Deadline: 21 June 2018

The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF) in cooperation with its partners is seeking applications for its Developing the Next Generation of Conservationists 2018 program, which is an innovative initiative to connect youth to the outdoors by providing financial support for conservation education and employment programs.

This Request for Proposals (RFP) brings together public and private partners to support organizations developing innovative educational opportunities and job experiences for youth and young adults. It encourage and support young people, particularly urban, tribal and minority youth, to engage with the natural world and discover career opportunities available in conservation.

Funding Information

• In 2018, approximately $950,000 will be available for matching grants nationwide.
• The program expects to fund Category 1 projects between $100,000 and $150,000 with an average of $125,000.
• For Category 2 projects, awards will range from $30,000 to $100,000 with an average of $50,000.

Programme Priorities

• Category 1: Conservation Stewards
  • Projects should be between one and 30 months in duration and include necessary planning as well as execution of the plan.
  • Successful applications will integrate formal education and informal conservation experiences through a program that includes measurement of planned outcomes.
  • Applicants should identify immediate outcomes achieved over the duration of the grant and planned longer term conservation impacts.
  • Priority for grants will be given to projects that successfully achieve the following objectives and engage multiple groups of students at different ages and highest priority will be given to a project working with a cohort of students over the life of the grant:
    • Mobilize a coalition of at least five community partners to support educational and conservation outcomes;
    • Develop and/or implement appropriate training modules, lesson plans and other engagement for preK-12th grade teachers focused on environmental literacy and stewardship of local resources;
    • Integrate Place-Based Learning into teacher training and student learning by focusing educational activities on local natural resources with community partners;
    • Promote opportunities for students to engage in age appropriate stewardship behaviors that reinforce environmental literacy efforts:
      • Nature Discovery (K-2nd grade): In the early years, providing experiences for children to go outside to discover nature, engagement for these students should include investigation and discovery, unstructured outdoor play and age-appropriate in-class lessons on the natural world.
      • Nature Exploration (3rd to 7th grade): During the elementary school years, exploring nature that offer hands-on experiences with topics such as water, wildlife, ecosystem connections and in-class lessons on the natural world including wildlife and their habitats.
      • Nature Service (8th to 12th grade): The middle and high school years offer young people stewardship activities and service learning with projects that monitor and test water quality, tracking wildlife migrations and exploring fields of study related to conservation and ecosystem management.
  • Incorporate repeated engagement opportunities for students to have multiple opportunities throughout their educational career to engage in environmental literacy and stewardship activities in and out of the classroom;
  • Partnership building with diverse entities including state and local agencies, urban organizations, tribes, non-profits, corporations and foundations that leverage federal dollars awarded with non-federal contributions to the project;
  • Tracking and measuring participant outcomes through teacher and student engagement and through follow up with participants to measure long term impacts.
• Category 2: Conservation Corps
  • Projects should have a duration of up to 24 months and include on-the-ground restoration outcomes as well as outcomes for the number of young adults hired.
  • Priority for grants will be given to projects that successfully achieve the following objectives:
    • Innovative full-time or part-time conservation job opportunities (minimum 80 hours per youth or young veterans*) that include conservation education opportunity, with particular emphasis on serving urban and minority youth;
    • Hands-on implementation of impactful, measurable, cost-effective on-the-ground restoration, stewardship and monitoring to benefit BLM or USFS lands and adjacent areas, facilities and programs directly benefiting the agency’s mission and/or NFWF business plan goals;
    • Partnership building with diverse entities including state and local agencies, urban organizations, tribes, non-profits, corporations and foundations that leverage federal dollars awarded with non-federal contributions to the project;
    • Partnership building that integrates project execution with ongoing conservation work in ways that enhance the depth and sustainability of both conservation impact and youth or veteran engagement and experience;
    • Mentorship and training opportunities for youth with natural resource professionals, particularly BLM and/or USFS;
    • Tracking and measuring conservation and participant outcomes through project site monitoring and through follow up with participants to measure long term engagement and employment impacts.

Eligibility Criteria

• Eligible and Ineligible Entities
  • Eligible applicants include non-profit 501(c) organizations, state government agencies, local governments, municipal governments, Indian tribes, educational institutions (eligible for BLM, and USFS funds only), BLM field units (eligible for BLM funds only).
  • Ineligible applicants include U.S. Federal government agencies, businesses, unincorporated individuals, international organizations.
• Ineligible Uses of Grant Funds
  • NFWF funds and matching contributions may not be used to support political advocacy, fundraising, lobbying, litigation, terrorist activities or Foreign Corrupt Practices Act violations.
  • NFWF funds may not be used to support ongoing efforts to comply with legal requirements, including permit conditions, mitigation and settlement agreements. However, grant funds may be used to support projects that enhance or improve upon existing baseline compliance efforts.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

For further information, please visit NFWF.