Park City Climate Fund Grant Guidelines
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The Park City Climate Fund request for proposals seeks applications for high-impact projects that address the most urgent and pressing areas of climate work, here in the greater Park City region: reduction and/or prevention of emission sources, land sink support (carbon sequestration), community outreach & education, and Innovative Solutions.
The Park City Climate Fund aims to engage climate work champions and innovators in greater Park City to implement local climate solutions that can demonstrate high impact in the above areas of climate work, and that have the potential to be replicated by other communities, especially Mountain Towns 2030 (mt2030.org) communities.
Mountain towns, like Park City, have a special role to play in reversing global warming. We experience the impact of climate change in a visceral way when we have winter seasons without much snow, the essential ingredient for the economic livelihood of our community. Since the 1970s, Park City has lost 6 weeks (about 1 and a half months) of winter temperatures. Additionally, while our interests are local, our influence is much bigger than our small population. With the influx of more than a million tourists to Park City every year, we can influence people who come here from around the world and who will take climate change lessons and solutions home with them.
By accepting our shared responsibility to take climate action, Park City can reap a host of economic, health, and quality of life benefits for all. The Park City Climate Fund aims to support the implementation of substantive solutions that will have the greatest potential to reduce emissions or sequester carbon from the atmosphere.
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Nonprofit organizations, businesses, government entities, and coalitions and/or partnerships of the groups are eligible to apply. Grants made to entities that are not 501(c)(3) public charities may include supplemental reporting requirements.
Park City Climate Fund recognizes the many champions of climate work in our region and the limitless potential toward achieving net neutrality by pooling expertise. Impact at the partnership/coalition level brings together strengths, expertise, and resources to work in concert toward the same goal. Here is just one example, among several past grantee partnerships, with thoughtful and high impact proposals involving multiple types of expertise:
Solution Area: Support of Natural Carbon Sinks
Partnership: Wild Utah + Utah State University’s Swaner EcoCenter & Preserve
Project: Rewetting & Expansion of Wetlands
Areas of Expertise: Land Conservation and Education Entity + Project Management + Volunteer Mobilization + Scientists + Carbon Sequestration Measurement Capacity + Data Extrapolation Expertise + Communication Capacity
Learn more about this partnership >>
*This above section is not meant to discourage single-entity applicants who can demonstrate a proven track record of impact in a Solution Lane listed below. Tried-and-true systems with deep relationships to successfully implement net-zero solutions are welcome to apply.
The Park City Climate Fund will prioritize projects that focus on the greater Park City area (including Summit County and adjacent areas).
The Park City Climate Fund will prioritize projects surrounding the 4 solution areas below:
1. Reduction of Emission Sources
The solutions below represent efforts to bring sources of emissions to zero. Emission Sources include electricity production via fossil fuel, food waste, agriculture & land use, industry, transportation, residential & commercial buildings, and landfill material.
Evaluation Criteria:
2. Support of Natural Carbon Land Sinks
Land sinks – soils and vegetation – currently sequester 24-26% of human-made emissions. The solutions below preserve, expand, and enhance the land’s natural capacity to sequester carbon.
Evaluation Criteria:
3. Transformative Community Education & Outreach
This area of climate work focuses on empowering individuals to adopt new and climate-centric mindsets and behaviors. The focus of the outreach may involve the climate solutions below but is not limited by this list.
*Please Note – If a proposal intends to include participation by students in one or more K-12, such a proposal will need to be accompanied by a signed letter of support from a district/school staff member. Also, COVID-19 & Delta Variant pandemic times: The grants committee is cognizant of the uncertainty and challenges posed by in-person education and outreach.
Evaluation Criteria:
4. Innovative Solutions
Park City Climate Fund is aligned with local and regional goals to achieve net neutrality by 2030. Climate solutions 1, 2, and 3 above are considered the most pressing and time-sensitive areas of focus in our community. This 4th area of focus is reserved to support forward-thinking ideas which warrant exploration and testing given potential impact. Innovative ideas may include but are not limited to technology, systems, or upstarts aimed at reducing emissions, sequestering carbon, community outreach, or beyond.
Evaluation Criteria:
Amount Available
The total amount currently available in this grant round is $250,000. The grants committee reserves the right to make grants smaller or larger than the amounts requested by applicants or to not make any grants at all if no projects are selected for funding.
Requested Amounts
This Fund intends to target projects with significant impact, historically, grant awards have ranged from $10,000 to $75,000 per project. Applicants may request any amount, whether it is within, less than, or higher than that range.
Multiyear Grants
Applicants may request funding, this round, to cover a multi-year project. There will be an opportunity to indicate the amount of time (in years) covered by your request. An applicant’s project budget should clearly indicate the timeline as well. With regard to multi-year installment grants, the Park City Climate Fund does not offer this option at this time.
Current Restrictions
Only one application per organization per grant cycle will be considered, except when an organization is applying as a collaborative effort of two or more nonprofit organizations.
Application Information May Be Shared with the Public
In order to raise the profile of climate action in greater Park City, selected information from applications may be shared with the public, either verbally in a public meeting or in writing via digital media or other means. Applicants who do not wish part or all of their application information to be shared publicly should state that clearly in their application.
Reporting / Site Visit Requirements
1. Grantees will participate in a Site Visit approximately 6 months from the grant award.
2. Final report within 12 months of the grant award including 6-8 visuals (photos, infographics, videos, etc.)
Additional reporting requirements may apply depending on the nature of funded projects. Specific reporting requirements and dates will be provided when grants are issued. Multiyear projects will require this same frequency of reporting.
Publicity Guidelines
As a recipient of a grant from Park City Community Foundation, it is important to the Community Foundation, our donors, and the community that the grantee publicize and recognize the philanthropic support that a grantee receives. Park City Community Foundation requires the following of grant recipients:
Application Submission:
Park City Community Foundation utilizes an online grant application management system. First-time applicants will need to request login credentials from Diego Zegarra (diego@parkcitycf.org).
Partnerships and/or coalitions will need to designate a “lead applicant” who will serve as the application point of contact, as well the recipient and manager of any grant funds, and serve as the reporting source. Lead applicants are required to supply signed letters of support from each entity involved recognizing consent of the partnership and application.
Questions?
If, after reviewing the frequently asked questions page, you require further assistance, please contact Diego Zegarra (diego@parkcitycf.org).
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