Advocacy Advance Grants

Purpose and Overview
Types of Grants
Application Process
Evaluation Process
Conflict of Interest Statement
The Advocacy Advance Grants Committee
Advocacy Advance Partnership
Past Grant Recipients

Purpose and Overview

Purpose
Bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations play the most important role in improving and increasing biking and walking in local communities, states, and provinces. Advocacy Advance Grants enable state and local bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations to develop, transform, and provide innovative strategies in their communities.

Grants Overview
Thanks to remarkable support from SRAM, Planet Bike, and Bikes Belong, the Alliance for Biking & Walking is pleased to provide approximately $225,000 in grants to member organizations in 2010. The Advocacy Advance Grants are one-year grants, awarded two times per year (Spring and Summer) to startup organizations and innovative campaigns to dramatically increase biking and walking. Through the Advocacy Advance Partnership with the League of American Bicyclists, the Alliance will provide necessary technical assistance, coaching, and training to supplement the grants.

Types of Grants

Startup/Capacity Building Grants

Startup/Capacity Building Grants assist emerging and expanding organizations with matching grants. Grants of $5,000 to $30,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar, to new funds raised by the recipient organization within one year of the grant award. The goal of these grants is to leverage private and public investment and launch campaigns that clearly increase biking and walking to grow and sustain biking and walking organizations. Grants will be used for organizational development, to hire staff, to stimulate membership, and for other organizational tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization. Priority for Startup/Capacity Building Grants will be given to organizations serving cities and states that demonstrate the greatest potential for biking and walking advocacy organizations.

Startup/Capacity Building Criteria:

Organization must state its purposes within its geographic region (local/state/province)
Organization must have at least one clear, winnable campaign
Organization must identify key staff that will be hired to support or expand stated efforts

Organizations and groups may apply for Startup/Capacity Building Grants if they are:

A bicycling and/or walking advocacy organization
A current Alliance member or a newly forming organization (less than 1-year-old) that is not yet a member of the Alliance*
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization with the Internal Revenue Service or a charity registered with the Canada Revenue Agency; if not, a fiscal sponsor with a tax identification number is required

Innovation Grants

Innovation Grants help existing organizations take bold, innovative steps to increase biking and walking and improve safety. Successful applicants will demonstrate a campaign that shifts personal behavior and builds an inclusive movement. Priority will be given to campaigns that create successful models that can spread throughout North America and to organizations that have a clear plan for sharing their success.

Innovation Criteria:

Infrastructure: Spurs groundbreaking designs (e.g. European designs, reprogramming of street spaces)
Funding: Yields new sources of funding for biking and walking (e.g. opens new revenue streams or revamps old programs that are ripe for change)
Marketing: Creates cause-related marketing and encouragement programs (e.g. new media, new audiences, social marketing)
Partnerships: Develops mainstream partnerships (e.g. transit, seniors, health, business)

Organizations may apply for Innovation Grants if they are:

A biking and/or walking advocacy organization that is a current member of the Alliance for Biking & Walking*
A 501(c)(3) charitable organization or registered as a charity with Canada Revenue Agency
A mature organization with a paid executive director, sufficient capacity, and an operating budget of at least $100,000 per year

Successful applicants will demonstrate a proven track record and an achievable work plan. Grants of $5,000 to $30,000 will be matched, dollar for dollar, to new funds raised by the recipient organization within one year of the grant award.

The Alliance’s ability to award grants is dependent upon receipt of the support pledged for this program.

*Non-members are required to join the Alliance or partner with an existing Alliance member organization to present a proposal.

Application Process

To minimize time invested on proposals, the application is administered in two phases: Inquiry and full proposal. The inquiry phase is a simple application to provide a basic overview of your proposal. Alliance staff will review all inquiries and invite the most promising proposals to submit a full application. Organizations are invited to submit one application during each round. An organization may receive only one grant per year.

Inquiry Proposal

In a single e-mail, send the following form to Grants@PeoplePoweredMovement.org with the subject “Advocacy Advance Grant Inquiry (Startup/Capacity or Innovation) Application – [Your Organization]”

Full Proposal

For organizations that are invited to submit a full proposal, the Alliance will provide an application that includes a budget and work plan template.

Application Timeline

There are two grant cycles and corresponding deadlines in 2010.

Advocacy Advance Grants Round 1

Applicant Question-and-Answer Call: December 8, 2009
Deadline for Inquiry Application: January 13, 2010
Inquiry Applicant Notification: February 5, 2010
Deadline for Full Proposal: March 3, 2010
Applicant Notification: March 31, 2010

Advocacy Advance Grants Round 2

Applicant Question-and-Answer Call: May 5, 2010
Deadline for Inquiry Application: June 1, 2010
Inquiry Applicant Notification: June 22, 2010
Deadline for Full Proposal: July 22, 2010
Applicant Notification: Fall 2010

If you have questions, or need help with your application, do not wait until the last minute to contact Chanda Causer, Grants Manager and Training Coordinator, at Chanda@peoplepoweredmovement.org.

Evaluation Process

Inquiry Proposal Evaluation

The Advocacy Advance Team will evaluate inquiries based upon the following criteria.

Priority will be given to proposals that:

Are action and outcome oriented
Build organizational capacity (i.e. hiring of key staff, membership development, etc.)
Are strategic to increasing biking and/or walking
Accomplish clear goals and measurable objectives
Build public support, inclusion, and involvement
Are replicable to advance the movement
Reach out to underserved communities

Advocacy Advance Grants do NOT fund:

Organizations whose primary purpose is not advocacy
Events whose primary purpose is not advocacy
Campaigns for political candidates

Full Proposal:

The Grants Committee will evaluate full proposals based upon the criteria above and the project’s ability to grow the bicycle and pedestrian advocacy movement.

Please, keep in mind that each review process is rigorous, and we are only able to fund 5 to 10 percent of the applications we receive during the inquiry phase.

If your proposal is not selected, improvement is necessary before possible consideration in future grant rounds.

Conflict of Interest Statement

Individuals serving on the Grants Committee will recuse themselves in instances of a direct conflict of interest. Any applicants that intentionally attempt to lobby or influence individual members of the committee risk their proposals being removed from evaluation.

The Advocacy Advance Grants Committee

Grant Reviewers
Inquiries are pre-screened by the Advocacy Advance Team of Alliance and League staff. Selected organizations will be invited to submit a full application. The Advocacy Advance Grants Committee plays the key role of reviewing and selecting the grants for funding.

Members of the Grants Committee are volunteers who represent Alliance advisors and partner organizations. Any applicants that intentionally attempt to lobby or influence individual members of the committee risk their proposals being removed from evaluation.

Committee Members

Tim May, Enterprise Community Partners
Dick Mark, Philanthropic Advisor / Buttonwood Partnership
Sandy Fry, Capitol Region Council of Governments
Susan Polan, American Public Health Association
Martha Roskowski, Go Boulder
Sarah Strunk, Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities / Active Living by Design
Bruno Maier, Bikes Belong
Chris Morfas, Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District

Advocacy Advance Partnership

Advocacy Advance is a partnership of the Alliance for Biking & Walking and the League of American Bicyclists to support local and state advocacy efforts. Leadership funding by SRAM has enabled the Advocacy Advance Program. This program provides technical assistance, research, training, and coaching for grassroots bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations.