Financing FAQs

CFF invests in the charitable and non-profit sector in the form of loans. We lend to small- and medium- sized organizations that are established and committed to serving their communities.

CFF was designed to provide innovative financing for non-profits and charities in any sector in Canada.  CFF will not provide financing to non-profits and charities that are governed by the laws of the United States or other countries or who derive majority their revenues from or whose primary community impact/work is outside of Canada.

Typically, CFF will finance organizations with at least 1-2 years of operating experience and financial results. However, in special cases CFF will consider start-up loans. In such cases CFF will look for a combination of strong management and board experience, significant organizational sponsorship, commitments from individuals, governments, foundations or other organizations, and a comprehensive business model including market assessments and projections.

Please see our Products page here.

CFF provides loans and other debt to non-profits and charities – which can be for a variety of purposes including capital acquisition or improvements, bridge financing, enterprise development and working capital. CFF has the flexibility to structure loans to meet the cash flow requirements of non-profits or charities – for example loans with a period of interest only payments, graduated interest payments, deferred payments, revenue-based payments, and long-term amortization periods.

CFF provides loans from $50,000 to $1,250,000. On an exceptional basis, CFF may consider loans in smaller amounts than the $50,000 limit. As the investment fund grows the upper limit for investments may rise.

30 – 60 days from application to disbursement depending on the complexity of the loan and whether all the information required to review the application is available. On an exceptional basis and where the applicant has the required information ready, an application can be processed in a shorter period.

CFF has a two-part application process and fee. Before even applying we invite non-profits and charities to speak to our team first about the requested financing to understand if there could be a fit before an application is completed and fees are paid. The fee is split into 2 pieces: (i)$250 for the initial review and (ii) $750 once the initial review has been completed and CFF believes there is enough information to proceed to the 2^nd phase of the application process and review. Both fees are non-refundable.

As a first step, please fill out our self-assessment here or contact us here. We prefer to speak with prospective applicants first to understand your requirements and to determine if there could be a fit for our financing and what form of financing best suits your needs. If there is a potential fit, we will then invite you to complete part 1 of the application.

A copy of part 1 of the application form can be found here, including information that will be requested. In part 1 of the application, we request information about your needs, the organization’s finances (historical financial statements, projections, etc.) as well as information about the board of directors and management team.

Once we have reviewed part 1 of the application, we will notify you and advise if we believe there is enough information to proceed to the 2^nd phase of the application process and review. If that is the case, we will invite you to complete part 2 of the application.

Once an application to CFF is received, we get in touch with the applicant and start the review of the information provided, get an understanding of the investment requirements, and assess the business plan, finances, organizational strengths, risks and other pertinent factors. We may conduct a site visit to the non-profit or charity and interview key people as part of this process.

The application is then brought forward to an investment committee for consideration. This committee reviews the investment recommendation prepared by staff of CFF.

An applicant will work with an experienced CFF team member with specific knowledge on how non-profits and charities differ from other business models. CFF has two dedicated finance experts that will review your proposal, as well as a manager that can assist in this process based on your non-profit or charity’s location.

You can see some of the organizations that CFF has financed on our Financing Examples page here.