Southeast Conference and Spruce Root seek proposals
for capacity-building microgrants
Southeast Conference and Spruce Root are soliciting proposals from eligible Southeast Alaska organizations for microgrants that further Southeast Alaska Sustainability Strategy’s goals of supporting a diverse economy, conserve natural resources, and improve community resiliency and Tribal engagement and stewardship throughout Southeast Alaska.
Capacity-building microgrants
Scope of Work:
Under this Request for Proposals (RFP), Southeast Conference and Spruce Root are now accepting applications for microgrants to support capacity building in Southeast Alaska and complement the existing SASS program. Microgrant awards will range from $5,000 to $15,000.
Two types of projects can be proposed: preliminary project development or organizational capacity building.
Preliminary project development proposals will advance a promising SASS-related idea into a more mature state ready for a larger grant application or revenue-generating activity. Projects should have a specific project concept identified and be able to describe how funding through this RFP will be used to advance the project concept significantly. Funding can be used to prepare for a specific grant (or revenue-generating activity), although it is not required for proposers to have future funding sources identified yet. The focus should be on defining a discrete project with significant potential impact and describing how the use of microgrant funds will improve the proposer’s understanding of project viability and readiness for additional funding sources.
Capacity-building proposals can address a variety of topics that will increase operational capacity in areas of leadership development, organizational development, strategic planning, collaboration and community engagement, and effectiveness evaluation. It is intended that capacity-building projects will be awarded only to organizations with defined projects and programs aligned with the mission of SASS.
Both types of proposals should be aligned with the goals of SASS and be conducted in a collaborative fashion with other entities in the region or community.
Eligible Entities:
Organizations must meet the following requirements to qualify for the capacity building microgrant:
Be a registered nonprofit, local government, Tribe, or Alaska Native Corporation.
Have an existing project or scope of work in the Southeast Alaska region and be working on strengthening community, ecological, and environmental resiliency in a collaborative fashion.
Funding Available:
Funding is secured through SEC’s cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development under the SASS program. Selected proposals will be funded for a timeline of up to six months. Microgrants will range in amount from $5,000 to $15,000, with projects outside that range not considered for funding.
Proposal Submission Process:
Application: Apply for a SASS capacity building microgrant using the form at this link.
Deadline: The first round of proposals will be reviewed on March 15th, 2024. If funding remains, proposals will then be accepted, reviewed, and funded on a rolling basis until available funding is exhausted.
Public Information: Applications may be distributed throughout the reviewing organizations/individuals for comment. Proprietary information should not be submitted in your application.
Preparation Costs: Southeast Conference is not eligible for any costs incurred by the proposer during the proposal preparation.
Questions: Inquiries regarding this RFP should be directed to Alex Pear (alex@seconference.org) and Dan Lesh (dan@seconference.org).
Evaluation Criteria and Award Process:
All proposals must be working to further cultural, ecological, and environmental resiliency in Southeast Alaska in line with SASS’s mission. Criteria for evaluating proposals is as follows:
Project impact on building capacity to strengthen community, ecological, and environmental resiliency in Southeast Alaska. (40%)
Demonstration of alignment with SASS objectives and collaboration/ partnerships throughout region. (30%)
Objectives are clearly defined and there is a demonstrated ability to complete objectives successfully and within a reasonable timeline. (30%)
Scoring of each proposal against the criteria listed above will be conducted by a review committee. The committee reserves the right to reject any and all of the proposals received. If necessary, the review committee may select the proposals that, in its sole view, most nearly conform to its needs as outlined in this RFP and then negotiate directly with proposers to achieve a contract/project that fully satisfies the review committee’s needs.