Grant guidelines - Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts

2015 OREGON ACE PROGRAM GRANTS
FOR LAND TRUSTS
CONSERVATION CATALYST
OUT-OF-CYCLE
GRANT GUIDELINES
A Program of the Land Trust Alliance
For More Information Contact:
Brad Paymar, Northwest Conservation Manager, bpaymar@lta.org, (971) 202-1483
CONSERVATION CATALYST GRANT
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Purpose
The Land Trust Alliance is partnering with the John Gray family to deliver
the Oregon Advancing Conservation Excellence (ACE) Program. This
program is a multi-faceted, results-oriented land trust capacity-building
grant and technical assistance program designed to increase the pace,
improve the quality, and ensure the permanence of land conservation in
Oregon.
Special Requirements
These guidelines are specifically for Conservation Catalyst Grants. While
it is anticipated that many Conservation Catalyst proposals will involve
multiple partners, there may only be one Applicant for the grant. This
entity will act as the fiscal agent for the grant.
Grant Period
The grant period is from June 29, 2015 – June 29, 2016 for one year
grants and June 29, 2015 to June 29, 2017 for two year grants.
Grant Amount
There is no set maximum grant award for Conservation Catalyst grants.
Application
All potential applicants for Conservation Catalyst Grants must submit a
application by June 9, 2015.
To begin your application you will need to login to our online grant
management system and create an account, by clicking on “Create New
Account.” You will not need to create a new account if you have an
existing account from the previous year of the ACE program.
Once you have logged on, click “apply” on the top left column of the
screen and then input the access code “1483” and hit enter. Select
“Oregon ACE Grant” from the list of available grant categories. Please
use the web address below.
https://www.grantinterface.com/Common/LogOn.aspx?eqs=rnkDWlzN7Q
SOcTHagMd22ZYBojy0XuVR3y3oa-toKC81
Please complete the appropriate budget template for this grant category.
You will upload your budget table into the online application program.
Contact Katie Fales if you need the link to the online application program,
a copy of the budget template, or encounter difficulties using the online
application program: kfales@lta.org, or 971-202-1484.
Out-of-Cycle
Grants
Land trusts may apply for grants from the Conservation Catalyst
for emerging, time-sensitive opportunities that arise outside of the
November to November grant cycle. Applicants will follow Application
processes described above for out-of-cycle grants. Applicants can apply
for out-of-cycle grants for one or two year terms. Applicants will receive
notice of award of out-of-cycle grants within a month of submitting an
application. The Grant Review Committee will evaluate out-of-cycle
applications using the same criteria as in-cycle Conservation Catalyst
proposals. Out-of-cycle grants from the Conservation Catalyst program
are funding dependent.
Inquiries
We encourage interested land trusts to discuss their applications with
Alliance staff before submitting them.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS
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Applicant land trusts must be a member of the Alliance and COLT (not all partners must be
Alliance or COLT members).
Applicant must have completed an ACE Program Needs Assessment in 2012 (not all
partners must have undergone a Needs Assessment).
Applicant must provide a minimum 20% cash match against total project budget. Staff time
is considered in-kind and is not eligible as match. Applicants may not use other Land
Trust Alliance grant funds as match.
PROJECTS NOT ELIGIBLE
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General brochures and newsletters.
GRANT AGREEMENT
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At the time of notification of an award, the Alliance will send a grant agreement to the grant
recipient. Once the agreement is signed and executed, the Alliance will release the first half
of the awarded funds to the grantee to begin the project. The land trust must complete an
interim report on the progress of the Conservation Catalyst grant after six months in order to
receive the remaining funds for the year. A final grant report is due within 30 days of the end
of the grant period.
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Multi-year grants: Grantees who receive multi-year Conservation Catalyst grants will receive
half of the year one funding upon receipt of the executed grant agreement. The remainder of
the year one funding will be disbursed when the Alliance receives their interim progress.
Second year grant disbursements will have the same reporting requirements and
disbursement schedule.
REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

For one year grants, a final report summarizing activities and outcomes will be due upon
completion of the project, or no later than 30 days after the end of the grant period. Twoyear grant recipients must complete an annual report after the first year of their grant period
in order to receive the second annual disbursement.
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In addition to the grant reports described above, a data form will be collected annually in
January to gather information necessary to measure the impacts of the ACE program. All
grant recipients must complete and return this data form in a timely fashion in order to
remain eligible to participate in the program.
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All reporting must be completed online by logging into the same system you used to apply
for this grant. Deadlines and forms for Interim and Final reports will be given in your grant
agreement. Failure to provide the completed report may require that the grantee return
grant funds.