Park & Trail Partnership Grants: Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants

The Park & Trail Partnership Grants program provides up to $100,000 to enhance the preservation and promotion of New York State's parks and trails. This capacity-building initiative supports organizations in improving their effectiveness and sustainability while promoting outdoor recreation and tourism. Eligible projects include strategic planning, training, and membership expansion. A 10% match is required, fostering collaboration among non-profits, ensuring diverse support for public lands.

The Park and Trail Partnership Grants is a $2 million capacity-building matching grants program funded through the NYS Environmental Protection Fund. The program is designed to:

• Enhance the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, maintenance and promotion of New York State parks, trails, state historic sites and public lands.

Increase the sustainability, effectiveness, productivity, and volunteer and fundraising capabilities of not-for-profit organizations that promote, maintain, and support New York State parks, trails, state historic sites and public lands.
Promote the tourism and economic development benefits of outdoor recreation through the growth and expansion of a connected statewide network of parks, trails, greenways and public lands.
Capacity and Organizational Effectiveness Grants strengthen the capacity and expertise of organizations that support New York State parks, trails, historic sites, and public lands, or a partnership involving more than one such organization, in order to aid them in fulfilling their mission and to improve their reach, effectiveness, and impact.
Examples of projects include, but are not limited to:

• Development of a multi-year strategic plan or major fundraising/capital or marketing campaign plan.
• Board/staff training and development, including facilitated retreats.

Website and email newsletter design and development, graphic design, and printing and distribution of digital or print brochures, newsletters and other promotional materials.
Efforts to expand the organization’s membership and broaden the diversity of support for the organization.
Software to improve fundraising/development/donor relations, bookkeeping, or recordkeeping. Grant funds may cover initial software purchase or licensing, not license renewal.
Development and implementation of activities that will provide a future ongoing revenue source.
Development and implementation of a volunteer program.
Development of partnerships to promote new or strengthen existing collaboration with more than one organization and/or local government to increase public support for and/or participation in the planning, development, promotion or stewardship of the public resource.
Hiring of temporary contractors, staff or interns to support the organization’s capacity-building work.
Hiring of a consultant or implementing a training program to enhance staff, board, and/or programmatic diversity within the organizationShared consultant services between more than one eligible organization.
One-year grants up to $100,000; a 10 percent match of the total project budget is required, up to 50 percent of which may be in-kind. Fifty percent of award is disbursed at contract signing; remainder disbursed after submission of satisfactory six-month progress report.

Eligibility

The NYS Park and Trail Partnership Grant Program is open to organizations whose mission includes the preservation, stewardship, interpretation, environmental education, maintenance, and/or promotion of a New York State park, trail, historic site or public land under the jurisdiction of the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP), or Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). In addition:
An applicant must be registered as a charity with the New York State Attorney General’s office and submit their CHAR500/410 Annual Financial Report. An applicant must be classified by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization or have a Memorandum of Understanding with a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt fiscal agent.
An applicant must have, and be in good standing under, a current agreement applicable to the grant request with OPRHP or DEC or have received a letter of intent to enter into such agreement.An applicant must have as part of its mission and activities the support of an OPRHP or DEC facility.Matching fundsApplicant organizations must match the grant with non-state funds.Matching funds must be verifiable at the time of application.In-kind match contributions must be quantifiable and documented and may include:donation of professional and construction services (legal, facilitation, consultation, etc. as well as the donation of travel costs from that individual);donation of goods (meeting rooms, equipment, printing costs, food or refreshments, construction materials); anddonation of unskilled/general labor from volunteers (trail work, administrative work, construction work).Organizations may submit more than one application, either within the same grant category or in more than one category.

Ineligibility

NYS Park and Trail Partnership Program grant funds may not be used to cover:

• Project costs incurred before date of signed grant contract
• General operating support
• Purchasing interest in lands or buildings
• Endowment funds
• Travel or lodging
• Lobbying or political activities