The Parks & Trails New York (PTNY), the New York State (NYS) Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), and NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) are pleased to announce the ninth round of competitive grants through the Park and Trail Partnership Grants.
Donor Name: Parks & Trails New York
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/27/2023
Size of the Grant: Up to $300,000
Details:
The program is administered by PTNY, in partnership with OPRHP and DEC. The Park and Trail Partnership Grant program is a $2 million capacity-building matching grants program funded through the NYS Environmental Protection Fund.
The program is designed to:
- Enhance the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, accessibility, maintenance and promotion of New York State parks, trails, state historic sites, and public lands.
- Increase the sustainability, effectiveness, diversity, productivity, and volunteer and fundraising capabilities of not-for-profit organizations that promote, maintain, and support New York State parks, trails, state historic sites and public lands.
- Promote the tourism and economic development benefits of outdoor recreation through the growth and expansion of a connected statewide network of parks, trails, greenways and public lands.
Grant Categories
There are four types of capacity-building grants available to eligible organizations through the Park and Trail Partnership Grant program.
Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants
- Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants strengthen the capacity and expertise of individual organizations that support New York State parks, trails, historic sites and public lands, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, in order to aid them in fulfilling their mission and to improve their reach, effectiveness, and impact. Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
- Development of a multi-year strategic plan or major fundraising/capital or marketing campaign plan.
- Board/staff training and development, including facilitated retreats.
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) trainings/consultant services or board recruitment campaigns that reflect your park/site’s community and park/site visitors.
- Developing partnerships with DEI-focused non-profits in your community, such as events and programs, that will help welcome more users to the park/site and expand accessibility in a broad sense.
- Website and email newsletter design and development, graphic design, and printing and distribution of digital or print brochures, newsletters and other promotional materials.
- Efforts to expand the organization’s membership and broaden the diversity of support for the organization.
- Software to improve fundraising/development/donor relations, bookkeeping, or recordkeeping. Grant funds may cover initial software purchase or licensing, but not license renewal.
- Development and implementation of activities that will provide a future ongoing revenue source.
- Development and implementation of a volunteer program.
- Development of partnerships to promote new or strengthen existing collaboration with more than one organization and/or local government to increase public support for and/or participation in the planning, development, promotion or stewardship of the public resource.
- Hiring of temporary contractors, staff or interns to support the organization’s capacity building work.
- Shared consultant services between more than one eligible organization.
- Awards & Match: One-year grants up to $200,000; a 10 percent match of the total project budget is required, up to 50 percent of which may be in-kind. Fifty percent of award is disbursed at contract signing; remainder disbursed after submission of satisfactory six-month progress report.
Stewardship and Public Access Capacity Grants
- Stewardship and Public Access Capacity Grants may be used to assist organizations with the stewardship, interpretation, promotion, education, and public access of a New York State park, trail, historic site or DEC public land, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, which significantly enhances the organization’s visibility and capacity. Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:
- Public access or engagement improvements, such as kiosks, exhibits, signage, new trails with signage, boat launches and docks, and other activities that enhance public enjoyment of the public resource.
- Restoration of historic structures or preservation of artifacts as well as cataloging and digitizing collections for better public access.
- Building infrastructure to better accommodate visitors with disabilities or mobility challenges.
- Design and installation of interpretive information and displays, especially projects that engage wider audiences by incorporating multiple languages, aids for the visually or hearing impaired, or the inclusion of historically excluded voices or stories.
- Improving access and upgrading buildings to increase multi-season use.
- Development and implementation of a community outreach plan to enhance community access to and enjoyment of the public resource and awareness of the organization’s role in its preservation, stewardship, interpretation, maintenance and/or promotion.
- Community and constituency-building initiatives, events, and programs that promote public education and recreation resulting in greater public support and broader public involvement, especially from new and presently underserved audiences, and those which enhance age-friendly recreational opportunities.
- Development and implementation of public resource marketing plans, especially if undertaken in partnership with local tourism promotion efforts.
- Shared consultant services between more than one eligible organization.
- Programs or events involving the 2024 NYS Parks Centennial celebration.
- Examples of projects that are considered construction or rehabilitation are:
- Building rehabilitation.
- Any change to historic structure: adding or removing anything, painting, remodeling or reconstructing.
- Improvements, such as interpretive kiosks, exhibits, signage, new trails with signage, trail work and other activities that enhance public enjoyment and access to the park, trail, site or public land.
- Activities whose costs are part of a larger construction project.
- Activities that involve any ground disturbance or shovel in the ground.
- Activities that require engineering plans and specifications.
- Activities that require State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) review. PTNY will notify successful grant applications that involve construction and require additional review.
- Awards & Match: Grants up to $300,000; a 10 percent match of the total project budget is required, up to 50 percent of which may be in-kind. Fifty percent of award is disbursed at contract signing; remainder disbursed after submission of satisfactory six-month progress report.
Professional Development Grants
- Professional Development Grants support the hiring of permanent staff in order to advance organizations to a higher and sustainable level of professionalism, fiscal and administrative stability, and community outreach that in the future they will be able to sustain on their own. Professional Development Grants may be used to support:
- First Staff Hire: hiring the organization’s first permanent employee, full- or part-time.
- Additional Staff: hiring an additional full- or part-time permanent staff member to fill a critical administrative, outreach or development need, or other key function.
- Upgrade to Full-time Staff: increasing a part-time executive director, or other key staff position to full time.
- Shared Staff: hiring a staff person to be shared by two or more eligible organizations
- Awards & Match: Grants up to $150,000 encompassing a period of two years; a 20 percent match in cash of the total project budget is required. Fifty percent of award is disbursed at contract signing; remainder disbursed after submission of satisfactory one-year progress repor
Step-Up Grants
- Step-up Grants assist organizations with the administrative and legal fees needed to secure 501(c)(3) status, along with the costs associated with completing a consultant-facilitated organizational assessment and resulting plan(s).
- Awards & Match: One-year grants up to $20,000; a $500 match is required, cash or in-kind. Award disbursed at contract signing.
Eligibility Criteria
The NYS Park and Trail Partnership Grant program is open to organizations whose mission reflects the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, environmental education, maintenance, and/or promotion of a New York State park, trail, historic site or public land under the jurisdiction of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), or Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). These organizations are typically referred to as “Friends groups”.
- An applicant must be registered as a charity with the New York State Attorney General’s office and submit its CHAR500/410 Annual Financial Report.
- An applicant must be classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization or have a Memorandum of Understanding with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt fiscal agent.
- An applicant must have, and be in good standing under, a current agreement applicable to the grant request with OPRHP or DEC or have received a letter of intent to enter into such agreement.
- An applicant must have as part of its mission and activities the support of an OPRHP or DEC facility.
For more information, visit Parks & Trails New York.
