CD Education Mini-Grants

The CD Education Mini-Grants program, funded by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, aims to support local conservation districts in their educational efforts. Grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 are available for projects that promote conservation education among youth and adults. Eligible projects include workshops, field trips, and resource development, all aimed at fostering a deeper understanding of natural resource management in Montana.

NOTE: Implementation begins No sooner than 3 months following application submission.
DNRC's Conservation Districts Bureau offers state-funded grants provided by the legislature with the goal of empowering conservation districts to conserve the natural resources of Montana through locally-led conservation. Grant funds can be used for implementing on-the-ground projects, delivering educational programming to youth and adults, assisting landowners with innovative conservation practices, and for district operations.
CD grants are only available to Montana's 58 conservation districts.
Education mini grants are intended to assist conservation districts with small-scale conservation and natural resource educational projects that may not be included in the annual workplan and generally focus on a specific audience (e.g., 5 th grade students) or a specific topic (e.g., rain barrel workshop). Activities for both youth and adults are eligible. Mini education projects must be approved and administered by their local conservation district and align with the district’s goals.
Example projects include organizing and attending workshops, school field trips, adult or youth programs, promoting educational opportunities, developing resources for the community, and working with a school or group to promote natural resource education. Funds may be used for CD employee salary related to the project, travel expenses, advertising, resource materials, scholarships towards camps, speaker fees, or transportation costs for field trips. A description of ineligible expenses can be found in the overview section of these guidelines. In addition to the general guidelines provided previously in the overview section, the following guidelines apply specifically to the education mini-grant program:
The minimum application request is $1,000, and requests may not exceed $5,000.An outreach strategy must be included in the application. If several educational events will occur during one season, applicants are encouraged to apply for multiple events (e.g. “CD Spring Educational Program”).