Advocacy Grant Application

Following is the information required to submit an advocacy grant application.

Read the narrative requirements below. Then click on the file icon at the bottom of the page to download a Word document into which you can type your answers.

Advocacy Grant Application Narrative

Please provide the following information in narrative form. Throughout the narrative, list a reference before each section. For example, put a header that says, "B. Purpose of the Grant – 1. Specific Activities – a) Goals," when describing the proposal's specific goals.

The narrative, excluding attachments, should not exceed seven pages. Incomplete or excessively long applications will not be considered.

1. Organizational Information
   1. Summary of your organization's mission, long-term goals, and history.
   2. Description of successes in recent projects and programs.
2. Purpose of the Grant
   1. SITUATION
      1. Need: Explain why your proposal is important and necessary right now, for you and for the bicycling community.
      2. Environment: Briefly describe current bicycling conditions in your proposal's market area, including infrastructure, programs, allies, and resistance that must be overcome.
   2. SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES: Short-term Goals
      1. Goals: List the goals of your advocacy proposal.
      2. Action Plan: Present a clear plan for reaching these goals. Be specific–describe your accomplishments so far, list individuals or groups assigned to tasks, and outline due dates/timetables for achieving your goals.
   3. IMPACT OF YOUR WORK: Long-term Goals
      1. Deliverables: Describe the measurable outcomes of your proposal and the methodology used to determine these outcomes.
      2. Ridership: Include the total population of your market area and a projected number of new cyclists as a result of your advocacy work. How many more people will ride bicycles in one year. . . in five years?
      3. Program Growth: How will your organization and/or advocacy work grow and prosper beyond the initial funding?
3. Evaluation
   1. Explain strategies and plans for determining your success–both in the short term and in the long term.
   2. Describe how your work can serve as a model for other bike advocacy groups in communities nationwide.
4. Project Budget
   1. Describe the total budget for the project and how the funding from Bikes Belong will be spent. Be specific.
   2. Note all other sources of funding (committed or proposed).
5. Attachments
   1. FINANCIALS
      1. Financial statements from your most recently completed fiscal year
      2. Organizational budget for the present year
   2. OTHER SUPPORT MATERIALS
      1. Support letters from the local bicycle industry*
      2. List of board members and their affiliations
      3. Media articles if available

*Support letters from the local bicycle industry are required and tremendously important to your proposal. Letters from Bikes Belong member companies are preferred. Additional (non-industry) support letters will be considered if they are relevant.