Proposals for Conservation Capacity, Place-based Conservation and Conservation Policy grants should include the following information:

Proposal Narrative

Write a proposal describing your program and its prospects for success. We ask that you include the following:

• Your organization's mission statement and brief history
• A problem statement for your proposed work
• An explanation of how your work fits within the current strategic focus of the Brainerd Foundation
• A brief, clear description of your goals, activities you will undertake, target decisionmakers, target audiences (beyond decisionmakers), and how this work will support conservation
• Identify key communications strengths or weaknesses in your organization (including staff training, experience, consultants, etc.)
• An outline of objectives that can be reached during the grant period and, if appropriate, how these short-term objectives relate to a longer-term strategy (Please emphasize outcomes and results rather than outputs, including both conservation and organizational outcomes. We are most interested in what will tangibly change in the world as a result of your work. We also encourage you to review our goals and how your outcomes will reflect our foundation's focus.)
• A candid description of any unusual circumstances or challenges facing your organization that could have bearing on your ability to meet the objectives of this proposal
• How you would like the Brainerd Foundation to measure and evaluate your success

Officers, Board and Staff

• Officers and Board Members: a brief description (include the names, occupations and affiliations) of the officers and board members of your organization
• Staff Qualifications: the qualifications of those who will bear primary responsibility for the program and the percentage of their time to be devoted to it

Other Sources of Funding (in U.S. Dollars)

• An approximate break-out of funding sources for your organization (% from foundations, % from members and/or individual donors; % from other significant sources)
• An organization funding plan: show secured and projected sources of income and include the names of foundation and non-foundation sources
• A project funding plan (only if this request is for the support of a specific project): show secured and projected sources of income and include the names of foundation and non-foundation sources

Budget (in U.S. Dollars)

• Organizational operating budget for the current fiscal year
• If you are applying near the end of your fiscal year: Draft organizational operating budget for the next fiscal year
• Project budget for the current fiscal year with a separate column for the proposed use of Brainerd Foundation funds (only if this request is for support of a specific project rather than for overall support of the organization's budget)
• If you are applying near the end of your fiscal year: Project budget for the next fiscal year with a separate column for the proposed use of Brainerd Foundation funds (only if this request is for support of a specific project rather than for overall support of the organization's budget)

Financial Statements

(Please note whether using US or Cdn currency.)

• The organization's current year-to-date Statement of Revenue and Expense
• Statement of Revenue and Expense and end-of-period Balance Sheet for the most recently completed fiscal year
• For project support grants only: Most recent complete year financial statement for the project
• For organizations with an annual budgeted revenue of $500,000 US or greater: Most recent audited financial statements, with accompanying notes and auditor's opinion
• For organizations that are being fiscally sponsored: Your fiscal sponsor's most recent audited financial statements with accompanying notes and auditor's opinion

Attachments

• Strategic planning documents (if available).
• Other attachments only if they are essential for the foundation to understand the proposed program (Please limit the number of attachments. Videotapes and audiotapes are discouraged.)

Nonprofit Status

• Documentation verifying your organization's nonprofit status either from the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (in the form of a 501(c)(3) determination letter) or from Revenue Canada or documentation verifying your fiscal sponsor's nonprofit status

Public Support Test

• If you are a Canadian organization or your fiscal sponsor is a Canadian organization, you must include the Public Support Test which determines whether a Canadian organization is the equivalent of a U.S. public charity. Organizations that receive a majority of their funding through gifts and grants will likely pass this test with no problem. If you do not pass, don't worry! Our foundation may still be able to help with another type of grant. Contact our grants administrator for assistance. Download the test as an excel document, a zipped excel file, or a pdf file.