Open Opportunities

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada is accepting proposals for grants from the Truckee River Fund. Proposals will be considered by the Truckee River Fund Advisory Committee and grant recommendations must be approved both by the TMWA Board and the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation. The fund advisors may recommend up to a total of $800,000 in grant awards but may choose to award less than the amount available.

The mission of the Truckee River Fund is to protect and enhance water quality or water resources of the Truckee River or its watershed. To be considered for funding, project proposals must demonstrate measurable impact in accordance with this mission. Please note that land and/or water rights acquisition projects are not considered to be a Truckee River Fund priority. To see projects funded by the Truckee River Fund, please go to http://www.truckeeriverfund.org.

Projects must begin within 180 days of award. Applicants must be registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit agencies, nonprofit educational institutions, or governmental entities. Grants are paid on a reimbursable basis for actual expenditures.

Proposals are encouraged for the following: A. Projects that improve bank or channel stabilization and decrease erosion. B. Structural controls or Low Impact Development (LID) projects on tributaries and drainages to the Truckee River where data supports evidence of pollution and/or sediments entering the Truckee River. C. Projects that remove pollution from the Truckee River. D. Projects that remove or control invasive aquatic species or terrestrial invasive plant species that are adverse to water supply.2 E. Other projects that meet the grant priorities.

Applicants must provide a minimum 25 percent match for funds requested. Guidelines for requests of matching funds are provided in the attached application form. For larger grant requests, priority will be given to projects that significantly leverage the grant with funding from other sources. Indirect/overhead expenses cannot exceed 25 percent; TRF may fund indirect/overhead up to 25% based on availability of funds. Applicants should be prepared to provide reduced budgets during the review of applications by the TRF Board when funds are limited.

Deadline for submitting your completed proposal is Friday July 28, 2023 at noon. Applications must be confirmed as received by the Community Foundation of Northern Nevada by the deadline to be considered for funding. For questions or additional information, contact the Community Foundation or visit the Truckee River Fund website at www.truckeeriverfund.org.

GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for funding, grantees must adhere to the following requirements:

• Funds are to be used and/or disbursed exclusively for the charitable uses and purposes.
• The Fund shall be used exclusively for projects that protect and enhance water quality or water resources of the Truckee River, or its watershed.
• The Charitable Beneficiaries may include 501(c)(3) organizations and governmental entities. Any grants to governmental entities must be made exclusively for public benefit purposes.
• All grantees will be required to sign a grant agreement stipulating their agreement with all of the terms, conditions, and reporting requirements.
• Organizations or entities sponsoring proposals are prohibited from ex parte communications regarding such proposals with members of the Truckee River Fund Advisory Committee while such proposals are pending before the Committee, and such communications may be grounds for rejecting a proposal.
• To maintain eligibility to receive grant funds, each Charitable Beneficiary must comply at all times with the following requirements:

1. Charitable Beneficiaries must be exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code;
2. Charitable Beneficiaries shall use all Fund distributions toward projects that are appropriate and legal public expenditures;
3. Charitable Beneficiaries must provide financial details and/or reports of their organizations upon request;
4. Charitable Beneficiaries must not use any Fund distributions for political contributions or political advocacy;
5. Charitable Beneficiaries must either implement the projects, activities, and/or programs for which they received Fund distributions within six months of the date in which such distributions are received or by date(s) as agreed upon in the grant acceptance agreement, or must return all such distributions to the Community Foundation forthwith;
6. Charitable Beneficiaries must provide the Community Foundation a report detailing the completion of their projects, activities, and/or programs; and
7. Charitable Beneficiaries must sign an agreement regarding their compliance with the qualifications hereof.

PROJECT EVALUATION

Each proposal will be evaluated on criteria that include but are not limited to:

• Measurable outcomes in accordance with stated grant priorities.
• Readiness of sponsoring organization to undertake and complete project.
• Consistency with established Truckee River operations.
• Impact on other River stakeholders.
• Absence of negative or unintended consequences.
• Solutions to known problems as identified through past research.
• Prior performance on grants from the Truckee River Fund.

The Nature Conservancy and Truckee River Watershed Council have conducted assessments of the Truckee River and the Donner Lake watersheds and have presented their findings to the Truckee River Fund advisory committee. The results of these assessments may influence the advisors’ decision-making during proposal review. Copies of the assessments are available at www.truckeeriverfund.org. 

For more information and to begin your grant application, visit our new online grant manager.

If you think that you or someone at your organization has already registered in the system, do not create a new account. Please contact Lauren Renda at lrenda@nevadafund.org to receive your username.

The Community Foundation of Northern Nevada accepts proposals year-round for grants from the Dream Tags Charitable Fund. Proposals will be considered by the Advisory Board on Dream Tags at their next meeting and on an as-needed basis for emergency funding requests. Grant recommendations must be approved by the Board of Trustees of the Community Foundation. Deadline for non-emergency proposals is noon on July 28, 2023. Emergency funding requests may be submitted at any time using the Emergency Request for Proposal form.

The Dream Tags Charitable Fund provides funding to engage Nevadans in wildlife conservation by focusing donated funds to restore resilience in at-risk Nevada habitats with strategic collaborative projects for sustained impact that supports the preservation, protection, management, or restoration of big game, other wildlife, and their habitat. To be considered for funding, project proposals must demonstrate measurable impact in accordance with this purpose.

Applicants must be registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit agencies, nonprofit educational institutions, or governmental entities. Projects must be performed in Nevada. Grants are typically paid on a reimbursable basis for actual expenditures. Funding will not be provided for work performed prior to grant approval. 

GRANTEE REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for funding, grantees must adhere to the following requirements:

• Monies are to be used and/or disbursed exclusively for the charitable uses and purposes.
• The Dream Tags Fund shall be used exclusively to provide support for the preservation, protection, management or restoration of Nevada’s big game and wildlife habitat
• The Charitable Beneficiaries may include 501(c)(3) organizations and governmental entities. Any grants to governmental entities must be made exclusively for public benefit purposes.
• All grantees will be required to sign a grant agreement stipulating their agreement with all of the terms, conditions, and reporting requirements.
• To maintain eligibility to receive grant funds, each Charitable Beneficiary must comply at all times with the following requirements:

1. Charitable Beneficiaries must be exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501(c)(3) of the Code;
2. Charitable Beneficiaries shall use all Fund distributions toward projects that are appropriate and legal public expenditures;
3. Charitable Beneficiaries must provide financial details and/or reports of their organizations upon request;
4. Charitable Beneficiaries must not use any Fund distributions for political contributions or political advocacy;
5. Charitable Beneficiaries must implement the projects, activities, and/or programs for which they received Fund distributions as agreed upon in the grant acceptance agreement or must return all such distributions to the Community Foundation forthwith;
6. Charitable Beneficiaries must provide the Community Foundation with quarterly reports detailing the activities of their projects and/or programs; and
7. Charitable Beneficiaries must sign an agreement regarding their compliance with the qualifications hereof.

PROJECT EVALUATION CRITERIA

Each proposal will be evaluated on criteria that include but are not limited to:

• Measurable outcomes in accordance with the exclusive goal of the Dream Tags Charitable Fund.
• Monitoring and reporting to learn from the project and track project accomplishments.
• Closeness of project focus to areas of funding emphasis (on-the-ground habitat improvements).
• Readiness of sponsoring organization to undertake and complete project.
• Opportunities to partner with others to leverage funds and accomplish larger outcomes.
• Consistency with established Dream Tags Charitable Fund operations (timeline, match, etc.).
• Impact on preservation, protection, management, or restoration of Nevada’s big game and wildlife habitat
• Absence of negative or unintended consequences.
• Solutions to known problems as identified through past research and monitoring

For more information and to begin your grant application, visit our new online grant manager.

If you think that you or someone at your organization has already registered in the system, do not create a new account. Please contact Lauren Renda at lrenda@nevadafund.org to receive your username.