Statement of Purpose

The Environmental Education Program seeks to encourage a strong local land ethic, sustainable communities, and stewardship of the natural environment by citizens throughout Oregon.

Funding Goals for the Environmental Education Program

The program will support four general goals:

• Strengthening and developing programs that provide outdoor experiences for youth from early childhood through grade 12.
• Creating, expanding and improving programs that connect schools with their communities and provide students with practical hands-on experience in addressing environmental issues both locally and globally.
• Programs committed to comprehensive, significant, lasting change in educational systems and fostering improved understanding of and interaction with our natural systems.
• Encouraging programs that explore and integrate boundaries between art and science, and connect creativity with the natural environment.

Six Project Categories

The Gray Family Fund Environmental Education Program invites proposals focused on:

• Early Childhood Environmental Education
• Outdoor School Programs
• Outdoor Exploration and Community Field Trips
• Service Learning Experiences and High School Expeditions
• Greening Educational Facilities
• Environmental Professional Development for Teachers and Volunteer Mentors

For more information and detailed examples of the six categories, please refer to the Gray Family Fund Environmental Education Program Description.

Grant Strategies

Your project may use several of the strategies listed below. For evaluation purposes, please select the one most appropriate for your project.

• Processes: Encourage interdisciplinary experiential work in educational fields, such as integration of science, the arts, geography, economics, and history; especially involving community partnerships.
• Programs: Expand, replicate, and boost long term capacity of model programs. Support programs that leverage other funding and promote partnerships with local agencies and community organizations.
• Curriculum adaptation: Support the alignment and integration of effective experiential, inquiry-based, best practices programs in schools.
• Operations: Support green capacity-building in order to sustain the core program work of organizations, including both operational support and the greening of facilities/infrastructure.

How To Apply

Please apply electronically, if possible. Submit one electronic document that includes your Cover Letter, full Application, and Evaluation Plan, bundled as a single PDF or Word Document.

Grants will be made to schools, government agencies, and nonprofit 501(c)(3) organizations. Most grants range from $10,000 to $40,000, unless the project is a multi-year effort. Multi-year projects will be reviewed one year at a time. Please apply for no less than $5000.

For 2008, application deadlines are February 1st and August 1st. Applicants will be notified in June and December.

A final project Evaluation is required at the completion of the grant, or one year after the grant is made. (Information on creating an Evaluation Plan can be found on the website.)

Please apply electronically, if possible, using these forms:

Application Form (Word document)
Application Form (PDF form)
Evaluation Plan Form (Word document)

Direct applications and questions to:
Lara Utman
The Oregon Community Foundation
Attention: Environmental Education Program
1221 SW Yamhill St., Suite 100
Portland, OR 97205
503-227-6846
enviroed@ocf1.org

Return to main Environmental Education Program page