The Elevator Project is a platform to:
- Share your ideas on how to make the Guelph better place to live, work and play
- Get the support and guidance you need to turn your ideas into ‘Great’ project proposals
- Match you with ‘Investors’ who support community benefit projects like yours
- Celebrate the incredible contributions of our partners, volunteers, Idea Makers, and Investors
This is our fourth year of bringing great ideas to life. That means we not only have new faces with fresh ideas, but we also have retuning imagineers from past rounds of the Elevator Project who are excited to keep their ideas rolling. Whether your idea is big or small, we have the support you need to make your idea happen.
How to Apply to The Elevator Project
So you’ve heard about this Elevator Project thing and you have an idea to make Guelph great. Welcome! By joining our league of Idea Makers, you are saying you want to improve the quality of life for all in Guelph. The Elevator Project is here to help you make the changes you want to see happen. So what now?
- Come out to one of our Idea Lab events. Idea Labs are drop in sessions designed just for you. Chat one-on-one with an Elevator Project representative about your idea. Learn more about The Elevator Project Process. You can find out more about the Idea Labs on our events page.
- Submit an Expression of Interest by March 3rd, 2017 at 5pm. Fill out the quick form and tell us a little about your idea. You will also have the opportunity to opt in for our brand new mentorship program. Mentors will be available for select projects this round to help you build out your idea and complete your full project proposal. Don’t need help? That’s okay too. The Expression of Interest is fast and easy – we promise!
- For those approved for the mentorship program, you will work with your mentor in March and April.
- Submit your full project proposal by May 3, 2017 at 5pm.
- Participate in our Hall of Ideas event on May 10th, 2017. During this event you will get to connect with other Idea Makers and meet potential investors. Participating projects will also get the opportunity to engage in our peer review process.
- Our Community Panel will review your project proposal and make funding recommendations in early May 2017.
- Our Community Animator will be working during all of this to collect “investments” such as volunteer time, skills, materials and funds from the community and then match them with the projects like yours in our Idea Bank.
- Celebrate! At the end of the round (June 14th) we get together for an event called The Big Show where we celebrate all of our ideas and investors. It is at this event that we will announce which projects will be receiving what types of investment.
For project updates and more information, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook and stay tuned to our blog.
