The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is excited to announce the No Child Left Inside Grant Program to support and increase efforts to expand programming that connects youth to the outdoors.
Donor Name: Minnesota Department of Natural Resources
State: Minnesota
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/12/2023
Size of the Grant: More than $1 million
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Through these grants, the DNR is addressing growing concerns over declines in youth participation in outdoor recreation, natural resource education, hunting, and angling. A minimum outcome of these grants is that the person leaves holding a positive experience and opinion toward outdoor education and recreation. Ideally, youth involved in awarded projects will maintain involvement in outdoor education and recreation through continued participation in and/or support of these activities.
Priorities
The Minnesota Legislature established some specific requirements and priorities for the No Child Left Inside grant program. The DNR has created additional funding priorities in consultation with stakeholders:
- Maximize the number of participants, especially from new and diverse audiences with limited opportunities
- Primary audience must be youth under 18 years of age (Activities that include some family participation are eligible, but the central focus must be on youth education.)
- Applicants that commit matching funds or in-kind resources
- Community-focused projects with an ongoing impact, rather than one-time events
- New or innovative programming (If an existing program, the applicant must demonstrate a significant expansion in scope or inclusion of new audiences.)
- Provide students direct experiences and understanding of nature
- Provide opportunities for outdoor recreation or to learn new outdoor skills
- Use public parks and other natural resource venues and personnel as resources
- Education classes that are held outside and use established environmental, ecological, agricultural, or natural resource educational curriculum
- Other projects that support natural resource education and outdoor recreation, as determined by the DNR
Funding Information
The DNR provides NCLI grant funds annually as authorized by the Minnesota Legislature. The DNR will have $1,000,000 available for 2024 grants. Ten percent of those funds ($100,000) are utilized by the DNR to administer the grant program. The 2024 grants will consist of two types of grant awards. Applicants must choose only one.
Mini Grants
- Grant awards between $500-$5,000
- $250,000 available – Up to $100,000 held for hunting and fishing related projects.
Larger Grants
- Grant awards between $5,001-$25,000
- $650,000 available – Up to $260,000 held for hunting and fishing related projects.
Eligible Projects
These activities are eligible for No Child Left Inside grant funds.
- Education classes that are held outside and use established environmental or natural-resource educational curriculum
- Training of teachers, facilitators or volunteers to deliver environmental or outdoor education (EOE) such as: Project WET/WILD/Learning Tree, Tread Lightly!, E-STEM, etc.
- Safety training for firearms, boat/water, ATV, or snowmobile
- Programs at state parks or trails that cover topics such as: water quality, raptors/bird watching, plants and animals, maple syruping, weather and seasons, watersheds, prairie restoration, pollinators, forests, etc.
- Similar programs at other parks, trails, nature, or environmental learning center facilities
- Minnesota School Forest Program activities and trainings
- Outdoor recreation activities with an educational, health or wellness component: paddling or camping tied to water quality, hiking with plant or tree identification, snowshoeing to find animal tracks, wild rice harvesting, night sky viewing, fishing with aquatic habitat studies, tree planting, prairie seed collection, nature photography, etc.
- Investigations on water issues or water education: water quality, water conservation, watershed research, citizen science, aquatic wildlife and plants, weather, storm drains, Mississippi River, habitat restoration, macro invertebrates, service-learning projects, winter snow and ice, etc.
- Shooting sports including trap, skeet, and archery (Archery projects will be partnered with the National Archery in the Schools Program.
Eligibility Criteria
- Non-profit organizations
- Public/Charter schools (includes PK-12 and higher education institutions serving youth under 18)
- Tribal Nations
- Other public entities (including cities, counties, and other local government)
For more information, visit Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
