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Inquiry proposals for Advocacy Advance’s Capacity Building Grants are due this Friday, March 9.

This year, $25,000 in grants will be awarded to support the development and professionalization of state and local advocacy organizations to increase rates of biking and walking. These matching grants, funded by Planet Bike, can be used for campaigns that will support organizational development, hire staff, increase membership, and other tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization.

Refer to the Advocacy Advance Grants FAQs document for a summary of the common questions, as well as additional information on the grants and application process.

Advocacy Advance is pleased to offer an additional $35,000 in Rapid Response Grants in 2012 to help state and local organizations take advantage of unexpected opportunities to win, increase, or preserve funding for biking and walking.

Advocacy Advance — a partnership of the League of American Bicyclists and the Alliance for Biking & Walking, funded by SRAM — has awarded more than $600,000 in grants and scholarships to member organizations since 2009. In addition to grants, the Advocacy Advance team provides resources, technical assistance, coaching, and training to bike/ped advocacy organizations around the country.

If you have any questions, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or call her at 202-621-5442.

Last week, the Alliance hosted two question-and-answer calls for advocates interested in applying for 2012 Advocacy Advance Capacity Building Grants.

Refer to the Advocacy Advance Grants FAQs document for a summary of the questions asked during both sessions, as well as additional information on the grants and application process.

Advocacy Advance is a partnership between the Alliance and the League of American Bicyclists. This year, a total of $60,000 in awards will go to organizations applying for Rapid Response and Capacity Building Grants. Learn more about our two types of grants and download Inquiry Proposal Forms on the Advocacy Advance website.

Do you have additional questions about what makes a campaign vs. a program? Visit the Alliance Resource Library to review our Campaign Checklist. What have other grantee organizations accomplished with their awards? Read more here. Do you still have questions? Contact Brighid O’Keane by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or at 202-621-5442.

Inquiry proposals for Capacity Building Grants are due Friday, March 9. Rapid Response proposals are accepted on a rolling basis.

Join us this Thursday and Friday, February 16 and 17 at 1 p.m. Eastern for question-and-answer sessions for prospective applicants for Advocacy Advance Capacity Building Grants. Click here to register for one of the calls.

Capacity Building Grants support the development and professionalization of state and local advocacy organizations to increase rates of biking and walking. These matching grants, funded by Planet Bike, can be used for organizational development, hiring staff, building membership and for other organizational tools to foster a sustainable advocacy organization.

Visit the Advocacy Advance website for a detailed outline, including guidelines, criteria and other requirements. Inquiry applications are available online and are due by March 9.

If you have any questions, contact Brighid .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). If you are interested but unable to attend one of the calls, a recording will be posted on the Advocacy Advance website early next week.

Just in time for the long weekend, we’ve uploaded a number of new videos to the Alliance Resource Library this week. But that’s not all…

• Before you press play and kick back with YouTube, make sure you delve into two important reports that came out this week:
  • Dangerous By Design 2011 was released by Transportation for America on Tuesday, casting the spotlight on the epidemic of preventable pedestrian deaths across the U.S.

  • The Advocacy Advance team released a new/updated report on “Getting a Fair Share for Safety from the Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP): Bicycle and Pedestrian Advocacy Case Studies,” examining the states that have successfully dedicated federal safety funds to reduce bicycle and pedestrian fatalities and crashes.

• As for the videos…

  • A beautiful two minutes of inspiration from our friends at Planet Bike

  • Four great, new PSAs from the just-launched Safe Streets Save Lives campaign in South Carolina

  • An impressive “Active and Green Transportation” video produced by high school students in Marin County, CA

  • A video from Transportation Alternatives, highlighting the work of Bronx residents — and students — in improving safety at a dangerous intersection

  • A video from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition featuring three residents talking about their desire for bike lanes on 7th Street — in three different languages

  • A clip from “Beauty and the Bike” — a movie documenting an effort to get more girls riding in Darlington, UK (a resource that came up in our Mutual Aid Call on Bringing More Women into the Movement earlier this week!)

  • And, last but not least, some informative and humorous PSAs from the New York City Department of Transportation telling cyclists “Don’t be a Jerk” and obey traffic laws (don’t miss Commissioner Jannette Sadik-Khan calling John Leguizamo a jerk!)

Enjoy — and have a great long weekend!

A little Bike to Work Day inspiration from our friends at Planet Bike...

Planet Bike from Planet Bike on Vimeo.

Last week, in the early morning of April 1, a young woman was struck and killed while bicycling near California State University. The Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates responded almost immediately, reacting proactively to the tragedy with an effort to make cyclists more visible during the most dangerous nighttime hours.

According to The Sacramento Bee, Arlene Sasse, 22, was killed when a driver alleged did not see her cycling through the intersection of Carlson and J streets. The crash occurred less than 100 yards from a ghost bike memorializing the death of a bicyclist in the same area last year. “We don’t yet have clear understanding of what happened last night and will continue to gather information,” Tricia Hedahl, SABA Executive Director, said in the group’s April 1 press release.

But, while the city department of transportation investigated the cause, SABA didn’t wait to take direct action. The advocates immediately leveraged their Light On! program to raise awareness around CSUS and in the wider community by distributing free headlight and taillight sets near the campus. “We hope that giving out lights will be a one small step toward helping repair a campus that is torn over this disaster,” Hedahl said. “SABA’s other goal is to educate cyclists that they are required to have lighting equipment after dark. Light On! will make 50 bicyclists more visible and many drivers more aware.”

The Light On! program is supported by Planet Bike. Read more here.