OpportunityTitle: NWRS Friends Grant Program
AdditionalInformationOnEligibility: This single source funding for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and no other applicants need apply.
Description: The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) established the National Wildlife Refuge System&#146;s Friends program in 1996 to encourage and organize community involvement in activities of the National Wildlife Refuge System. The program works to expand the number and effectiveness of such community-based organizations, or Friends groups, which assist with increasing visibility and support for a refuge, the Refuge System and the diverse fish, wildlife and plant resources it protects. Today, the more than 200 Friends organizations play a vital role in helping the Fish and Wildlife Service fulfill its mission of conserving, protecting and enhancing America&#146;s fish, wildlife and plants and the habitats on which they depend. The program also supports several important laws including the National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 and the 1998 National Wildlife Refuge System Volunteer and Community Partnership Enhancement Act. Community-based partnerships between refuge Friends organizations and refuges have and increasingly play a vital role in building visibility and support for the Refuge System. Friends organizations provide many important and needed services to the Refuge System including community outreach, education program, habitat restoration, special event support, volunteer staff, and fundraising. Friends organizations provide measurable benefits to the Refuge System and the more than 40 million visitors that enjoy refuges annually. This grant program has stimulated significant interest among the public to support refuges and the greater refuge system. The Foundation has vast experience in developing and administering grant programs and shares a key interest in building visibility and support for the refuge system. As detailed in cooperative agreement No. 98210-7-J024, Section V., Subsection B, the Foundation has several specific responsibilities for this program, which they will continue doing, including: Developing the grant application kits including the RFP for each program and coordinate changes proposed by the Service and partners to accommodate specific programmatic needs; Distributing and promoting the RFPs and programs to Friends organizations and other potential partners through various means available at least two months prior to grant proposal deadlines; Providing technical assistance to potential applicants and awardees for each of the three grant programs. The Foundation&apos;s Program Director, National Wildlife Refuge System Programs, will be the point of contact for questions and additional guidance from Friends organizations and other potential partners; Ensuring that all grant proposals are logged in, numbered and organized at the Foundation and that appropriate Service and steering committee representatives receive a complete set of the proposals, a spreadsheet listing the projects, evaluation and ranking sheets, and procedures for reviewing and commenting on proposals two weeks after grant proposal deadlines; Coordinating, scheduling and hosting partner proposal review and selection meetings for each of the programs, develop a report or record of decisions made during each review and selection meeting, and provide this report to program partners no more than one week after each meeting for review and comment; Writing and distributing congratulatory and turn down letters to all program applicants, developing, issuing and managing grant agreements for individually approved projects and disbursing grant funding to grant recipients to carry out approved projects; Providing funds to selected Friends and other refuge support applicants within 60 days of selection or as practical; Providing to the Service, a report after final selections and approvals have been made under each grant program cycle, that includes number of grants awarded, total funding awarded, name of grant recipients, project titles, location of projects and associated refuge(s) and brief project descriptions; Providing to the Service, on a quarterly basis, account records to the Service that reflect requested funds by grant recipients to date to allow the Service the opportunity to evaluate expenditure of funds; Providing to the Service, on a quarterly basis, hard or electronic copies of all final programmatic reports submitted by grant recipients under each of the programs describing and evaluating project accomplishments including pictures depicting project activities; Providing the Service, on an annual basis, a summary report for each of the three programs of grants funded. This report will include information on the number of grants awarded, total funding awarded, name of grant recipients, project titles, location of projects and associated refuge(s) and brief project descriptions; and Ensuring that the Service is recognized as a sponsor and a partner in any printed or communications materials about the grant programs.
GrantorContactEmailDescription: Office e-mail
GrantorContactText: Keith Garrison &lt;br/&gt;Administrative Officer &lt;br/&gt;Phone 703-358-1809