Partner Grants

Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) Partner Grants fund programs led by community, arts and environmental organizations, schools and faith-based groups that educate and promote clean water actions and help further CRWD’s mission to protect, manage and improve water resources. Grants are awarded once a year in December for the following year, and awards range from $1,000 to $20,000.

Above photo credit: Caroline Yang

Map of CRWD

Eligibility

Any organization or community group serving residents within CRWD’s boundaries and meets the insurance requirements outlined in our Partner Grant Agreement is eligible to apply.
Activities and events must take place within CRWD boundaries, view map of CRWD. Work serving communities in our Trout Brook, Phalen Creek, Saint Anthony Hill, Como Lake or Lake McCarrons watersheds will receive additional consideration. Please reference the map of CRWD to identify these areas.
Interested applicants are strongly encouraged to attend our online Partner Grant Information Session on Wednesday, October 7, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm.

Audiences Served

CRWD is committed to community equity and engaging new and historically underrepresented groups served by our program activities. The audience is a key part of the proposal review process.

Funding Process

Applications must be submitted using the Partner Grant application form by November 1, 2020. A sample application form PDF is available for your reference. All applications must be submitted using the online form.
Proposal Review and Approval will take place by end of December and applicants notified by January 1, 2021.
Eligible projects can request funding for staffing, and materials or supply expenses from $1,000 – $20,000.
Funding decisions may include recommendations to partially fund your proposal based on alignment with CRWD mission and goals.
Grants are funded on a reimbursement basis upon completion and final reporting. Note CRWD issues checks once per month. All funded projects need to submit a final report by December 31, 2021.

COVID-19

Please consider the feasibility of executing your proposal under current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) guidelines for COVID-19.
We recognize that protocols will be updated as new information and guidance is released. We request that grantees propose projects that can be executed should in-person activities be restricted. CRWD staff will continue to work with partner groups to determine how best to execute funded proposals given guidelines at the time of the activity.

Partner Grant Application Form

Questions?

Contact Information:

Lindsay Schwantes
lschwantes@capitolregionwd.org
651-644-8888 Ext. 105

2021 Partner Grants applications are due by November 1, 2020.

Reporting and Reimbursements

Grant funding can be used to reimburse staff time and supplies for a program or project. A final report must be submitted by year-end, and include receipts or invoices for funded tasks, photography and a written report describing project or program outcomes prior to reimbursement.

All grantees must report general information about program input and outcomes. Priority is given to applicants who propose ways to measure program impacts to residents. These impact metrics may include actions taken, educational outcomes and changes in water quality protection behaviors.

View 2020 Partner Grant Final Reporting Requirements PDF

2021 CRWD Partner Grant Funding

Organization	Project name	Approved Funding
Friends of the Mississippi River	Youth Environment Stewards Program and Trout Brook Initiative	$11,780
Gita Patina LLC	Urban water seek and discovery our water treasure hunt	$4,375
MN Horticultural Society	MN SEED Project: Seed to seed garden stewardship with native plants	$5,235
Parkview Center School	Parkview Water Project	$8,000
Public Art Saint Paul	eARTh Lab workshops at Western Sculpture Park	$8,000
Urban Farm and Garden Alliance	Children’s Gardening Program Water Series	$5,860
YMCA Greater Twin Cities	YMCA St. Paul Mobile Day Camps at Hidden Falls Regional Park	$12,000
Urban Roots	Urban Roots Youth Employment Program	$12,000
Saint Paul Parks and Recreation	BIPOC Parks Ambassadors + Story Strolls	$10,000
Rice & Larpenteur Alliance	Connecting community to Lake McCarrons through public art	$10,000
Great River Greening	Hidden Falls Park restoration and virtual education	$7,000
Growing Green Hearts	2021 Connect the Drops in CRWD Church Neighborhoods	$10,000
Center for Hmong Arts and Talent	CHAT About Water	$8,500
City Academy	City Academy Watershed Education	$3,100
Como Community Council D10	Como Lake Clean-up	$5,000
Frogtown Green	Water stewardship demonstration and education at Frogtown Green’s Lily Pad	$2,650
Lower Phalen Creek Project	Finding the Daylight: visualizing Phalen Creek	$8,500
Springboard for the Arts	Springboard for the Arts and Ua Si Community Engagement	$8,500

Partner Projects In Action

In Progress presents Our Sacred Water, a digital storytelling project supported by a CRWD 2019 Partner Grant.

The project entailed mentoring, public education, and creative art-making activities that raised participant and audience understandings of environmentalism from an Indigenous perspective. Six youth and their families developed a series of photo and video works designed to raise awareness about the sacred nature of water.

Statement from In Progress Artists: Indigenous people represent the oldest nations in the world. We have learned from our elders, our parents and our mentors that we must all work together to care and maintain our water resources for the generations yet to come. As Indigenous youth, we stand together in reminding us all that water is everything.

Created by Tiana Bluebird, Azalea Erickson, Alexander Erickson, Rocky Erickson, XIcintli Quiroz, and Kimimila Wahpepah, with support and guidance from Tiana LaPointe and Wakinyan LaPointe.