You need a Strong Foundation
Anytime you make a proposal for an education grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, always make sure that your request is based on employing good scientific thinking, effective problem solving while showing you possess the ability for making decisions. You will not gain a grant for simply presenting information and opinions. Any project seeking funding must have as its basis the ability to teach analytical skills that will lead participants to make responsible decisions about how to protect the environment.
Eligibility Requirements
It is important that your organization is, first of all, eligible to obtain grant funds:
* Your organization must be a university or college; a local government or a Native American tribal government educational or environmental jobs agency; a not-for-profit organization which is a 501(c) (3); or is a non-commercial broadcasting entity aimed at educational programming
* A school district or not-for-profit organization or college or university must apply and not an individual faculty member
* Any local or state entity that partners with a public agency to conduct environmental educational programming
* Applicants must be based in the United States or its territories although partner organizations and actual project activities may be located in either Canada or Mexico
* All applicants must affirm that they are not prohibited from receiving federal funds and awarded grants to the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) or any associated organizations or affiliations
* Organizations must meet the deadlines for applications submitted
The Application Process
All application materials required for a proposal need to be submitted in the following way:
* There are two federal forms: SF 424 and budget SF 424-A
* Up to a seven-page work plan:
1. A one-page summary
2. A full project description
3. An evaluation of the plan
4. A detailed budget showing match amounts
5. Necessary appendices
* Project timeline
* A logic model depicting outputs and outcomes
* Personnel qualifications
* Program capabilities
* Letters of description stating partner responsibility if applicable
Grants up to a request of $50,000 can be submitted to an EPA regional office. Grant amounts of more than $50,000 must be submitted to the EPA headquarters in Washington DC. The maximum allowable limit for a grant is $200,000
It is important you describe how the project will meet at least one of EPA's educational priorities, such as education teaching environmental jobs. Never try to address in a single proposal every priority the EPA has listed in the solicitation notice. Projects selected are those that have a clearly defined purpose that can be reasonably accomplished rather than proposals that attempt to take on several different priorities at once.
