Hi Project Directors,

I hope you all had good weekends and were able to find some non-work downtime. Today’s update is short(ish) and sweet, and contains some exciting news about the Tides Canada re-brand and name change!

• Brand Launch: We have now confirmed some key dates for the brand launch, ready to share with you:
  • April 30 (approx.): Updated invitations with event details will be sent
  • May 12 (approx.): Implementation package with logo files and messaging will be shared with projects
  • Thursday, June 4: Online launch events (by invite)
  • THURSDAY JUNE 11: Public re-brand campaign launch (new website, emails, social media, media, updates to project websites/social media)

NOTE: Given the covid-19 context, our intention is to complete this change with minimal pressure on projects as we all deal with other priority issues. There are many, many pieces to this launch and we are not aiming for a perfect ‘flip the switch’; it will be more of a cascade. For example, projects will notice that many of our IS systems and touchpoints, including email addresses, will be updated weeks post-public launch while some items like legal contracts will be updated with our new name once it has been legally changed. We’ll share more information with you around timelines for projects in the next couple of weeks, and please reach out if you have questions or concerns.

• $350M emergency fund for charities and community groups – Many of you will have already read about this exciting new fund announced by the Federal Government last week for charities, non-profits and community groups. Funds will be delivered via United Way Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and the Community Foundations of Canada (details TBC) and will focus on supports for vulnerable people during COVID-19. This is great news for those of you who are doing front-line adjacent work and we’ll share application information with you as soon as we have it. We also know that this fund doesn’t solve the gap in support for members of the charitable sector that are not positioned to provide this kind of support, but are still going to be severely impacted by the economic consequences of the pandemic. TCI continues to endorse and share Imagine Canada’s national advocacy efforts for a sector stabilization fund, and to review all other Federal announcements for other opportunities to support projects.

• Temporary Wage Subsidy: Thank you to those projects who reached out to the People & Culture team about potential layoffs/reduction in hours. We’re doing some final calculations over the next couple of days over how to distribute the $25k in income tax deductions and will be making allocations to projects by the end of the week. I’ll send out an update once we have amounts confirmed.

• Rapid Response Fund for Changemakers: I’m pleased to share that we have already received six project applications since the fund opened on Thursday. The review committee will be meeting on Wednesday April 29 to make the first granting decisions, and I will reach out to all projects who have applied within 24 hours of the decision. All granting decisions will then be shared with all projects alongside application information on the Rapid Response Fund page of the COVID-19 Manual.

• COVID-19 Manual Updates: The Shared Platform team conducted a review of the COVID-19 manual last week and have updated information about health guidance, Federal and provincial government programs, Tides Canada’s response and external resources. You can also review these weekly update emails in one place if you need to look back at anything.

As always, if there’s anything you’d like to see on our COVID-19 manual, or other support that we can provide during this time, please let me know. Also, please keep an eye on your inboxes for the next edition of Common Thread coming at the end of this week with some non-COVID-related updates from the Shared Platform team, including results from the recent Project Satisfaction Survey.

Very best wishes,

Lizzie