Chesapeake Bay Land and Water Initiative Grant Program

The Land Trust Alliance and the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network launched the Chesapeake Bay Land and Water Initiative in 2016 to deploy an integrated and innovative approach to permanent land protection, stewardship, community engagement, partnerships and public policy that will preserve and enhance water quality across the 64,000-square-mile Chesapeake Bay Watershed.

A key component of the LWI is a small grants program that has awarded $858,815 through 46 grants since 2017. Awards of between $2,500 and $ 30,000 have funded projects, built capacity and expanded participation by land trusts in water quality efforts throughout the watershed. Consistent with guidance provided by the 2019 Intermediate Evaluation, the Alliance has recently focused LWI grants on supporting collaborative conservation partnerships that pursue water quality improvement through land protection.

Support for new and emerging conservation partnerships has been among the LWI’s most impactful activities. Nearly half of the conservation partnerships that received LWI support went on to secure more robust, multi-year funding from other sources. The Alliance also provides comprehensive, ‘wrap-around’ support for these partnerships, including a peer network for partnership coordinators and online short courses on forming and sustaining partnerships.

This combination of financial support, networking and educational programming has proven effective at building emerging partnerships into powerful agents of change. In recognition of the LWI’s outsized impact on new and emerging conservation partnerships, the Alliance will focus 2024 LWI grants on supporting baseline capacity of land trusts to convene such collaborations.

The Alliance is inviting proposals between $5,000 and $10,000 to support staff capacity at land trusts that is dedicated to convening, coordinating or otherwise supporting regional conservation partnerships that pursue water quality improvement through land conservation activities. Support from members of the Chesapeake Bay Funders’ Network enables us to offer $30,000 in 2024.

Applications will be accepted through July 1.

1. Log into and review your account in our online grant system. If anything needs to be updated or changed, please contact Artis Freye. If you do not have an account in the system, please set one up by clicking on “Create an Account,” setting up your username and password for the site. (You will be asked some basic organizational and contact information.)

2. Once you have created your account and logged on, click “Apply” on the left-hand side.

3. Type in the access code 0309 in the small box on the left-hand side and press enter.

4. Provide written responses in our online system to the questions posed in the Proposal Narrative section. Concise answers are welcome, and we ask that you limit responses to the character limits provided — the fields will not permit additional characters.

   1. • Project/Collaborative Name

        100-character limit, including spaces

      • Amount requested

        20-character limit, no symbols or decimals

        Between $5,000 and $10,000

      • Total project budget amount

        20-character limit, no symbols or decimals

        Total to be spent on project activities during the project period (September 2024-August 2025)

      • Project summary

        2,000-character limit

        Summarize how your regional conservation partnership began, its partners as well as its mission and goals that pursue water quality protection through land conservation activities.

      • Outcomes

        2,000-character limit

        Describe outcomes you will pursue through this project that will grow, formalize or otherwise advance your new or emerging partnership. Please include deliverables, events or deadlines that will help you measure success or progress during the grant period.

      • Additional Information

        2,000-character limit

        If there is anything else you would like the Alliance to consider about your proposed project, please include it here. Additionally useful information may include biographical information for people working on the project, commitments from other project partners and other endorsements.

5. Please upload the following required attachments. We expect that requested budget materials will not require significant effort and time to generate. If you would like examples or templates for any of the attachments listed below, we would be happy to provide them. NOTE: There is a size limit of 2MB for each document uploaded.

   2. • Audit

        If your organization undergoes an audit, please provide a copy of your most recent audit, including a Statement of Revenue and Expense, a Statement of Financial Position and a copy of the Management Letter. If your organization does not do an audit or if your audit is not for your most recently completed fiscal year, please submit unaudited numbers for the most recently completed fiscal year.

      • Project budget

        Please delineate anticipated expenses associated with your project. Indicate expenses that will be covered by this grant as well as other overall expenses associated with the project, if any.

Grantees must respond to ad hoc information requests during the project period, including a mid-term check-in call in early 2025. Grantees must also submit a short summary on the progress and accomplishments attained through the project no later than September 15, 2025. Summaries may be submitted online by logging into the same system you used to apply for this grant. Failure to complete required reports may affect grantee’s ability to receive future grants from the Land Trust Alliance.

Upon application approval, the Alliance will send your grant agreement packet through Foundant, the same grant interface you used to apply, for review and signature.