Chesapeake Implementation Grant Tip Sheet

Chesapeake Implementation Grant Tip Sheet

(This cheat sheet refers sequentially to each section and field in Easygrants required for this program.)

When Starting an Application take Note!

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PROJECT INFORMATION

-Grant Amount Being Requested from NFWF: For SWG, requests must be between $20,000 and $200,000. For INSRG, requests must be between $200,000 and $500,000.

-Matching Contributions Proposed: There is a 25% non-federal matching requirement; therefore, the Matching Contributions Proposed must be a least one-quarter of the total project costs. The minimum match should be calculated as follows:25% x (X + Y), where X = Grant Amount Being Requested from NFWF and Y = Matching Contributions Proposed. Please note that for INSRG, matching contributions of 50% are strongly encouraged.

-Projected Grant Start Date: Projects generally should begin between September 2014 and February 2015.

-Projected Grant End Date: Projects should be completed within two years of the start date (three for INSR).

-Project Title/Name: Please don’t call your project “Chesapeake Grant Proposal”. Give it a short, descriptive name that will distinguish it from the competition. (60 character limit)

-Project Description: Use the first sentence to describe what your project will achieve and the second sentence to describe what is unique or special about your project. (200 character limit)

-Project Abstract: Provide a more detailed description of your project, including major activities, outcomes and partners.(1500 character limit)

-Keyword(s): You are encouraged to use the “Help” feature in Easygrants to identify Keywords. Most applicants’ Keywords will include: Conservation Action, Conservation Threat, and Major Habitat Type.

-Sub-keyword(s): You are encouraged to use the “Help” feature in Easygrants to identify Sub-keywords. The definitions of these categories may not be apparent from their titles.

PROJECT LOCATION

-Project Location Country(ies): All projects must occur within “North America – United States”.

-Project Location State/Province: Please select all states and districts that apply. Your project must take place within the Chesapeake Bay watershed, and therefore only within the following states: the District of Columbia, Delaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.

-Project Location U.S. Congressional District(s):As of January 1, 2013, congressional district lines were redrawn in many states. Please carefully review the district(s) for your project's location when entering them into your full proposal application in Easygrants. If you are not sure what the congressional district(s) should be, you can enter the project zip codes or addresses at determine thecorrect district(s) for your project.

-Project Location Description: Please include the county/city where the project will occur as well as the most appropriate scale of watershed. Longitude and latitude are especially helpful.(200 character limit)

ACTIVITIES and METRICS

Follow the steps below to provide NFWF with the metrics that you will use to show progress on your project’s primary activities and outcomes.

1: Select the Activity/Outcome template from the drop-down list below, and click Select. The page will refresh and load the metrics. If you would like to preview the template, click Preview. The templates shown include the funding opportunity’s primary activities/outcomes and the metrics by which NFWF expects to measure progress on them.

2: Enter data for any applicable metrics. An Activity/Outcome may be edited by clicking the Add button to the right. Once an Activity/Outcome has had data entered the button will change to Edit. Notes may be added to a metric by clicking the Notes link on the right.

3: If a listed metric is not essential to your project, you MustDeletethat metric to remove it from the list in order to proceed.
Repeat steps 1-3 to include the primary metrics that are necessary for showing progress on your project’s key activities and outcomes. When you are finished, click Continue to move to the next page.
Note: In your project narrative, you will have the opportunity to describe additional activities and outcomes associated with your project. However, if you want to add a metric here by which your project will be assessed, click Add Other.

UPLOADS

To complete your application, you must upload a number of files into Easygrants. In general, please minimize the file size of your uploads, and especially files that include photos or diagrams or logos.

-Full Proposal Narrative: The most important upload is your actual full proposal narrative. The full proposal narrative template may be downloaded from Easygrants at any time and completed at your leisure. It must be uploaded back into your Easygrants application before your application may be submitted. The narrative may not exceed ten pages in total length.

-In addition to the narrative, several other files should be uploaded. Following is guidance regarding all required and optional uploads:

Upload / Required or Optional / Notes
Narrative / Required / Template provided. Ten page limit.
Board of Trustees or Directors* / Required / Provide a list of members. If your organization is not a nonprofit and does not have a Board, upload a document stating that none exists.
A-133 Audit* / Required / If you organization has not expended over $500,000 in Federal funds in the last year, upload a statement stating that an A-133 Audit is not required.
GAAP audited financial statements* / Required / If your organization does not have GAAP audited financial statements, you may upload a balance sheet and profit/loss statement.
IRS Form 990* / Required / If your organization is not a nonprofit, upload a document stating that a 990 is not required.
Statement of Litigation* / Required / Template provided.
Spatial Data / Required / Please upload spatial data to show the location(s) of your proposed project in the form of a GIS polygon shapefile or Google Earth .kmz polygon file (Google Earth is a free download at Please zip all spatial data into one file before uploading using your Easygrants ID as the filename (e.g. 12345.zip).
Letters of Support / Optional / Recommended from significant partners, especially those providing matching contributions.
Map of project site and/or site design / Optional / Strongly recommended for restoration projects.
Photos / Optional / Please compress photos to minimize file size.
Other documents / Optional / 10 page limit

*If your organization has recently applied to NFWF for a grant and this information already is on file in Easygrants and is current, you will not be askedfor these uploads and these categories will not appear to you in Easygrants.

BUDGET

This section provides budget detail for the “Grant Amount Being Requested from NFWF”, and the total of the budget line items must be equal to the “Grant Amount Being Requested from NFWF”. It should not include matching funds. Please note that no part of the budget (neither NFWF funds nor match) may include: advocacy/lobbying; fundraising; litigation; terrorist activities; nor activities in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

MATCHING CONTRIBUTIONS

List each source of matching contributions separately in the space provided. Matching contributions may include both cash and in-kind contributions. Please note the restrictions on use of matching funds above. Regarding indirect: if your organization has a Federally-negotiated indirect rate, which, when applied to this project would exceed the NFWF cap of 15%, any difference may count as a matching contribution (i.e., “foregone indirect”). NOTE: The total of all line items entered in this section must equal EXACTLY the total “Matching Contributions Proposed” in the PROJECT INFORMATION.

PERMITS and APPROVALS

If Permits and/or Approvals are required for this project, please list all permits and/or approvals required and their status (e.g., received, applied for on Jan. 1, 2014, etc.).

REVIEW AND SUBMIT

When you are ready to submit, each section of your proposal should be indicated “Complete” with a green check mark in the “Status” column. If any section is indicated “Incomplete” with a red “X”, you will not be able to submit and must go back and check your work in each section that is “Incomplete”.

To view and save your proposal you may click on the “View PDF” button. This function creates a composite file with all of the fields and uploads, which you may then save as a stand-alone document. Please note that the “Applicant-identified Reviewer Information” section will appear empty in your submission because it is not required for this program.

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