Sample Grant 1

Chesapeake Bay Trust

Capacity Building - $150,000 over 2 years

The Chesapeake Bay Trust works to promote public participation and awareness in the restoration and protection of the Chesapeake Bay and its rivers.  The Trust runs a number of grant programs, providing funds to nonprofits and schools for habitat restoration, Bay education, living resource protection, sound land use, water quality improvement, and community engagement.  The Trust manages the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network, a coalition of approximately 30 private foundations.  In its work to improve the Bay, the Funders Network became concerned about the strength of small watershed organizations, which play a vital role in Chesapeake Bay watershed restoration and protection.  These groups serve as stewards and watchdogs of their local environment, provide public outreach and advocacy on local issues, and lead or participate in restoration projects.  In Maryland, we have seen the emergence of several strong organizations which have been vocal and effective in helping to bring about significant change.  While many of these organizations are led by dedicated boards and technically sound staff, they generally lack the skills to build operational infrastructure for sustainability, effectiveness, and efficiency.  To provide capacity building support, the Funders Network decided to pool funds to support assessment, training, and individual support for organizations in the Bay watershed. 

The Rauch Foundation grant contributes to the pool of funds available to build the capacity of Maryland watershed organizations, which can mobilize their members for hands-on projects, education, and advocacy.  Strategies include providing grants, holding trainings, and delivering technical assistance to watershed organizations in order to increase their operational and programmatic capacity. 

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Sample Grant 2

Chester River Association  

Advocacy Program - $30,000 for one year

The Chester River Association is a grassroots organization that actively campaigns to protect the Chester River.  The Chester River watershed covers over 390 square miles, is dominated by farmland, and contains 8,300 acres of wetlands.  Rapid development is robbing the watershed of its rural character and compromising water quality and biodiversity.  Increased human activity in the watershed is adding an over-abundance of nutrients, threatening fisheries and underwater vegetation.  The river is currently on the Maryland Department of the Environments list of impaired waterways.

The Rauch Foundation grant helps CRA institute a systematic and proactive advocacy program to reduce pollution in the Chester River, targeting major polluters and advocating for policy changes to limit future damages to the river. 

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Sample Grant  3

Eastern Shore Land Conservancy  

Land Use Planning - $150,000 over 2 years

The Eastern Shore Land Conservancy (ESLC) is a private, nonprofit land preservation organization whose mission is to permanently preserve unique natural areas and productive farmland in the six counties of the mid-Shore region on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.  In partnership with local governments, and supported in part by a past Rauch Foundation grant, ESLC developed a regional land use agreement, endorsed by the six upper and mid-shore counties ESLC serves, called Eastern Shore 2010.  The agreement set measurable land use goals and a process for participating counties to develop the research, support and resources to implement them. 

The Rauch Foundation grant helps ESLC expand land use planning and advocacy on the mid and upper Eastern Shore, including advocating for successful achievement of Eastern Shore 2010 goals, meeting land use planning education and resource needs for local government and community leaders, and increasing public awareness of and engagement in land use planning issues.

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Sample Grant 4

Environmental Integrity Project  

Pollution Reduction - $35,000 over 18 months

The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) was founded in 2002 to advocate for more effective enforcement of environmental laws.  EIP provides objective analysis of how the failure to enforce or implement environmental laws increases pollution and affects the public’s health; holds federal and state agencies, as well as individual corporations, accountable for failing to enforce or comply with environmental laws; and helps local communities in key states obtain the protection of environmental laws.  EIP frequently teams with community activists to improve permits, support enforcement actions, and defeat efforts to roll back environmental rules.

The Rauch Foundation helps bring EIP’s expertise to Maryland to investigate and document violations of the Clean Air Act at Maryland’s coal-fired power plants and to support any related enforcement actions or permit challenges.

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Sample Grant 5

Parks and People Foundation  

Restoration/Pollution Reduction - $80,000 over 2 years

Parks and People Foundation works to improve life in Baltimore by supporting a wide range of recreational and educational opportunities; creating and sustaining beautiful and lively parks; and promoting a healthy natural environment.  The organization’s Watershed 263 project works to improve water quality and quality of life in a very low-income section of Baltimore City.  Using stormwater management as an organizing tool, Parks and People brings community residents together with nonprofits and city agencies to improve the environment and people’s lives.  The project includes 30 specific stormwater management projects, tree planting, vacant lot restoration, street sweeping, and neighborhood involvement.

The Rauch Foundation grant helps Parks and People model new approaches to reduce non-point source pollution as it enters the Baltimore Harbor and to improve overall quality of life in the eleven inner city neighborhoods composing Watershed 263, a 930-acre storm drain watershed.

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