The Sustainable Jersey is excited to announce the Trees for Schools Grant Program.
Donor Name: Sustainable Jersey
State: New Jersey
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant | Reimbursement
Deadline: 05/13/2025
Size of the Grant: $100,000 to $500,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
The Trees for Schools program will provide $4.5 million in grants to New Jersey public school districts, colleges, and universities to plant trees on school grounds and campuses. Grant funds also support caring for the new trees for two years, providing long-lasting benefits locally and across the state.
Trees combat climate change by storing carbon they pull out of the atmosphere, while mitigating the effects of rising temperatures and rainfall. Trees provide shade, habitat, beauty, and educational opportunities; they filter pollutants from air and water, reduce stormwater runoff, and lower carbon emissions and costs by saving energy in buildings. Tree-planting and stewardship at educational institutions not only enhances the environment in the towns and cities where they are located and improves human health and the quality of life for students, faculty, staff, and the surrounding community alike.
Funding Information
- This is a cost reimbursement grant
- Grant awards will range from a minimum $10,000 to maximum $250,000.
Eligible Expenses
- Planting material and planting
- Use the type of planting material (trees) most suited to site conditions: balled and burlapped (B&B), container-grown, or bareroot. Minimum sizes are 1.5” caliper measurement balled and burlapped (B&B), #10 container-grown, or 7’ bareroot. Justification must be provided for planting any trees that are larger or smaller
- Only tree species are allowed. No shrubs or herbaceous plants
- Native tree species are preferred. However, the most important factor in species selection is suitability to the site and site conditions, including resilience to climate change impacts (including periods of high heat and/or drought punctuated by heavy to extreme rainfall), and potential pests and diseases
- No invasive species may be planted; that is, do not plant any species or cultivated variety (cultivar) that is listed on the Strike Team Do Not Plant list
- Planting material may be purchased from nurseries, or the cost of the trees may be bundled with labor in a planting contract
- Labor costs for planting may be bundled, contracted separately, hired directly for an hourly wage, performed by staff labor, or performed by volunteers. To facilitate comparison, it is broken out as a line item in the preliminary budget
- Site preparation
- Soil testing and localized soil improvements, such as soil amendments or structural soil.
- Removal of impervious surfaces, such as concrete
- Establishment or extension of raised tree beds or tree pits
- Removal of stumps and trees to prepare for replacement trees (justification for tree removal must be provided)
- Stump grinding
- Equipment
- Purchase, rental or repair costs for equipment directly needed by grantee for tree planting and maintenance for this project, such as shovels or irrigation equipment
- Supplies
- Tree protection and maintenance supplies, such as, mulch, compost, support stakes, irrigator bags, and planting tubes or fencing for deer protection
- Supplies must be for use associated with the plantings funded by this grant
- Maintenance
- Subcontracts for site preparation or for watering, pruning and/or other care of project trees
- Alternatively, maintenance activities may be combined in the same contract as planting labor, hired directly for an hourly wage, performed by staff labor, or performed by volunteers
- Consultant
- Up to 10% of the total project cost is allowed for assistance with planting design and project planning from a qualified professional, such as a New Jersey Certified/Approved Forester, Licensed Tree Expert, Certified Arborist, or licensed Landscape Architect, or else a firm or non-profit organizational partner assigning qualified staff to the project
- Personnel Costs
- Salaries, benefits, and wages directly attributable to non-administrative project work, such as site preparation, tree planting, watering or other maintenance activities, and monitoring
- Grantees will be expected to track hourly personnel costs associated with project work.
- Indirect Costs
- Administrative costs (overheads) allowed up to 10% of total project cost if properly documented, such as by submitting a Statement of Activity report documenting withdrawals from a dedicated Trees for Schools grant account.
Eligibility Requirements
- To be eligible to participate in this program an applicant must be one of the following:
- New Jersey public school district, including one or more schools from pre-K through 12th grade levels
- New Jersey public charter school
- New Jersey community college
- New Jersey state college
- New Jersey state university
- Eligible planting areas must be located on:
- Land owned by a NJ public school district
- Land owned by a county college
- Land owned by a state college or university
- Municipal, county, state or federal land that is adjacent to school, college, or university property and/or that is used or frequented by students (e.g., along streets, parks or playing fields), with documented permission of relevant jurisdiction.
For more information, visit Sustainable Jersey.
