Spruce Up Your Story FAQs

It only takes a couple of minutes to start your application using our new platform, Submittable! You will be prompted to sign up for a free Submittable account. Just enter your name, email, create a password, and that’s it! You will be sent a confirmation email and can then begin your application.

When it comes to filling out the submission, you can work on it at your own pace with the ability to now save it as a draft. After saving, you can revisit your application as many times as you like before submitting to make sure you don’t miss anything that could make your space stand out.

Yes! Just like signing up for Submittable, submitting your space is also free. We want to make Spruce Up Your Story accessible to community spaces of all sizes, regardless of budgets.

Funds are awarded based on merit and application and generally don’t exceed $25,000 per project, though some exceptions have occurred in past years.

Start collecting submission materials now. Take time to interview community members, find archived photos, or compile data that shows how much impact your space has on your community.

We accept almost any file type, so feel free to get creative with your submission. We want to see your photos, videos, slide shows and spreadsheets – anything that can help tell your communities story and show us why the space you’re nominating is special.

Absolutely! And please do. We don’t want you to miss anything that helps share what makes your space special. Once you save your application as a draft, you can log in to your account and adjust it at any point before you submit your application. And, if you’ve already submitted, but the deadline isn’t closed, feel free to email our team with any pieces you’ve uncovered post-submission and we can re-open it for you to edit.

Tell us a story. If you can show us why your space is the important by sharing stories and details about your community, you have our attention. Whether it’s a local that brought a space to life by showing up rain or shine, or a group that has come together to rally around your space, we want to hear about the people and moments that breathe life into these well-loved spaces.

If it’s important to your community and you have a plan – we want to hear about it. Even if you’ve already started your spruce up project, but just need the extra push to make it over the finish line, your space is eligible. As long as your space is located within Manitoba, Saskatchewan it will be considered.

A broker connection is not mandatory to be eligible for submission. However, if you do have a connection with one of our broker partners, have been working with them on the submission, or know of a Red River Mutual broker in your area who is involved in the community, we would love to know!

We will provide updates on our social media and through the Submittable platform throughout the submission open period. We usually announce the winners towards the end of June, but we will follow up with all the applicants regardless of if they have been awarded funding or not after the campaign has ended.

Our submission platform, Submittable, is available for technical support. They have a FAQ section for quick help and fixes,  and a fillable form for you to submit more specific questions.