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Conservation Education Mini-Grant Program
This page focuses on applying for mini-grants, including funding, timeline, eligibility, expenditures, application, payment, and reporting. Other pages highlight the background for funders and history of the program.
2007-2008 Program
Five mini-grant awards were made for 2007-2008, to Winnemucca Community Garden, Fremont Elementary School, Mojave Max Education Project, Nevada Outdoor School, and River Wranglers. Please see the summary!
The Field Trip Fund for Kids: Learning Beyond the Classroom has been created specifically for field trips. The mini-grant program will therefore no longer fund field trips.
General Information
The mini-grant program is now in its fourth successful year.
The amount of the mini-grants will vary with available funding and restrictions placed by the program funders, but general guidelines are:
- for individual teachers and educators, up to $500, but more often in the $250 range
- for schools and nonprofit organizations, up to $1000, but more often in the $500 range
Funding
Funding for the Conservation Education Mini-Grant Program is provided NNREC and by:
- Nevada Division of Forestry, Conservation Education Program
- Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Water Quality Planing, Project WET Nevada
Want to see your logo here? Check the background for funders page, and join our successful program!
Timeline
Eligibility
Applications are accepted from individual educators, schools, and nonprofit organizations. Applications are NOT accepted from agencies, businesses, or non-affiliated individuals.
- Workshop: An individual applicant must have completed an environmental education or service-learning workshop offered by NNREC or one of our many partners. For a school or nonprofit, at least one staff member involved in the project must have completed a workshop. Please check the professional development calendar for opportunities, and ask your employer. If you are unsure whether a workshop qualifies, please call or email ahead of time: , 775-882-2375.
- Membership: The individual applicant, or the school or nonprofit organization, must be a current member of NNREC, or of the Orion Society (for an individual) or Orion Grassroots Network (for an organization). You may join at the time of being awarded the grant, and in fact the grant may pay your dues.
- Signatures: For individual applications, the application form must be signed by the applicant, and the applicant's principal or supervisor. The purpose of this second signature is to encourage you to communicate with others to make sure you have necessary support, and does not obligate the second signer to any role or responsibility in the mini-grant or project. For school and nonprofit applications, the form must be signed by the principal, executive director, or board president. (Note that for online and emailed applications, the "signature" is satisfied by placing the signer's name on the form.)
Expenditures
Funds granted by NNREC may be used for:
- Materials: curriculum, science and monitoring equipment and supplies, and literacy materials (journals, art materials, books, music, etc.).
- Teacher expenses: release time (substitute pay at the district rate), a stipend to the teacher for program development and implementation outside the school day, and for teacher training specifically related to the project (particularly if the teacher needs training in monitoring skills).
- Field trip expenses.
- Membership in NNREC, the Orion Society, the Orion Grassroots Network, or North American Association for Environmental Education.
Funds may not be used for general professional development or higher education courses for a teacher or organization staff.
Application
Application will open September 15 and close October 15. Applications must be received electronically (via the online form or email), or in the mail, by October 15.
The application includes a description of the project and a brief budget. Matching funds are not required, but will provide additional weight to the application. A service-learning element is not required, but will provide additional weight. The project must directly benefit K-12 students, but this is broadly defined to include projects which enhance the ability of the classroom teacher or organization to provide high quality environmental education. Classroom teachers should obtain the support of their principal or appropriate administrator before applying. Application forms: online, Word (fill out and email), and pdf (print and mail).
Applications will be evaluated by a small team of NNREC board members and leaders. This process is intended to be simple for both you and NNREC, so submitting a lot of information will actually decrease your chances of award. The evaluation criteria are available.
Payment
One-half of the grant award will be paid by November 15, and the other half after receipt of the final report, by June 15. If the project and expenditures are complete, the report may be submitted earlier, and payment will be made within 15 days. While we don't want you to rush your project, we do encourage you to complete the report while the project is fresh in your mind, and it helps us if we can close out projects that are complete.
Payment will be by check and may be made to either the person submitting the application, or the school (direct, or parent teacher organization) or nonprofit for which they work, as specified by the recipient. The individual's social security number (SSN), or the school or organization's employer identification number (EIN) must be provided.
Reporting
All expenditures must be complete by May 15, though of course we hope that the project is sustainable and will continue after that time.
The final report is due by May 31, documenting the benefit of the project to the students and community. The report may take the form of written report, a PowerPoint or video presentation, or a presentation by the students to a community forum at which at least one NNREC representative is present. Students should have an appropriately significant part in producing the final report. A one-page budget and actual expenditure report should be submitted (paper or Excel spreadsheet), along with receipts and invoices (copies, not originals). If the expenditures don't involve a receipt, such as your time, then please create a statement of the expenditure and sign it.
NNREC may use the final report, in whatever format, to document the value of the project, and as a model for school involvement in a number of settings. All teachers and schools involved must agree to such use. If appropriate, the teacher may provide an edited version of the final report, which addresses the privacy policies of the school, district and state. Photos showing students in hands-on lessons or projects, and student quotes about the educational benefit and enjoyment of the project are particularly useful in marketing the program to our funders.
This final report is required. You, and your school or nonprofit, will be prohibited from future applications for the mini-grant and field trip grant programs until the report is received. Please take this requirement seriously and do not apply unless you are committed to follow through. If the report is not received by June 15, you will never receive your final payment since many of the funding sources are closed out June 30.
More information
For more information on the program, please contact .
