Requests for Proposals
Since 1992, the LCBP has awarded more than 1,500 grants totaling more than $17.02 million to local organizations to support a variety of pollution prevention, habitat restoration, and other projects that improve the quality of Lake Champlain. In that same time, the LCBP and its partner organizations also have funded numerous projects conducted by universities, consultants, research foundations, nonprofit organizations, and others. These projects include scientific research, best management demonstration projects, education and outreach efforts, and other initiatives that are key to implementing Opportunities for Action.
Visit our Grantee Toolkit page for grant writing resources, and as always, please contact us with questions about your grant application.
LCBP GRANT OPPORTUNITIES
(click the grant category for more details, including sub-categories)
Recurring/Annual Grants| Release Date | Due Date |
|
| Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Research Projects | September 26, 2024 | November 8, 2024 |
| Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Planning and Implementation Projects | August 20, 2024 | October 3, 2024 |
| Education and Outreach - Large | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| Education and Outreach - Small | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| Organizational Support | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| New York Organizational Support and Workforce Development | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| Stream Wise | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| Artist-in-Residence Programs | June 26, 2024 | September 30, 2024 |
| Programmes de résidence d’artistes | Fall 2024 | TBD |
| Cultural Heritage & Recreation | Visit the CVNHP website | |
| Ongoing Grants | Release Date | Due Date |
| Professional Development Mini-grants | ongoing | ongoing |
| Educator Mini-grants | ongoing | ongoing |
| Project RFPs | Release Date | Due Date |
| Communities with Disadvantages Liaison | ||
| Land Acquisition and Conservation | ||
| Lake Champlain Watershed Economic Assessment | March 23, 2023 | May 8, 2023 |
| New York Agricultural Innovation | August 28, 2024 | October 21, 2024 |
RECURRING AND ANNUAL GRANTS
Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Research Projects (up to $400,000)
These grants support for projects to further the mission of the LCBP and address the research tasks outlined in our management plan, Opportunities for Action. Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and municipalities in the U.S. and Canada.
The total request for each project may range from $25,000 to $400,000. Pre-proposals are due on November 8, 2024. A subset of applicants will be asked to submit a more detailed proposal for further consideration and final award decisions in spring 2025. Projects will begin in early 2026. All awards are subject to available funding.
Research pre-proposals should support the Clean Water or Healthy Ecosystems goals outlined in Opportunities for Action, the Lake Champlain Basin Program’s management plan. For this request, the LCBP is particularly interested in funding projects that address any of the following research tracks:
Track 1: General Opportunities for Action
Track 2: Water quality improvement projects
Track 3: Monitoring upstream of permitted discharges in New York
Track 4: Aquatic invasive species management
Track 5: Native species and habitats
Track 6: Dam removal
Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystems Planning and Implementation Projects
CLEAN WATER – Small grants for IMPLEMENTATION (up to $50,000)
CLEAN WATER – Large grants for IMPLEMENTATION ($50,001 – $200,000)
These grant categories supports projects that will improve water quality and directly result in the reduction of water pollution in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec). Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and non-federal/non-state government agencies.
CLEAN WATER – grants for PLANNING (up to $100,000)
This grant category supports projects that will provide planning, design, or prioritization for future water quality improvement projects in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec). Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, non-federal/non-state government agencies, and for-profit companies.
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Small grants for HABITAT AND NATIVE SPECIES CONSERVATION (up to $50,000)
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Large grants for HABITAT AND NATIVE SPECIES CONSERVATION ($50,001 – $175,000)
These grant categories support Projects that will preserve, restore, or improve native species habitat in the Lake Champlain Basin (U.S. and Québec).
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Grants for AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES SPREAD PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT (up to $25,000)
This grant category supports projects that will directly prevent the spread aquatic invasive species or manage their impacts in the Lake Champlain Basin (US and Québec).
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – Infrastructure grants for AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES SPREAD PREVENTION AND MANAGEMENT (up to $200,000)
This grant category supports infrastructure-focused projects that will directly prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species in the U.S. portion of the Lake Champlain Basin.
HEALTHY ECOSYSTEMS – grants for AQUATIC ORGANISM PASSAGE RESTORATION (up to $300,000)
This grant category supports projects that will directly lead to improved aquatic organism passage in the U.S. portion of the Lake Champlain Basin.
Education and Outreach
These grants support projects that address strategies and tasks outlined in the Informed and Involved Public chapter of Opportunities for Action
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH – Small (Up to $15,000)
EDUCATION AND OUTREACH – Large ($15,000 to $50,000)
Organizational Support
(up to $20,000)
These grants support projects that will support increased organizational capacity and long-term effectiveness of watershed organizations working to implement elements of Opportunities for Action.
Stream Wise
(up to $15,000)
These grants are available to organizations who wish to partner with Stream Wise and conduct Stream Wise assessments in the communities they serve during the 2024 season.
New York Organizational Support and Workforce Development
(up to $150,000)
This grant category is to assist organizations focused on water quality or watershed ecosystem health working in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain basin to strengthen their organizational capacity. Requested funds should be applied to environmental-related activities, workforce development, or professional development support. Please see the LCBP’s annual Organizational Support grant opportunity to apply for funding to support administrative-related organizational capacity needs.
Lake Champlain Basin Artist-in-Residence Programs
This grant category will support development of sustainable Artist-in-Residence programs that will recruit artists to obtain and use scientific data, cultural trends, or historical facts to increase interpretation of natural resources within the Lake Champlain basin. Requests of up to $40,000 will be accepted. Please note than a Request for Proposals for Québec-based projects will appear below when available.
UPDATE: This application deadline has been extended. Applicants must submit proposals via Foundant no later than 12pm (noon) on September 30th, 2024.
ONGOING GRANTS
Watershed Association Professional Development Mini-Grants (up to $500/year)
These mini-grants provide professional development funds for the staff and volunteers of qualified watershed organizations in the Lake Champlain Basin, to cover expenses such as travel, meals, registration and accommodations at meetings, conferences, workshops and other venues designed to enhance the organizations’ capacity to operate.
Download the Watershed Association Professional Development Mini-Grants: Instructions, Application & Reimbursement Form →
Educator Mini-grants (up to $1,ooo)
These mini-grants provide educators with funds to buy materials for their classroom that will aid in teaching students about Lake Champlain Basin issues. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Download the Educator Mini-Grants: Instructions, Application & Reimbursement Form →
PROJECT REQUESTS FOR PROPOSALS
Lake Champlain Watershed Economic Assessment
The Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), in coordination with NEIWPCC, is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) for services to perform an economic assessment of major watershed-related uses, economic sectors, and economic impacts of these sectors to the Lake Champlain basin. The purpose of this project is to measure and communicate the economic value that Lake Champlain and the clean water and healthy ecosystems of its watershed provides to the regional economy. The results of this project will provide a credible economic analysis and public facing outreach materials. The results of this valuation will be used in reports and publications by the Lake Champlain Basin Program and partners including the US EPA. This comprehensive, multisector study will update and expand previous economic studies in the region. This study may lead to additional work in this sector.
Eligible organizations include colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, for-profit companies, and non-federal/non-state government agencies.
Up to approximately $200,000 is available to support the awarded project. The LCBP anticipates offering one (1) award for this RFP.
Applicants must submit proposals via the online form below no later than 12 pm (noon) on Monday May 8, 2023.
Agricultural Innovation Grant program for engineering services on eligible farms in the New York portion of the Lake Champlain Basin
The Patrick Leahy Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP), in coordination with the New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC), is pleased to announce a Request for Proposals (RFP) for funds to support the costs for engineering services required for the design of a planned Best Management Practice (BMP) that will reduce phosphorus losses on farms within New York’s portion of the Lake Champlain Basin. An engineered BMP enhancement is used to meet the scope of a conservation planning component from the farm’s participation in the NY AEM Tier 3 program to further the capability for reducing nutrient losses at that site.
Up to $50,000 is available to support this project. The LCBP anticipates offering up to two awards for this RFP.
This work is applicable to the Clean Water and Healthy Ecosystem goals of LCBP’s long-term management plan Opportunities for Action: An Evolving Plan for the Future of the Lake Champlain Basin (http://plan.lcbp.org). This grant opportunity is supported by funds awarded to NEIWPCC on behalf of the LCBP by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
DEADLINE NOTICE:
Applicants must submit proposals via Foundant no later than October 21, 2024, at 12pm (noon) EST.
Will the grant be a total of $50,000 if there is more than one awardee?
- Up to $50,000 is available to support this project and the LCBP anticipates offering up to two awards for this RFP, for example 2 awards of $25,000 each. Proposals with budgets that exceed the maximum amount identified for this opportunity will not be considered.
View a list of recently closed RFPs, or search our Publications Database to read the technical reports that have resulted from past projects.