Competition Approach

The goal of the CCRUN CCR competition is to support community-based organizations, non-profit groups, and alliance and coalition organizations working with vulnerable populations on community-focused planning and action-oriented projects that improve weather and climate hazard preparedness and resilience. Communities within the CCRUN region are exposed to a range of climate-related risks and extremes including heat waves, inland and coastal flooding, extreme precipitation, and other weather events, often compounded by other sources of social and economic inequality. The competition is open to nonprofit organizations with 501(c)(3) status working on, or interested in, addressing a variety of different climate risks, based on the needs of the local community and its constituents. We seek applications from a diverse set of organizations working across the CCRUN region in order to provide opportunities for knowledge exchange and collaboration across projects.

CCRUN Service Categories

The CCRUN research team has developed expertise in climate services and stakeholder engagement in the general categories listed below. Applicants will choose a service area and one specific service category within it to guide their collaboration with CCRUN. This selection will assist CCRUN to pair partner grantees with the appropriate researcher(s) on the CCRUN team to assist development of the grantee’s project.

• Service Area 1: Research Design and Grant Support
• Service Area 2: Climate Services, Data Identification, Research, and Training
• Service Area 3: Community Outreach and Education

Funding Details & Eligibility

CCRUN will award four grants of up to $25,000 each for one-year projects. The $25,000 can cover direct and indirect costs, with indirect costs not to exceed a rate of 20%. Funds may be used to support salaries and fringe benefits of project team members, stipends for community participation, appropriate travel, and costs associated with hosting events and workshops, such as facilities, refreshments, and supplies. CCRUN’s time commitment does not need to be budgeted.

Eligible applicants include (but are not limited to) community groups, non-governmental organizations, and other not-for-profit entities active in the CCRUN region (urban Northeast corridor from Philadelphia to Boston). Coalition and alliance teams and partnerships are encouraged to apply. Organizations must provide proof of 501(c)(3) status in the LOI.

The anticipated project start and end dates are October 1, 2022 and September 30, 2023.

Priority Considerations

The CCRUN Small Grant Competition will give priority consideration to applications that include the following provisions. These provisions are strongly encouraged but not required:

• Serve communities experiencing climate risks compounded with other social, economic, and/or health vulnerabilities;
• Build community capacity in weather and climate risk preparedness and resilience activities or planning processes;
• Identify adaptation and resilience strategies that address broader social, economic, and health needs of these communities as well as resources that can fund investments in these adaptations, including projects that improve access to financial, informational, educational or other resources;
• Demonstrate a history of or commitment to building cross-sector (working across non-governmental, governmental, community-based, and/or academic institutions) partnerships.

Anticipated Deliverables

Grant recipients will:

• Assign a lead investigator to maintain regular communication with a partner CCRUN researcher and grant coordinator via email, phone, or video conferencing service;
• Submit short biannual progress reports to CCRUN on a standard form;
• Attend quarterly meetings with full CCRUN team and other grantee partners to share project updates; and
• Produce one blog post (500-1,000 words) summarizing their work to be published on the CCRUN website (cross-posting on other sites is encouraged), no more than two months following the grant period.
• Additional deliverables will be determined and developed collaboratively between grantee and CCRUN team after selection and before formal grant agreement and may include:
  • 5-10 page white paper of project activities, results, and impacts.
  • Policy recommendation document.
  • Summary or recording of workshops or other project-related events.
  • Series of 3-5 blogs, videos, or podcasts.

Proposal Process and Timeline

Letter of Intent (LOI)

All interested applicants are required to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). All applicants are highly encouraged to register for and attend an informational webinar session before submitting the LOI. Should no one on the project team be available during the live webinar, a recording will be sent to the applicant for review.

LOI’s must be submitted via this Google Form by 5pm (EDT) on June 20. Should your project team have trouble accessing the Google Form, please email CCRUN CCR Coordinator Katherine Cann at [email protected].

Feedback on LOIs will be provided to applicants by July 11. Invitations to submit a full application will be sent following LOI review and approval.

Full Application

Full applications must be submitted by 5pm (EDT) on August 1.

Final funding decisions are expected in late August, 2022.

Awards are anticipated to begin October 1, 2022 and run until September 30, 2023

Contact Information

Please direct all questions to CCRUN CCR Grant Coordinator Katherine Cann ([email protected]).