Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant
The Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant presented by Little Seeds and KidsGardening is designed to support youth garden programs interested in preserving and creating pollinator habitats to help rebuild declining pollinator populations. In 2022, twenty programs will be awarded checks of $500 to support the development of new and expansion of existing pollinator gardens.
This grant is closed. Congratulations to the twenty awarded programs!
Eligibility
Any nonprofit organization, school, university, government entity, or tax-exempt organization like religious organizations and Tribal governments in the United States and US Territories serving at least 15 youth is eligible to apply. Programs must be planning a new or expanding an existing youth garden designed to teach about the importance of pollinators.
Previous winners of the Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant are not eligible.
We prioritize the following when selecting winners…
Beyond the best fit with the Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant focus on pollinator gardens, the selection of winners is prioritized based on demonstrated need and program impact. KidsGardening considers a variety of factors when determining need, including:
Economic and Demographic Factors: Does the program exist within or engage a community that is under-resourced? Is program leadership representative of youth participating in the program?
Program Funding and Support: Does the program have limited access to resources and/or consistent monetary support, including recent grant funding?
Impact: Will grant funding expand learning opportunities for program participants? Does the intended impact of the program reflect the needs of the community?
Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Award Package
20 programs will receive $500 in funding to support the development of new and expansion of existing pollinator gardens.
How to apply
The deadline for application submission is Friday, July 15, 2022, at 11:59 pm PST.
All applications must be submitted online. You can download a copy of the questions to view ahead of time as a Word document or PDF file. We strongly advise saving the questions and then copying and pasting the answers into the application rather than composing your answers directly into the online form. Many browsers are set to timeout after 30 minutes of inactivity (or sometimes sooner) and so you may lose your work if it takes longer than your browser's setting to complete or save your entry.
Award Notification and Fulfillment
Winners will be announced and contacted by email by Friday, August 26, 2022. A list of winners will also be posted on KidsGardening.org on that date. Awards will be distributed in September 2022.
Grant Recipient Requirements
Grant awardees will be required to report on their garden’s progress within six months of receiving the award. These reports help KidsGardening determine the overall impact of the grant program. Winners will be provided with a link to an online form to complete.
Reporting requirements include:
- 5-10 digital images of the garden
- Parental release forms to accompany images of children
- A narrative about the impact of the garden program
If you do not feel that you will be able to comply with these reporting requirements, please do not apply.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are my chances of winning a Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant?
My program has previously been awarded a grant from KidsGardening, am I eligible to apply for and receive a Little Seeds Pollinator Pals Grant?
Programs that have previously been awarded other grants from KidsGardening are welcome to apply and are eligible to be selected. That being said, given the high number of applications we receive for our various grant funding opportunities, it is unlikely you will be awarded multiple KidsGardening grants in a single calendar year or in back-to-back years.
What makes a good Little Seeds Pollinator Pal Grant application?
We also encourage you to explore our Grant Writing Tips resource for general advice about crafting a standout grant application.
How do I know if I've successfully submitted my application?
What if I have started my application but have not finished it, will it be reviewed?
What if I need to update my submitted application?
What if I submit more than one application for the same organization?
How do you select grant winners?
In the initial round, a single reader will review an application, using a standardized scoring rubric, judging it on assorted criteria including but not limited to demonstrated need, program sustainability and impact, and clear fit with grant objectives. High-quality applicants are then selected to undergo a second round of evaluations. In this phase of the review process, each member of the grant selection committee reads all second-round applications before meeting to engage in group deliberation and finalist selection. These finalists are then recommended to the grant program sponsor, who reviews application materials and confirms winner selections.
I didn’t receive an email on Friday, August 26, 2022, the day of the winner announcement. Does this mean my program hasn’t been awarded a grant?
Grant Application Technical Support
If you have any questions not addressed in the Frequently Asked Questions section above, please contact KidsGardening Program Director Sarah Lane at [email protected].
Grant Sponsor
Little Seeds is dedicated to preserving and creating pollinator habitats in communities across the United States. Since 2017 Little Seeds has partnered with the National Wildlife Federation to help distribute over 1,500 monarch garden kits to schools in the Central Monarch Migration Corridor. The Pollinator Pals Grant, which began in 2021, is their latest effort to raise awareness about declining pollinator populations and to encourage habitat plantings that can provide valuable sources of food and serve as breeding areas for pollinators. In 2021, the Pollinator Pals Grant funded 18 programs reaching over 7,000 kids.