River Relief

January 10, 2016

Missouri River Action Team Mini-Grants

Thank you to all 16 organizations that submitted grant proposals! We should be notifying you of the status of your grant the week of April 11. 

All the resources you need are here to apply for a $500-$5,000 grant to take action for the Missouri River in your community.

Deadline for submission was Friday, March 25, 2016

Educators, Organizations, River Lovers -

This could be you!

Missouri River Relief is teaming up with the Missouri Environmental Education Association & the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to offer mini-grants to educators and river stewards that build connections between their schools and communities and the Missouri River.   These grants are for projects in the four state Region 7 - Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. 

Request for Proposals

Deadline for submission is Friday, March 25, 2016

Missouri River Relief has been awarded a two-year $91,000 Environmental Education grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to build river education and stewardship capacity in Missouri River communities in the four-state Region 7 (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska). 

One part of this project is the awarding of mini-grants from $500 to $5000 to organizations with proposals designed to kickstart Missouri River stewardship, awareness and education in their communities. Our goal is to foster a network of organizations working to build connections between their audiences and our nation’s longest river while supporting EPA’s environmental and education priorities.

For more details, see "Missouri River Action Team Mini-Grant RFP"

See sidebar on the right for additional resources and documents, including the application form. 

Goals of this Grant

Our goal is for interested Missouri River stewards and educators to step up to the challenge of connecting their audiences to the Missouri River by building partnerships in their communities to effect change in the lives of people. This grant is much more about changing people for the long term than it is about a direct environmental impact, although an environmental action, such as a tree planting or river clean-up may be at the heart of activating that change. Here are some specific goals reflected in our Grant Scoring Rubric:

• Educational, Stewardship and Recreation projects that create new connections and relationships between communities and the Missouri River.
• Projects that bring together multiple partners to achieve results.
• Projects that reach out to underserved communities. Examples might include rural areas not served by river recreation, urban schools with little funding for outdoor experiences, communities without events highlighting their connection to the Missouri River.

Who is Eligible to Apply?

Grant Proposals may be submitted by:

• Any 501(C )(3) nonprofit organization, such as a school, nature center, museum, learning center, or community group
• A local education agency, college or university
• A state education or environmental agency
• A non-commercial educational broadcasting entity as defined and licensed by the FCC.

Additional Eligibility Notes - 

• The majority of the activities must take place in one or more of the Region 7 states (IA, KS, MO, NE). Organizations or tribes based in South Dakota that will be working on the SD/NE Missouri River border are welcome to apply.
• Tribal education agencies” that are eligible to apply include schools or\ community colleges controlled by an Indian tribe, band, or nation, which are recognized as eligible for special programs and services provided by the United States to Indians because of their status as Indians and which are not administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
• Individuals are not eligible to apply themselves. Individuals with ideas for projects must partner with an organization that meets the above criteria and will submit and administer the grant in partnership with the individual.

Grant Timeline

• March 25, 2016, 11:59p.m.  CST Project Proposals are due
• April 10, 2016   Proposal Reviews completed
• April 17, 2016   Grant Award Recipients notified
• April 22, 2016   Announce Grant Recipients, project may begin
• April 21, 2017   Project final report due for one-year projects.
• April 21, 2018   Project final report due for two-year projects.