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Hunting Heritage Partnership
Grant Proposals
Grant proposals must be prepared in the following
format and must fully address all of the sections below.
Applicants shall limit the executive summary to one page and the narrative
portion of their proposals to five pages or less, excluding budgets and
resumes. To assist you in formulating your proposal, included below are
special considerations and examples of how to approach a question (provided
in parentheses).
This information available in Guideline
PDF document.
Executive Summary:
Title: A short descriptive name of the proposed
project.
Applicant's Name & Contact Information: Identify
the name of the party applying for the grant. Also, please identify
one individual in applicant's organization to whom all correspondence
regarding this grant should be sent. Please include name, title,
address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address.
Funding Requested: Total request of funds
Objective: Provide a concise statement of the purpose(s)
of the project in quantified and measurable terms.
Summary Statement: A 400-word or less summary describing
how and why the expected results of the project will meet the purpose
of the Hunting Heritage Partnership Grant Program through the state
wildlife agency’s methodologies and evaluation or regional state fish
and wildlife agency association’s methodologies and evaluation.
Narrative:
- Title: Use the same title listed in the Executive Summary; A short
descriptive name of the proposed project.
- Applicant's Name & Contact Information: Identify the name of
the party applying for the grant. Also, please identify one individual
in applicant's organization to whom all correspondence regarding this
grant should be sent. Please include name, title, address, telephone
and fax numbers and e-mail address.
- Mission, goals and objectives: Your proposal should state clearly
defined mission, goals and objectives related to hunting recruitment
and retention. Your programs also should reflect goals set by your
parent agency/organization and by national and state bodies, as applicable.
- Mission: Why is this program in existence? What is it trying
to do? A mission statement offers broad explanation about what
this program should contribute.
(Example: One grantee identified the need to increase hunter recruitment
and retention to maintain and increase support for wildlife conservation
and hunting, as well as stabilize funding of conservation programs
through license sales.)
- Goals: Why are you doing this program? Goals define how the
program will help achieve the broader mission.
(Example: In 2006, the same grantee identified the need to pursue
a Hunting Heritage Partnership Grant to test and evaluate a pilot
program designed to increase hunting recruitment and retention
among youth.)
- Objectives: What specifically do you want to accomplish? Objectives
must be measurable, and generally - although not always - set up
on a relatively short time frame.
(Example: This grantee's pilot program identified the following
objectives:
- Identify kids who are interested in hunting but don't have
social support for hunting in their immediate family.
- Pair kids with hunting mentors at youth pheasant hunt and
workshop events.
- Provide opportunities for kids to hunt again beyond this
single-day event.
- Determine whether this process results in them likely to
become "regular" hunters over time.)
- Approach: Describe the process to be followed to meet project objectives
including:
- A description of techniques and methods to be used;
- A description of how the applicant will monitor project progress;
and
- A description of how the applicant will measure project progress
in achieving objectives.
- Project Time Schedule:
- What is the time schedule for fulfilling the objectives of the
project?
- Identify key milestones of the project and provide the dates
that they will be achieved during each quarter of the Grant Program.
Remember that all projects must be completed by March 3, 2010!
- Evaluation component to measure effectiveness: Your evaluation should
include the following considerations, when possible. Evaluations should:
- Be based on program goals and objectives. (Don't measure outputs
or outcomes that you were not specifically trying to achieve.)
- Identify simple program outputs such as numbers of participants
and feedback (but don't stop there!)
- Investigate program's learning outcomes (behavior changes, etc.)
when appropriate.
- Encourage use of multiple and varied assessment methods whenever
possible. (The more ways you can look at something the more comprehensive
your evaluation will be.)
- Consider the evaluation in initial planning stages as a key
project component, not tacked on at the end as an afterthought.
(Example: As part of grantees project, two sets of surveys allowed
coordinators to note successes and areas needing improvement. Below
are some suggestions for performing an evaluation:
- Exit surveys: The first, called exit surveys, were given
to youth, parents, and all volunteers at the end of the 2004
Indiana Youth Pheasant Hunt and Workshop events to gauge initial
successes, challenges and recommendations.
- Post-hunting season survey: A second survey took place at
the end of the 2004 hunting season, to assess a variety of
factors, attitudes and behaviors to gauge the program's success
as a recruitment tool.
- Final report: As part of the project's final report, Indiana
broke the project into its key components and identified success,
challenges and recommendations for each one. This captures
additional recommendations to improve future programs.
If, by assessment of these criteria, the grantee discovers
that this program was successful, the entire program could
easily be expanded. Armed with these results, the grantees
can decide upon next steps for recruitment and retention efforts.)
- Outline budget needs, resources, support, resources and staffing:
As you plan your effort, you should outline all core elements of your
project and ensure that it has adequate agency support, as well as
resources and staffing to achieve your goals.
- A budget should identify all the variables you need to cover.
Look at what is feasible to cover over the life of the project.
This will help avoid planning a project that takes more staff and
resources than your agency/organization can fund. Include an itemized
budget showing cost justifications where necessary. "Matching" funds
or "cost-share" funds are encouraged to include in your
itemized budgets and are awarded extra points when committee reviews
proposals. Grant funds shall not be used for any unrelated, unnecessary
or indirect expenses (e.g. salaries, overhead, office supplies,
etc.) NSSF shall have final approval of all submitted budgets.
If you have any questions about your budgets, please ask.
- Show how staff from related fields (wildlife, law enforcement,
education, information, etc.) is ready to work together to reach
project goals. Consider the placement and involvement of qualified,
committed and knowledgeable staff qualified to carry out parts
of the project.
- If you plan on using any outside consultants, list all outside
help with associated cost.
- Include information for payment process to correctly transfer
funds via check.
(Example: Name of state fish and wildlife agency, c/o: xxxxx, Address,
city, state, zip)
Funds will be made payable and sent directly to the Grantee. NSSF
will not pay or send funds to third parties.
- Be integrated with similar, ongoing efforts, whenever possible.
Integrating your new project with similar, ongoing efforts ensures
that opportunities for and effects on participants are frequent
and sustainable over time.
(Example: A clearly defined budget made sure that one DNR's project
was feasible for the long haul. The project tapped key members
from the Divisions of Fish and Wildlife, Division of Law Enforcement,
and contractor's staff.)
- Previous Work Conducted: Provide an overview of past projects conducted
by the agency that were directly related hunter recruitment, retention,
access or any other project similar in scope, especially if it was
in partnership with NSSF.
- Outline involvement of stakeholders whenever possible: Partners
and stakeholders can be key to program development, from initial planning
to evaluation. Use them whenever possible. Successful programs bring
a coalition of stakeholders together to design, implement and evaluate
a program that meets their mutual needs. Stakeholders have some interest
in the program being developed. They care about the program and are
willing to commit to it.
Diverse stakeholders lend a variety of perspectives to the program,
helping shape the focus and audience for maximum benefit. Their participation
also helps achieve buy-in early in the process, so the program is more
likely to be used. During evaluation, stakeholders can offer input
about what information to gather, how to gather it, and how to share
it with important audiences.
List all outside help, such as, consultants, universities, research
agencies, etc.
(Example: One project tapped stakeholders from state conservation organizations,
hunter education volunteers, and hunting-related businesses. These
stakeholders were identified as folks who would support hunter recruitment
and retention efforts long-term. Stakeholders completed evaluations
to better guide the improvement and development of future efforts.)
- Resumes: Include a resume or curriculum vitae ("CV") of
key personnel. Resumes or CVs must not exceed one page per individual
and are in addition to the five page requirement for the proposals.
- Incorporate best information and research available: When developing
your proposals, make room for needed research:
- Allow for collection and examination of existing research.
- Provide opportunities for staff to become familiar with existing
research.
- Develop new research (or identify needed research) as appropriate.
- Encourage staff to incorporate findings into the project.
Note: See section "Supporting Research" for a list of
existing research that might be helpful to you in developing your
HHP project.
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