The National Young Farmers Coalition is again partnering with Muck Boots to offer grants to at least 5 Young Farmer Chapters to support farmer-led organizing efforts across the country. This year the grants will be awarded as an in-kind development service, valued at a total of $20,000 to be shared among the selected chapters. In the nonprofit sector, development is essentially another way to talk about fundraising, with the function of working towards long-term financial sustainability for the organization.

The 2023 Chapter Capacity Grants will specifically support Chapters with their development goals. The in-kind grants will be usable on any fundraising-related services that will aid in the Chapter’s overall goals by supporting the Chapter on its journey towards financial sustainability. Our intention is that this will allow Chapters to move away from responding to grant opportunities at the last minute and towards a strategic and proactive fundraising approach.

Our Chapters are at the heart of our grassroots work and are ever pushing the envelope of community organizing for equity and sustainability in agriculture. Seeding and supporting the initial development stages of this work has a lasting impact on the success and viability of this important work.

About the Program

The in-kind grants will be usable on any development-related services, such as support with:

• Creating a development plan
• Prospecting grants
• Pitch writing
• Developing fundraisers
• Grant writing

Here are some examples of types of services and how they might fit your Chapter’s needs:

Development consulting: This service will support Chapters with prospecting grants, developing strategies, and other fundraising opportunities. This service is useful for:

• Fiscally sponsored Chapters who are new to grant funding and have a clear and strategic need for funding. The Chapter could use development consulting with the goal of ending up with a template pitch and a list of potential grants and funders that they can reach out to when they’re ready to apply.
• Fiscally sponsored Chapters who have some experience with grants and are ready for their first bigger grant. The Chapter could use support to strengthen their grant writing skills.
• Fiscally sponsored Chapter who would like support with developing a pitch “one-pager” and a plan to share the pitch with potential sponsors.
• Chapters who are not fiscally sponsored but have identified a need for funding to support their Chapter’s goals and want to explore development opportunities

Grant writing: This service will support fiscally-sponsored Chapters by providing a grant writer for a grant that the Chapter has already identified that they want to apply to.

 

Some Logistics

Young Farmers will take the lead on matchmaking the Chapter’s need to the appropriate development consultant and/or grant writer. Chapters should not expect to choose their own or expect to pay themselves for this work.

The value of the in-kind service will vary depending on the Chapter’s needs. To the best of our understanding, the grant’s value will be somewhere within the $500-$5,000 range. Chapters can determine their development needs and include one or more of these services in their application.

This grant is meant to be a capacity building resource. This is a small kickstarter fund for Chapters to build their development skills to then be more resourced to fundraise on their own.

 

Eligibility & Right Fits

You are eligible if:

• You are a Young Farmers Chapter and currently have at least four leaders
• You have or will have an up-to-date, signed Chapter agreement on file with us by the end of 2023
  

You are ineligible if:

• You are not a Young Farmers Chapter or Young Farmers National Organizing project
• You are an incorporated 501(c)(3)
• Your project operates outside the United States
  

If you are unsure whether you are eligible or not, please email kim@youngfarmers.org.

In addition, here are some guiding questions to see if this grant makes sense for your Chapter:

1. Has your Chapter been active for at least 6 months?
2. Does your Chapter have a strong leadership team with at least four leaders?
3. Does your Chapter have a vision for your Chapter, along with clear and achievable goals that integrate racial equity & policy work into this vision?
4. Do you have a clear need for funding to reach your Chapter goals?

 

How to Apply

You can apply by filling out this form here: 2023 Muck Boot Chapter Capacity Grant Application. Chapter Capacity applications are due by 5pm Pacific Time on Friday, April 14th.

Here is a Google Doc version of the application, in case you’d like to preview the questions and work inside your own document before submitting your application via Jotform: 2023 Chapter Capacity Grant Program – Jotform Preview

Here is a summary of what the application will be asking for:

• About the chapter: What is your Chapter all about, what are its vision and goals? What is the history of your chapter, what type of work has your Chapter already accomplished?
• Leadership structure: What does your leadership team look like and how does it operate?
• Development goals and needs: What are your overall development goals and funding needs to reach those goals? How does fundraising for your Chapter relate to Young Farmer’s mission statement of shifting power and changing policy to equitably resource our new generation of working farmers?

Note: The application will not ask for a specific breakdown of services or a budget. We will work with each awardee to determine the specific services that will match the Chapter’s needs.

 

Evaluation criteria

We will award the grants based on the following criteria:

• Racial equity impact: The Chapter’s mission and goals demonstrates a strong impact on racial equity in agriculture at any scale: local, regional, national.
• Commitment to structural change: The Chapter demonstrates a strong commitment and strategy to activate your community around our generation’s most urgent policy needs.
• Need: The Chapter is not already well-resourced in other ways and demonstrates why development support is strategic in this moment in their growth and work towards their goals.
• Leadership team: The Chapter has a strong leadership team that has demonstrated their commitment to the chapter. The team has the ability to work together and approach conflict as it arises.

 

Grant Timeline

Chapter Capacity applications open on Tuesday, March 14th and are due by 5pm Pacific Time on Friday, April 14th, 2023.

Awardees will be notified the week of April 24, 2023.

Note on timing: Once we have selected the awardees, we will work with each Chapter individually to determine together the scope of service and next steps (a development consultant vs a grant writer, for example). Therefore, the services provided will not be available immediately after awardees are determined. Please keep this in mind if you are prospecting grants and noting their application deadlines.

 

Questions?

You can email our National Organizing Manager, Kim, at kim@youngfarmers.org with any questions.