associated with food production, distribution, and consumption.

    While we may expand our priorities in the future, if your proposed venture aligns differently from one or more of these focus areas, we currently cannot invest in your initiative. Stay tuned for tools that can hopefully help you find mission-aligned funders!

    Are there any geographical restrictions for applicants? Would you fund a Canadian organization doing international development? Would you support an organization outside of Canada doing work in Canada?

    We welcome applications worldwide if your venture aims to produce meaningful outcomes for our focus communities within Canada.

    Can I apply for funding if my organization is in the initial stages of development?

    Yes, we support organizations at various stages of development, including early-stage ventures with aligned focus areas and promising scalable social impact potential.

    What criteria do you use to select organizations for investment?

    When our Impact Directors evaluate ventures for investment, they look at four key factors:

    • The most meaningful outcome for the target population in their respective context
    • Opportunity to catalyze significant improvement in the outcomes
    • Sustainability of the outcomes after our funding ends
    • Scalability of the outcomes by either breadth, depth or both after our funding ends

    We also learn about the venture leadership, in particular their purpose, people and practice to be successful to serve our communities.

    When our Impact Directors evaluate ventures for investment, they collaborate closely with you to assess several factors. The primary focus is on determining if your venture aligns with our focus areas and has promising potential for scalable impact.

    Another important consideration is whether the investment could be catalytic for your organization, sparking a broader transformation and attracting additional investments and resources — a ripple effect extends the impact beyond the initial scope.

    They also assess the organization’s leadership, the potential for the venture to achieve sustainability, and the value Northpine might add through financial and non-financial supports.

    What does "sustainability and scalability" of my venture mean?

    The sustainability of a venture refers to its ability to continue to achieve positive social impact while maintaining financial stability. The initiative can continue delivering impact even after the initial support ends.

    Before investing, we work with investees to assess a clear exit strategy for Northpine, where our goal is to scale their impact beyond our involvement. This strategy can include securing social or financial capital from scale-out partners who will support their ventures to achieve continued outcomes and impact without setbacks, interruption or weakening once Northpine exits.

    Scale-out partners are strategic organizations whose ventures collaborate to expand the impact of the investments. They could be other philanthropic foundations, government agencies, corporations, community organizations or nonprofit organizations that share our mission and can help scale the reach and effectiveness of the venture.

    What kind of funding do you offer? How much funding does your foundation typically provide? What is the duration?

    Northpine offers tailored financing options, including donations, grants, debt, equity, a combination of these, and non-financial resources through knowledge and relationships to support ventures. The funding type and non-financial assistance depend on the organization’s needs and its potential for impact.

    Funding typically is $200K-$1M over two to three years, but amounts vary depending on the organization’s needs and our assessment of the outcome’s catalytic sustainability and scalability potential.

    Are there any restrictions on how the funding can be used?

    We expect organizations to use the funding in line with the ventures objectives for sustainable and scalable catalytic outcomes. We understand that this is done over time and requires flexibility, so we work with organizations to determine a tailored financing structure to meet the venture’s milestones.

    Can organizations receive funding for multiple ventures?

    We consider funding an organization for multiple projects or initiatives if they align with our investment criteria.

    You can share each venture idea as a separate submission with us.

    Can I contact you for guidance before applying?

    We encourage organizations to familiarize themselves with our focus areas and the information on our website, including these FAQs.

    Unlike traditional application forms, our process involves a simple questionnaire that helps our Impact Directors better prepare for a conversation with you. Due to the high volume of ideas and inquiries, we kindly request that you complete the questionnaire before we can respond to requests to discuss your project.

    For questions about using the intake platform, please contact Submittable support here.

    The application process

    How does the intake/application process work?

    We have a user-friendly platform where you can share your venture idea and start a conversation with us. Our process involves a simple questionnaire to help our Impact Directors and the team better understand your vision.

    This questionnaire is not a conventional application form but a tool for us to be better prepared for a conversation with you.

    Our goal is to reach out to everyone who fits eligibility within our focus areas who completes the questionnaire and arrange a meeting with the relevant Impact Director within a few weeks. Once we evaluate the potential alignment, the Northpine team will continue discussions with you and your team to understand your financial and non-financial needs to co-design a venture that will maximize the outcomes for our communities.

    Is there a specific timeline for submitting a venture idea?

    We have an ongoing intake process for receiving your venture ideas. However, there may be occasional temporary closures to review the ideas we receive, ensuring fairness and adequate attention from our Impact Directors.

    We will make announcements on our website, social media channels, and through email updates to inform you of any temporary closure periods.

    Can I contact you for guidance before applying?

    We encourage organizations to familiarize themselves with our focus areas and the information on our website, including these FAQs.

    Unlike traditional application forms, our process involves a simple questionnaire that helps our Impact Directors better prepare for a conversation with you. Due to the high volume of ideas and inquiries, we kindly request that you complete the questionnaire before we can respond to requests to discuss your project.

    For questions about using the intake platform, please contact Submittable support here.

    After you share your idea with us

    How can I track the progress of my idea/application?

    Once you submit your venture idea through our Submittable platform, it will be saved in your secure account. You will use this account for all future collaborations with Northpine.

    Upon submission, you will receive an acknowledgment email, and the relevant Impact Director will contact you with updates or to schedule an initial meeting. They will be your main point of contact and will provide you with any necessary updates as you collaborate on co-designing your venture.

    How long does the due diligence and co-design process typically take?

    The duration of the due diligence process can vary depending on the volume of ideas received. We aim to provide timely updates as we thoroughly evaluate each idea. However, it may take several weeks before an Impact Director contacts you with updates or next steps.

    When collaborating with potential investee organizations, we aim to complete the venture co-design process within eight weeks. However, the timeline can vary depending on the specific initiative.

    If my idea is not initially successful, can I reapply?

    We encourage organizations to reach out with new, better-aligned ventures or rework previously shared ideas after making improvements based on their learnings or feedback received.

    What are the impact measurement and reporting requirements for investee organizations?

    When we invest in organizations, we build relationships with them as we are on a shared mission for our communities. We work together to develop measures that:

    • keep us all accountable for meaningful outcomes for our communities
    • help us continuously learn how to serve our communities better through the venture
    • track sustainability and scalability effectively
    • convey success to potential scale-out partners who will provide supports after the Northpine Foundation exits

    Do you provide support beyond the investment period?

    When we invest in a venture, we are building relationships.

    Even though there will come a time when we will not be your “funders”, we work to build our community of exceptional leaders and continue to support and celebrate each other.

    Ready to share your venture idea with us? Click below and get started.

    Ventures ↠

    Introduce us to your venture here

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