The Small Grants for Community Partnering Program awards grants to communities throughout Larimer County using a portion of the Help Preserve Open Space sales tax for outdoor neighborhood and community-based projects.
Donor Name: Larimer County
State: Colorado
County: Larimer County (CO)
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline:10/10/2025
Size of the Grant: $1000 to $10,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The program was created by Larimer County’s Department of Natural Resources (Larimer County) to provide the community with direct access to sales tax dollars (for open space) to support outdoor community projects and to nurture community partnerships for lasting impacts across the region.
Larimer County invites new and returning non-profit organizations, HOAs, K-12 schools, and community-based organizations to apply for seed or capacity-building funding to develop and enhance natural landscapes, provide nature-based environmental education opportunities, provide access to nature for those experiencing barriers, provide opportunities for people to connect with the land through local agricultural food production, or conduct research on county open spaces.
The program supports a wide range of community-based projects, including but not limited to xeriscape gardens, outdoor classrooms, habitat restoration or improvements, removal of invasive species, community garden improvements, environmental education signage, shoreline improvements, nature-based workshops, educational training, and more!
Categories
Projects must fall into at least one of the five Small Grants for Community Partnering Program grant categories provided below.
- Provides or enhances natural landscapes, including wildlife habitat, rivers, wetlands, outdoor community gathering spaces, neighborhood parks, greenbelts, lakes/ponds, etc.
- Projects that include planting or habitat improvements must include a landscape design plan with native (and non-invasive), drought-resistant plant species list appropriate for the selected environment.
- Projects proposing a new structure, rehabilitation, or change of use of an existing structure are required to provide a written response by the application deadline noting this would be allowable from the Larimer County Community Planning Department.
- Provides nature-based environmental education opportunities, including outdoor education signs and materials, outdoor classrooms, workshops, trainings, etc.
- Applicants are required to provide the environmental education resources that will be used to develop the materials for the project. Environmental education materials must be based upon established principles and proven practices in the outdoor field.
- Provides opportunities for people to connect with the land via providing access to nature for those experiencing barriers, including those with limited transit options, financial obstacles, etc.
- Project opportunities in this category must focus on nature-based education, health and wellness or recreation related to the outdoors.
- Provides opportunities for people to connect with the land via local agricultural food production, including projects that include practices around improving soil, water, habitat, or community connection to agriculture.
- The community garden or CSA must have local distribution in Larimer County.
- Projects proposing a new structure, rehabilitation, or change of use of an existing structure need to provide written response by the application deadline noting this would be allowable from the Larimer County Community Planning Department.
- Research on Larimer County open spaces, which will provide new information on the ecology, history, visitation, and/or human dimensions of Larimer County open spaces. Projects should encourage intellectual curiosity about natural world and/or how people connect to it. All proposed research projects must be discussed with the Small Grants Program Coordinator and approved prior to applying.
- Funding for research may not be used for college or university overhead or administrative costs. No exceptions.
Funding Information
Applicants may request up to $4,000.
Eligibility Criteria
The grant program is open to anyone to apply, with a few exceptions and parameters.
- Government agencies already receiving the Help Preserve Open Space tax dollars may not apply directly.
- For projects taking place on public lands, the applicant must be a 501c3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization as identified by the IRS.
- All affected landowners must agree in writing to the proposed project.
- Homeowners and Property Owners associations must submit a copy of the board meeting minutes approving the proposed project.
- K-12 Public Schools must provide a letter from the appropriate facilities director agreeing to the specific project.
- Applicants leasing property from a private property owner must submit a letter from the owner agreeing to the proposed project and include the signed lease agreement by all parties.
- Projects proposed on public lands must include a letter or permit from the land management agency agreeing to the proposed project.
For more information, visit Larimer County.
