2009 Mini Grant Program Materials

2009 Mini Grant Award Recipients

Renewable Resources Coalition (Alaska)
Project Title:  Renewable Resources Coalition Capacity Building

The Renewable Resource Coalition (RRC) will develop an organizational plan guiding efforts to protect the area’s outstanding natural resources. A facilitator will be used to guide board, staff and partners in developing the strategic plan and resulting individual work plans. Development of RRC’s strategic plan is essential for organization capacity building, implementing National Wildlife Federation’s mission and strategic plan, and growing the region’s conservation movement and related outreach. 

The project helps the RRC grow by; Developing an organization strategic plan and related individual staff work plans;  Aligning mission-driven projects with actions supported by local stakeholders; Providing leadership development training for staff and board members; Helping to recruit, engage, and acquire members; Increasing credibility and making new alliances with partners and funders; and Providing follow-up actions to diversify funding.

The project addresses key issues in NWF’s Strategic Plan. The project will address the protection of the Bristol Bay watershed from the large-scale habitat loss impacts of the proposed Pebble Mine. The project will connect people to nature and build a movement supporting the protection of the Bristol Bay region. The project also builds the regional and national conservation movement.

Alabama Wildlife Federation
Project Title:  Lanark Field Days:  Connecting Children to the Outdoors

Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, so AWF places a high priority on educating our youth and providing them with positive outdoor experiences and a love for nature that they will carry into their adult years. From “icky” to awesome - that’s the mindset transformation children undergo when they visit the Alabama Nature Center (ANC), a unique outdoor facility located on the property of the Alabama Wildlife Federation in Millbrook. At the ANC, K-12 school groups are introduced to Lanark Field Days, AWF’s signature conservation education program consisting of customized, hands-on outdoor field trips that address Alabama Course of Study Objectives.  Subject matter includes Alabama’s cultural and natural history, water resources, forests, soils, and wildlife, and the role of conservation as it relates to these natural resources.  Learning takes place in a natural environment away from the confines of a traditional classroom and the distractions of electronic media. While learning how to conserve our country’s most vital natural resources, students get to connect with nature at the ANC through such activities as fishing, wetland hikes, orienteering, nature scavenger hunts, bluebird house construction, and rock hounding.

Delaware Nature Society
Project Title:  "Voice it!" Action Alert Email Program

The Delaware Nature Society fosters a reasoned, balanced and researched viewpoint on the environment and has earned widespread credibility for the organization’s ability to facilitate networks among community, industry, and government groups for science- based solutions to environmental problems. The majority of communications regarding the Society’s positions on environmental issues originate from staff and few select members of the Advocacy Committee of the Board

The ability to build a broader grassroots network will strengthen the Society’s voice on environmental issues and has the potential to result in more positive change to protect and restore critical natural resources. The organization has committed to a multi year effort to engage 1,500 grassroots activists to help confront global warming climate change, demand increased funding for open space, forest and farmland preservation, and protect streams, rivers, and wetlands.

The NWF mini-grant will enable the Society to secure the Legislative Data Assignment module for the organization’s iMIS database. The module will pair constituents with their specific legislator’s information. With these tools in place, the Delaware Nature Society will create a “Voice It!” initiative through which constituents will receive targeted email alerts on critical environmental issues and be provided with the tools to communicate effectively with decision makers.

Prairie River Network (Illinois)
Project Title:  Online Communications Project

Prairie Rivers Network (PRN) will develop a sophisticated online strategy to use the Internet generally, and social media specifically, to reach new audiences, increase and diversify our membership, and provide our supporters with new ways to make a difference on behalf of Illinois’ rivers and related habitats. The goal of the project is to develop an action plan to use the Internet to grow a broader base of informed and empowered supporters who are taking steps to make a difference for Illinois rivers and related natural areas. We have identified a highly suitable consultant, with expertise in both online communications and environmental advocacy, who is ready to help us use online tools to work in new ways.

PRN expects the following outcomes; A clear vision for how to use the Internet to recruit and mobilize Illinois residents; Investment and action plan that incorporates online communications and social media tools; Recommended software tools, an implementation roadmap, and appropriate training; Work and training plans that ensure PRN staff have the time and skills they need to deliver on their responsibilities under the plan.

New Mexico Wildlife Federation
Project Title:  Youth Hunting Camp

New Mexico Wildlife Federation’s Youth Hunting Camp will be a fantastic opportunity for New Mexico kids and young adults to develop hunting and outdoor skills many likely would not otherwise develop. These skills create the foundation for appreciating and enjoying wildlife and wilderness throughout a lifetime. Over the course of a weekend in the Doña Ana County wilderness, 40 camp attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a number of activities and seminars on a variety of topics such as: archery, small game hunting, gun safety, survival skills, animal tracking, etc. With proper guidance from a variety of experts, including Department of Game & Fish personnel as well as New Mexico Wildlife Federation staff and members, kids attending the Youth Hunting Camp will hone skills that will inspire confidence in themselves, the desire to spend more time outdoors, and a personal interest in protecting wildlife and wild lands because they will become personally connected to them. All attendees will become official Youth Members of New Mexico Wildlife Federation and will be contacted periodically throughout the years to come to encourage volunteering or participation in other activities as appropriate to continue to encourage involvement.

Texas Conservation Alliance
Project Title:  Recruitment of Member Organizations Using High-Visibility Project

In 2007 Texas Conservation Alliance began recruiting member organizations and now has 31 – an excellent mix of “green” groups, sportsmen, and recreation groups.  This past year the Alliance launched an exciting initiative to promote designating the Neches River as a National Scenic River. 

Alliance leaders have found that these two projects have a natural synergy that links them together.  Organizations want to join the Alliance because it is involved in such an exciting project.  Potential supporters of the Neches Scenic River Initiative are impressed and reassured by the breadth and diversity of the member-group alliance.  When approaching foundations, individual donors, potential member organizations, new individual members, persons of influence who might be interested in the Neches, and colleague groups, talking about the two aspects of the Alliance’s future – building a network to increase the organization’s influence and promoting the high-visibility, nationally-significant Neches project – has proven very effective.

Over the next year, Texas Conservation Alliance will be making a major push to expand the number of hunting and fishing organizations who are member groups of the Alliance and working hard to protect the beautiful Neches River from unneeded dams that together would flood 175,000 acres of irreplaceable bottomland hardwood forest. 

Virgin Islands Conservation Society (VICS)
Project Title:  VICS Capacity Building

The Virgin Islands Conservation Society (VICS) was awarded a $5,000 mini-grant to build organizational capacity needed to better achieve its conservation mission and improve its overall effectiveness. 

Established in 1968, VICS is the oldest conservation organization operating continuously in the USVI and an affiliate of NWF for 20 years.  The VICS board of directors believes that the organizational capacity must be strengthened in order to more effectively conserve the unique islands environments of the USVI.  Since its inception, VICS has served as a corporate umbrella for two chapter organizations: The St. Croix Environmental Association (SEA) and the Environmental Association of St Thomas and St. John (EAST).  VICS has traditionally provided substantial legal services and modest business management services, leaving the two chapter organizations to focus on advocacy, education and restoration efforts.

A key goal of the capacity building project is the adoption of a 5-year strategic plan by the end of 2009.  The strategic planning process serves to educate, train and develop the capacity of the board of directors and partners in addition to serving as a guiding document for implementation of clearly defined conservation goals and objectives.  Included will be the adoption of a set of policies and procedures to ensure sound governance as an organization.  New chapter, partner and membership recruitment is a major predicted outcome of this strategic process.   Increasing VICS chapters, partners and membership will achieve higher organizational visibility, awareness and effectiveness throughout the USVI.