Request for Proposals
Application Instructions & Requirements
Please provide the following information in ONE Microsoft Word file that reflects the following information in individual sections. You will have an opportunity to provide a project narrative under number 12 below.
- Proposal title
- One sentence project summary statement
- List five key words that describe your project. Please be sure one of the key words is the state in which you are working.
- Information for all applicants and project staff (name, title, organization, address, phone, email, website, etc) as well as qualifications.
- Anticipated project start and end dates
- Geographic area where work will take place (state and county)
- If Cornell funds will be paired with other funds, briefly describe the amount and source.
- List of partners or potential partners
- Clearly stated objectives and long-term conservation outcomes
- Bird species that will benefit from your proposed work
- Land area (acres/hectares) and habitat types that will be improved, managed, or protected
- Project Narrative: a brief description (3-page maximum) of your strategy for achieving your objectives and conservation outcomes. What are your measures of success? Please address any threats and/or obstacles that you might need to navigate to achieve the objectives and conservation outcomes.
- Additional information that is important for us to consider (e.g. if you are interested in a student intern and what role the intern would play in your project)
- List a simple budget for the $5,000 award and budget justification for your project. Note: if these funds are part of a larger project’s budget, please be sure you clearly outline the use of the $5,000 within the larger project.
Email application file and/or questions to: Sara Barker, Land Trust Initiative Project Leader, sb65@cornell.edu
[/sidebar]*The next RFP for the small grants program will likely be announced in January 2019 with proposals due in March 2019.
2018 Funding Details
-Applicants can apply for up to $5,000 in funds to be used over a 1-year grant cycle.
-This is an annual grant cycle with applications due March 1, 2018 and funds dispersed around April 30, 2018.
-Matching funds are not required, however, it will be advantageous for an applicant to show that these funds will be supplemented by partner dollars or leveraged for future funding.
-Awarded funds can cover no more than 10% of indirect costs and can be used for administrative and legal fees associated with land acquisitions.
-Ideally we are looking for land trusts working collaboratively with multiple partners and/or who are willing to pass along their project ideas and lessons-learned to other land trusts by presenting a talk at a regional meeting, hosting a workshop, or presenting at the Land Trust Alliance Rally. Our goal is to build land trust capacity by teaching or demonstrating to other land trusts direct impacts of bird conservation on private lands. Priority will be given to the formation of new regional or state based land trust collaboratives with multiple partners – for an example of a collaborative, see the St. Lawrence Valley Partnership.
-Recipients must be able to justify and demonstrate conservation objectives, outcomes, and clear measures of success stemming directly from the awarded funds.
-All bird data collected with awarded funds must be entered in eBird.
-Periodic progress reports must be provided over the course of the agreement.
-A final report must be submitted with objectives, methods, and results documenting the conservation outcomes and measures of success at the completion of the award.
-The Cornell Lab requests permission to feature the funded projects on the Lab’s website, in Land Trust Initiative materials, and on social media.
-The Cornell Lab will provide advice and support as needed to the awardees and their partners.
-Cornell may have the ability to provide a student intern in addition to awarded funds. If interested, state this in your application and write a short paragraph about the potential role this intern would play in your project.