Instructions for Completing the Seed Grant for Urban Farming Application

Instructions for Completing the Seed Grant for Urban Farming Application

Step one: Review the Online Form (administrative information and required documents) to see what type of information is required.

Note: You must enter all of the information at the same time as you submit the application. You cannot save your answers as you go. We suggest that you work offline on the answers and then type them in when you submit all of the required documents.

Step two: Download the word document ‘Seed Grant Application Parts 2 to 5’. Save it, and answer the questions, have your organization’s executive director sign it, and upload it along with the required documents.

Step three:Download the excel document ‘Seed Grant Budget Template’. Save it, and answer the questions, and upload it along with the required documents.

Step four:Upload required documents and complete required information in the online form.

Document Checklist

Required Documents:

Completed Seed Grant Application Parts 2 to 5 (PDF preferred)
Completed Seed Grant Budget (Excel format required)
Copy of Federal Exempt Status Certificate 501(c)(3) (PDF preferred)
Current Organizational Chart -- highlight staff involved in grant (PDF preferred)
Resumes and job descriptions of staff involved in grant -- combine into one document (PDF preferred)
Current Organizational Budget (PDF preferred)

Optional Documents:

Financial Audit, if available (PDF preferred)
Upload up to three additional supporting documents, such as Audit, Letters of support or agreement regarding land use, partnerships, consultancy services etc.

Guidelines for Completing the Seed Grant for Urban Farming Application

Part 1:Online Form - Administrative Information and Uploading Required Documents

Provide the contact information for the grant contact person. This contact person should be the staff member responsible for this project throughout the entire grant period. Also include the Executive Director’s (ED) contact information. Tell us if you operate an emergency food program. Provide basic information about the grant: total dollar amount requested, location, size, description of who owns the land.

In the proposal summary provide grant reviewers with a brief snapshot of the project.

Ex. ABC Agency will start a farm in the backyard behind our agency headquarters. We will recruit xx community members from the food pantry and our other programs to join our Gardening Team. Staff member Lisa Jones will be responsible for the Gardening Team and all aspects of this project. We will use grant money to hire XYZ Urban Farming Consultant to provide trainings to the Gardening Team and guide us through the process of starting a farm. Vegetables from the farm will be distributed in the food pantry and to the Gardening Team.

Part 2: Statement of Need and Organizational Alignment

Statement of Need

Describe the issues facing the target community who will be involved with the urban farm. How will the proposed project address the needs of the community and how will the community benefit?

Full description of your organization.

This section will help us get to know your organization. Please include the organization’s mission statement, target populations served, and program services provided.

Alignment with Organizational Mission & Services

This section is important as it helps the grant review committee understand how this funding fits within your organization’s scope of work and how it will benefit the target population.

The Seed Grant for urban farming aims to provide organizations with the ability to develop or improve upon current nutrition education, wellness programs, and other outreach services. The project must fit within your organization’s mission to your target population and function as an extension to the blanket of services currently provided to the community. This section asks you to describe in detail how an urban farm will help improve your organization’s services in the context of your organization’s mission.

Part 3: Project Plan Overview

Grant reviewers like well-defined and planned out projects. They want to know whether or not applicants have thought out all of the necessary steps to meet the goals, whether the applicant has the organizational capacity to meet the goals and sustain the project after the grant period ends. Please describe your plan thoroughly (from identifying the land location/plot size, to designating an urban farm consultant, to determining how many people will be involved in the project, to planning how the produce will be grown and distributed, etc.).

Project Proposal

Expand on the proposal summary provided in Part 1. Provide a full description of the proposed urban farm and the planned events, workshops, and other associated components.

Project Plan

Describe your plan for starting an urban farm in detail. How will you go about doing this? Will you enlist the services of experts or organizations to provide fee based consultancy services, such as trainings and step-by step technical assistance? How will you engage community members? Who will be involved/trained to perform the day-to-day farming activities? How will you recruit them? How will you distribute/use the farm grown produce? Please explain.

E. Project Sustainability

This is a one-year grant designed to help you acquire the materials and skills necessary to start a farm. Please provide a detailed description of how you plan to sustain the farm in year two and beyond. Describe the role staff members and others (such as, community members, volunteers, and interns) will play a role in long-term project maintenance. Describe other funding sources available for this project.

Part 4: Project Plan Details

A worksheet has been provided to outline your proposed project in detail.

Program Goals, Anticipated Outcomes & Outcome Measures

The urban farm aims to fulfill specific needs or address problems within the target community and population identified in Part 2B. In the worksheet provided, the following must be addressed as indicated:

Column 1: Need/Problem

This is specific to the target population / community described in Part 2B. What needs have been identified in the target population that the urban farm aims to meet? For Example:

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Steps or activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

Column 2: Goal(s)

Project goals should identify how the urban farm will address each need/problem. These goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and timely. Please note that multiple goals are not necessary to have a successful project. For Example:

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Improve the nutritional intake of the hungry in the community by providing farm fresh produce to community members.

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

Improve farm to table literacy to promote healthier food choices among community members.

Column 3: Outcomes

These are steps, tasks, or activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). Each goal may have more than one outcome. Outcomes must be specific and measurable. Please keep all outcomes for the same goal in one box. You may use additional sheets if necessary. For Example:

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Improve the nutritional intake of the hungry in the community by providing farm fresh produce to community members.

Prepare soil of two lots.
Plant, cultivate, and harvest produce.
Urban farm consultant will host 24 training sessions (2 per week over 3 months) for 16 community members about operating the farm.

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

/ 2. Improve farm to table literacy to promote healthier food choices among community members. / 1. Nutrition consultant will conduct 4 “Farm to Table” training workshops to provide nutrition education and culinary skill about how to prepare produce grown on the farm.

Column 4: Outcome Measures

To know if your program has reached its goals and thus fulfilled the stated needs, you need to be able to measure the project’s outcomes. For example, if the goal of the urban farm was to improve the nutrition education level of food pantry participants, how would you know if it did? What would you do to find out?

This is an important step because it provides measurable feedback about your program’s success and areas in need of work.

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Improve the nutritional intake of the hungry in the community by providing farm fresh produce to community members.

Prepare soil of two lots.
Plant, cultivate, and harvest produce.

Measure pounds of produce harvested and distributed to community members.

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

/ 2. Improve farm to table literacy to promote healthier food choices among community members. / 2. Nutrition consultant will conduct 4 “Farm to Table” training workshops to provide nutrition education and culinary skill about how to prepare produce grown on the farm. / 2. Measure knowledge, attitude, and behavior of community members participating in the training workshops through pre and post surveys.

Column 5: Timeline for Outcomes

This is the timeframe for each outcome (i.e., when each outcome is planned to take place). Timelines keep your project on track and also let you know when things are ahead of schedule or falling behind.

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Improve the nutritional intake of the hungry in the community by providing farm fresh produce to community members.

Prepare soil of two lots.
Plant, cultivate, and harvest produce.

Measure pounds of produce harvested and distributed to community members.

May 1st through May 30th
June 1st through October 15th

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

Column 6: Person Responsible

Each outcomemust have a person responsible for completing it. These individuals are the only ones able to receive funding and should match the names provided in your personnel budget and organizational chart.

Need/Problem
What community issues will the urban farm address? / Goal(s)
What are your goals to address each problem/need? / Outcomes
Activities your project will take to accomplish your goal(s). / Outcome Measures
How will you measure the success of each goal? / Timeline for Outcomes
In months / Person Responsible
For each outcome

Target population with inadequate consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Improve the nutritional intake of the hungry in the community by providing farm fresh produce to community members.

Prepare soil of two lots.
Plant, cultivate, and harvest produce.

Measure pounds of produce harvested and distributed to community members.

May 1st through May 30th
June 1st through October 15th

First and Last Name
First and Last Name

Target population lacks basic nutrition knowledge and preparation skills related to fresh produce.

Part 5: Application Agreement in the Seed Grant Application

Review the checklist and ensure that all required documents have been uploaded. Incomplete applications will not be reviewed. The Executive Director must sign and date the application agreement at the end of the Seed Grant application. Electronic signatures are okay!

Seed Grant Budget

Download the Seed Grant Budget excel document and follow the instructions in the document. Complete the worksheets and itemize estimated expenses for each category. The Seed Grant excel document must be uploaded to the online application.

Budget Requirements

No more than one-thirdof the budget may cover salaries for agency staff and remuneration for non-staff personnel. Personnel Staff + Personnel Non Staff – may not exceed one-third of the total grant budget.
Staff members funded in the grant must be responsible for carrying out outcomes listed in Part 4. Please include the position title, person’s name, hourly rate, number of hours per week as well as the number of weeks the person will work on the project outcomes. See example in excel worksheet.
The grant should only fund wages earned while working on the outcomes.
Seed Grants are limited funds intended to support the recruitment of part-time youth or community members of the target population as opposed to the employment of new agency staff. Therefore:
Fringe benefits will not be covered.
The hourly remuneration for non-staff members will not exceed $10.00/hour which exceeds the New York State Minimum wage while remaining appropriate for participants who may not have urban agriculture skills. Non-staff members are encouraged to include youth interns or community participants form the target population.
Supervisory positions, including Executive Directors, will not be funded.
Seed Grants are intended to fund direct project costs. Items over $200 in the ‘Other’ category must be pre-approved by UWNYC-HPNAP prior to fund distribution.

Budget Details & Justification

Provide details as requested in each question. Expenses for each item must be related to the urban farm project. Receipts and invoices for items purchased with Seed Grant funds (including fuel, car rental, and documentation of miles) will be required as part of both the interim and final report, along with justifications for each item. Time sheets and/or payroll copies for each consultants and non-staff personnel will be required as part of the final report.

Consultant hires must be justified. Note that a consultant can be an organization, such as the Horticultural Society of New York, or an individual with demonstrated urban farming expertise.