The City Parks Foundation is accepting applications for the NYC Green Fund Grassroots grant to advance the viability of grassroots initiatives across parks and open spaces in all five boroughs and to foster a resilient network of equitable, public green spaces.
Donor Name: City Parks Foundation
State: New York
Borough: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 07/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $1,000 – $40,000
Grant Duration: 2 years
Details:
The NYC Green Fund Grassroots grant program provides support for a range of programming areas including open space stewardship, environmental action, organizational development, health and wellness, youth development, and live arts and culture. With direct funding and technical assistance, diverse community groups will receive support in their work to activate and enrich parks and open spaces across NYC.
Categories
Applicants may apply for funding in the following categories. Please select up to three categories.
- Open Space Stewardship
- Community-led care of open spaces through volunteer maintenance and beautification.
- Environmental Action
- Programs that promote environmental awareness and provide people with the skills to take responsible actions to protect the environment, advance local environmental solutions, or empower the community through environmental education, training, and outreach.
- Organizational Development
- Activities that increase or improve your organization’s ability to support and activate public space such as professional development for staff, strategic planning, marketing and communications, financial management, fundraising, HR planning or systems on boarding, and transition or succession planning.
- Youth Engagement
- Programs designed to inspire children under 18 and young adults (18-24) and encourage them to pursue careers in nature conservation and stewardship, the natural sciences, environmental justice, or other related fields through hands-on service learning, paid work opportunities, and professional skills training.
- Health and Wellness
- Activities that promote physical, mental, and emotional health for park users.
- Live Arts and Culture
- Live, performing arts and community-oriented cultural programming. Grant recipients of this category may receive pro-bono technical support for event production through organizations such as Moving Culture Projects.
Funding Information
The NYC Green Fund Grassroots grant program will provide funding for one- or two-year projects.
One-Year Grant Support
Applicants with annual operating budgets of less than $175,000 may request between $1,000 -$40,000
- Organizations whose annual operating budget was between $0-$9,999 are eligible to apply for up to $2,500.
- Organizations whose annual operating budget was $10,000 or higher are eligible to appl yfor funding up to 25% of their annual operating budget. $40,000 is the maximum per year amount that any organization can apply for
- Organizations applying in partnership are eligible to apply for up to $2,500 or up to 25% of their combined annual operating budgets, depending on the combined budget total.
Two-Year Grant Support
- For the first time, Partnerships for Parks is offering former grantees the opportunity to apply for two-year grant funding. In order to be eligible to apply for two-year funding, an organization must have received a PfP or CPF grant since 2020 and completed all required interim and final reports.
- Applicants may request funding between $1,000 – $40,000 per year, receiving a total of $2,000 -$80,000 across two years.
If approved for two-year grant support, grantees will receive half of the total amount at the beginning of the grant cycle (September 2023) and the second half the following year. The secondyear of funding is contingent on the level of funding for the NYC Green Fund program.
- Organizations whose annual operating budget was between $0-$9,999 are eligible to applyfor up to $2,500 per year.
- Organizations whose annual operating budget was $10,000 or higher are eligible to apply for funding up to 25% of their annual operating budget per year. $40,000 is the maximum per year amount that any organization can apply for.
- Organizations applying in partnership are eligible to apply for up to $2,500 per year or up to 25% of their combined annual operating budgets per year, depending on the combined budget total. $40,000 is the maximum per year amount that any applicant can apply for.
Eligible expenses include:
- Equipment, tools, and supplies
- Consultants, vendors, contractors, or professional fees
- Staffing (seasonal/ internships/ apprenticeships)
- One-time event insurance
- Marketing and outreach costs
Eligibility Criteria
Applications must be submitted by a member of a group/organization. Applications submitted on behalf of individuals are not eligible. All grant applicants are required to meet the prerequisites as follows:
- Applicants must possess demonstrated experience working in NYC’s parks and/or open spaces and have a strong connection to the community/communities they are working in.
- Applicants’ most recent annual operating budget must be less than $175,000. If an applicant is submitting a joint application, their combined operating budgets must be less than $175,000. If you are an organization without a formal annual operating budget, then you can think of this as your total expenses over the last full year. Applicants’ proposals must support work in one or more of the following public open spaces:
- Parks
- Playgrounds
- Green Thumb community gardens
- Other community gardens (not Green Thumb)
- NYCHA properties
- Street trees
- Public plazas
- Open Streets
- Bodies of water–
- Waterfronts- Other
- Applicants without 501(c)3 status must utilize an external fiscal sponsor or request one-time fiscal sponsorship from PfP through CPF.
- If an applicant received the Capacity Fund grant, NYC Green Relief & Recovery Fund grant, or Green / Arts LIVE grant in 2020 or after, all due interim and final reports must be submitted prior to applying for additional funding
For more information, visit City Parks Foundation.
