Program Overview: In partnership with The Duke Endowment, The Conservation Fund’s Resourceful Communities program helps rural United Methodist churches strengthen their food ministries and engage in the local food economy. Support includes training, connections to resources, networking and, on occasion, direct funding through small grants.
Since 2001, Resourceful Communities has awarded more than 400 small grants, funded by public and private organizations, to support innovative community projects across North Carolina. Please visit https://goo.gl/ZXONgH and scroll to Investing in Communities for general information about the Creating New Economies Fund (CNEF) small grant program or to download a list of supported projects.
Please note that CNEF grants cannot support deficit financing, for-profit businesses, individuals or projects that do not meaningfully engage project stakeholders.
Eligibility: United Methodist Churches that serve rural communities can apply. Please visit https://goo.gl/Il0gDn to see a list of eligible churches.
Funding Priorities include:
· Projects that deepen church engagement with people who benefit from the church’s food ministry.
· Projects that engage new community partners and/ or laity.
· Projects that support local farmers, with a particular emphasis on small/ family farms.
· Projects that increase access to local, healthy food, particularly for low-income participants.
· Projects that address “root causes” of hunger and/ or challenges to local food access. Root causes often include, but are not limited to:
o Poverty/ need for local jobs
o Limited market access for low-income consumers and small farmers
o Lack of transportation to reach healthy foods
o Exclusion and inequities, especially among low-income communities and communities of color
o Limited information about nutrition or local resources
· Projects that integrate the “triple bottom line,” resulting in environmental stewardship, community economic development and social justice benefits.
· One of Resourceful Communities’ goals is to create a network of engaged and informed local partners who connect with and learn from each other. We encourage applicants to get to know and participate in our network to learn about new resources and community strategies.
· All funded projects must meaningfully engage those who benefit from the project, particularly those who are traditionally under-served and/ or excluded.
Grant Amount: Grants cannot exceed $15,000. There is no minimum amount that must be requested for a Creating New Economies Fund application to be considered, however, grants average $5,000-$10,000.
Timeline/ Questions: Grants are available on an on-going basis. Please contact Justine Post at 919-951-7554 or or Kathleen Marks at 919-951-0111 or to discuss details.
Applications: Please limit your application to six pages not including the cover sheet and budget. Use at least 11-point font. Use the form provided. ** Examples offered in this document and this page can be deleted from your final application. ** Submit via email to per instructions from staff.
Creating New Economies Fund
2017 Grant Application for
Rural United Methodist Churches
Due December 15, 2016 by 11:59 p.m.
Via email to
Contact Information
Name of Church:
Address:
Contact Person and Title:
Phone: Email:
Website and/ or Facebook page:
Project Administrator/ Email:
Who prepared application: Email:
Is your church recognized by the United Methodist Conference (NC or Western NC)? [ ] YES [ ] NO
Please visit https://goo.gl/Il0gDn to see a list of eligible churches. Is your church an eligible rural church?
[ ] YES [ ] NO
In what county and district is your church located?
Federal ID Number of applicant organization (or sponsor organization): ______
Year church was founded: Total church budget for current fiscal year:
Total staff: Total volunteers:
Project Information
Amount of Funding Requested:
Project Name/ Brief Description:
______
______
Project location, including county:
Project start date ______Completion date ______
One of Resourceful Communities’ goals is to create a network of engaged and informed local partners who connect with and learn from each other. We encourage applicants to get to know and participate in our network to learn about new resources and community strategies. Network participation might include attending workshops to build pastors’ or laity’s community engagement skills, for example; convenings on healthy eating and active living; or learning visits. If your project is funded, do you agree that your church will participate in at least one network gathering? [ ] YES [ ] NO
Resourceful Communities provides free-of-charge training and technical assistance. Please check the top three topics that will help you ensure your project is a success and broaden your partnerships.
[ ] Community engagement [ ] Strategies to access locally grown foods [ ] Partnership building
[ ] Work planning [ ] Project evaluation [ ] Volunteer recruitment [ ] Congregational engagement
Are there other topics or trainings that would help you advance your project goals?
Overview and brief project description:
1. Is your proposed project new? [ ] YES [ ] NO
2. If your project builds on an existing food ministry, please provide a *brief* description of who currently benefits from your work and the geographic area you serve. How would this funding help you deepen your ministry’s impacts?
3. Please provide a brief overview of your proposed project. What do you hope to do?
4. Access to healthy food is a challenge in many communities. Root causes often include, but are not limited to:
o Poverty/ need for local jobs
o Limited market access for low-income consumers and small farmers
o Lack of transportation to reach healthy foods
o Exclusion and inequities, especially among low-income communities and communities of color
o Limited information about nutrition, local resources or how to prepare healthy foods
Please tell us how your food ministry will address or already addresses these root causes.
Preparing for a Successful Project
5. How have the people who benefit from your project been involved in decision-making and implementation of this project, and how will they continue to engage?
6. Describe any current and/or potential collaboration or partnerships related to the proposed project, including other churches, secular groups, public agencies, farmers, inter-denominational partners, etc. For partnerships already in place, please describe what project partners have committed to do, and whether agreements (either formal or informal) are in place defining their roles and responsibilities. For potential partnerships, please describe the steps you have taken/ are taking to build the partnership. (Project partners might provide access to land or volunteers, donate supplies, deliver training, etc.)
Current partners:
Potential partners:
Getting the Project Underway
7. Please provide a basic work plan that describes what you will do to carry out your project, including steps for preparation and implementation of your work. Include major activities and a timeline.
Activities that have already been completed:
Activities that you will carry out to prepare for project: (Please consider additional staff/ volunteers, qualified individuals who can deliver programming; access to additional space/ land, contract/ agreements.)
Activities you will perform to implement the project: (For activities that will directly engage project beneficiaries, include who you will engage and serve, how you will engage with them, how many will be engaged and how often.)
Examples:
Activities that have already been completed:
· We have hosted two community conversations with those who benefit from our food ministry.
· Three community members have agreed to serve on an advisory committee to redesign the food ministry, help evaluate project impacts and perform outreach.
Activities that you will carry out to prepare for project:
· Recruit vendors for church farmers’ market. (By April 2017)
· Develop procedures for participation in market. (By April 2017)
· Develop methods to provide incentives for low-income customers. (By April 2017)
Activities you will perform to implement your project:
· Host a church market weekly. (June-August 2017)
· Perform outreach to potential customers. (April-August 2017)
· Track activities, participation and impacts (April-August 2017)
Activities that have already been completed:
Activities that you will carry out to prepare for project:
Activities you will perform to implement the project:
8. Please attach your project budget and budget narrative. Please refer to sample budget and budget narrative. Be sure to include:
· Total project budget and sources, including in-kind contributions (refer to overview), volunteer hours, services, donated equipment, etc.
· How much money is being requested from the Creating New Economies Fund and how it will be spent
· What additional funds will be used and sources of those funds
Results, Assessment and Evaluation
9. Explain what changes you hope to see when your project is successfully completed. Please list expected results of your project and key measures of success. (What do you hope will change because of your project? Who will benefit? How many will benefit? By when?) Changes can occur among program participants or in participants’ communities. Please describe how and when you will collect this information. Please note that evaluation is ongoing. It does not happen after the project is completed.
Example:
Expected Results: 20 low-income community members will learn about affordable strategies to access and prepare healthy food by September 2017.
Key Measures: ABC UMC will deliver 8 free-of-charge nutrition classes and will support double-up bucks to encourage low-income access at the local farmers’ market. Participants will take a pre- and post-class survey about their knowledge of healthy eating and where they get healthy foods.
Expected Results:
Key Measures:
2017 Creating New Economies Fund: Faith and Food Application