High impact....lesser known.....limited access to funding. On paper, it can be tough to figure out what those words from Impact's Funding Priorities mean. Which organization's project will have a big impact? Which might benefit most from a higher profile? Without an Impact grant, what nonprofit might struggle most to secure funding?
The experience of the New Jersey Tree Foundation (NJTF), since receiving the 2010 Impact grant, is revealing. Not long after the grant was announced, the Philadelphia Horticultural Society took note, calling NJTF and asking for a meeting.
"We're a much smaller organization," said Jessica Franzini by phone last week about NJTF. "We didn't have a seat at the table. This is a partner we'd never had chance to work with before."
The grant from Impact opened doors for NJTF and "saved us at exactly the right time," Franzini wrote in her recent Interim Grant Report to Impact. This time a year ago, NJTF lost a significant amount of money when their state tree planting contract was cancelled. One of its three major programs -- the Urban Airshed Reforestation Program (UARP) -- sorely needed funds. Franzini, UARP program director, applied for an Impact grant.
Since being awarded that project grant of $100,000 to plant hundreds of shade trees and shrubs in Camden, NJTF has garnered "incredible recognition" in the greater Camden and Philadelphia area, Franzini said. That recognition continues to have ripple effects, spilling over into renewed energy and new partnerships at NJTF.
As a result of that meeting with the Philadelphia Horticultural Society, NJTF is now part of a tri-state tree planting initiative called Plant One Million, announced this month at the Philadelphia Flower Show. It includes New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Read details at
www.plantonemillion.org. Additionally, NJTF is part of an emerging program with Camden County (Camden SMART: Stormwater Management and Resource Training) to reduce storm drain flooding with tree plantings, rain gardens and other efforts.
Receiving Impact funds was gratifying, Franzini said, and the application process instructive: NJTF learned how to write a better grant proposal, Franzini said. "This really was the most competitive grant we've ever received."
Last fall, Impact members joined other volunteers in Camden to help plant trees in the Whitman Park neighborhood. Itching to begin spring planting? NJTF recently released its
spring planting schedule. Trees and shrubs will be planted on eight Saturdays in April and May.
