Preserving Urban Gardens and Farms Grant

The William Penn Foundation seeks proposals for preserving urban gardens and farms in Philadelphia. With $1.5 million available, the foundation aims to secure parcels from development threats, focusing on established gardens and community involvement. Eligible applicants include 501(c)(3) public charities and government entities, with projects prioritizing stewardship and sustainability. Proposals should outline targeted parcels, their vulnerabilities, and planned interventions to enhance security and community engagement over a two-year project duration.

Preserving Urban Gardens and Farms in Philadelphia
The Foundation aims to support efforts that will contribute to increasing the proportion of Philadelphia’s urban garden and farm parcels that are secure from development or legal threats. We expect to fund work focusing on interventions and parcels that communities have identified as high priorities.
We invite proposals for support of a range of activities that can result in more secure garden and farm parcels, including planning, technical assistance, stewardship, organizing, advocacy, and direct acquisition. The Foundation recognizes that levels of activity and stewardship vary across spaces in Philadelphia that are currently being used as gardens and farms. These spaces also have varied histories and connections to the surrounding community and its current residents. The most competitive proposals will be those that seek to support the preservation of well-established gardens and farms that can demonstrate community involvement and ongoing activity. All proposals should identify the parcel or parcels that are the focus of the proposed work, explain why that parcel or parcels are currently insecure, and explain how, why, and when the proposed work will result in that parcel or parcels becoming secure.
As noted, we also recognize that there are a variety of different approaches to preserving Philadelphia’s urban gardens and farms and we therefore welcome a variety of responses to this RFP. This includes, but is not limited to, proposals that focus on:
direct acquisition of existing, established, and actively managed urban garden and farm parcelsstrategies to reduce the number of community gardens and farms on private land sold at sheriff salesstrategies to improve how the public is educated and informed about land access and the sale, transfer, and lease of gardens and farmsorganizing and convenings with clear goals that directly support preservation of urban farms and gardenslegal and technical support that can help advance this objective.
We will also consider work focused on improving long-term stewardship through strengthened organizational and operational capacity.
Funding
We are requesting proposals for projects up to two years in duration that will result in securing garden and farm parcels in Philadelphia. WPF has $1.5 million available to advance this objective currently. There is no minimum or maximum that organizations may request, but we aim to attract and fund a range of projects. The grant amount requested should be commensurate with the project's contribution to the overall objective.

Eligibility

Applicants must be recognized by the Internal Revenue Service as 501(c)3 public charities or operate under a fiscal sponsor – a public charity fiduciary. Public charities include community-based organizations, schools and educational institutions, and other types of public-serving groups. Government entities are also eligible to apply.Proposed projects must occur in Philadelphia.

Ineligibility

We will not fund proposals to start up new gardens, but rather will be focusing on existing ones.