Innovation Grants

REQUIREMENTS OF GRANTEES

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Each successful grantee must meet the following requirements:

1. Partner organization:
Grantees must partner with at least one organization from outside the Audubon network. 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.

Note that we require a short letter of support from your primary partner(s), detailing why they are supporting the project and how they will take part in it. Letters should be uploaded as part of the online application. (As a rough guide, if a partner is involved in more than 30% of the project in terms of time or money, it should be considered a primary partner. We will expect at least one primary partner and a letter of support from them.)

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 in the fall at the National Conservation and Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia. 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 award winners, 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. Unfortunately, we do not have funding for more than one representative from each project team to attend. 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 discussed at the workshop in September. 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 also 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) and collecting information on project outcomes throughout the year. Some grantees may also be asked to complete interviews at the end of the grant period with the evaluation team.

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.

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 the partner organization’s signature on a sub-award agreement.