Download Everything You Need to Know as a PDF
Each successful grantee must meet the following requirements:
1. Partner organization: Grantees must partner with at least one organization from outside the Audubon network. (Non-Audubon applicants must have an Audubon group as one of their partners.) Our goal in requiring non-Audubon partners is to help applicants engage new audiences in their work, get new perspectives, and achieve results that they would not otherwise be able to achieve. We encourage you to think of organizations whose missions differ from your own but with whom you can find common ground, and how your project might help reach their goals as well as yours. A successful partnership helps each partner achieve something it could not achieve alone.
Partners’ roles will vary; in some cases, they might receive the majority of the funding, but in other cases they might play a smaller role. However, there should be a meaningful role for all partner organizations.
2. Training commitment: The Innovation Grants program is designed not just to fund projects but to provide professional development opportunities for all grantees. Thanks to Toyota, we have funding for
one representative from each project team to attend a professional development workshop at
Aullwood Audubon Center and Farm from June 26-29, 2012. Workshop sessions will focus on conservation planning, communications, outreach, evaluation, fundraising, and other topics that will help strengthen participants’ conservation work beyond the scope of individual projects. The workshop will also provide participants with opportunities to network with other grantees, as well as discuss conservation strategies, grant administration, evaluation, reporting, and other issues related to project management. Direct costs associated with the workshop, including travel and lodging, will be covered by TogetherGreen.
In applying for this grant, you are committing to send a key member of your project team to attend this three-day event.
3. Financial and program reporting: Grantees will be responsible for financial and program reporting twice during the grant period. The first report will be due after the mid-point of the grant term. A final report describing all actions associated with the grant will be due after the completion of the grant period. Reporting guidelines will be discussed at the fall workshop. Audubon staff may visit grantees for on-site and off-site audits.
4. Evaluation: Grantees are responsible for evaluating the success of their projects. In addition, they will work with the external evaluation team that Audubon has hired to assess the overall impact of the TogetherGreen initiative. That will mean completing a baseline survey towards the beginning of the grant period (completing the survey took past grantees anywhere from one to six hours), collecting information on project outcomes throughout the year, and completing surveys at the end of the grant period.
5. Communications and public relations: Audubon will promote TogetherGreen projects and people through a website, media, and other outlets. Grantees will be expected to provide periodic stories, photographs, and interviews. Grantees will coordinate regularly with the TogetherGreen Communications team to highlight their projects and the results and to assist in the broader promotion of TogetherGreen objectives. All project materials, events, and other activities need to clearly note the sponsorship of TogetherGreen and Audubon/Toyota.
During the grants workshop, grantees will receive training in strategic communications, media relations, and how to develop communications plans for their projects. They will then be expected to submit their communications plans to the TogetherGreen team, describing their strategies for communicating with the media and other audiences important to their project.
6. Grant Agreement: Grantees will be required to sign a grant agreement; offices and programs of National Audubon Society will also be required to obtain their partner organizations’ signatures on a sub-award agreement.