Previous Growing the Grassroots
Capacity-Building Grant Recipients

Grants Awarded 2011

  • Friends of Edgewood-Oak Brush Plains Preserve, Suffolk County – $2,000 for design of a logo, business card, stationery, table top display, tri-fold brochure, and newsletter template to establish a visual identity for the organization and enable it to do community outreach.
  • Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum, Chemung County - $2000 for interactive membership software to increase communication with members, attract new members, and better track memberships and donations.
  • Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association, Inc., Dutchess County - $2000 for design, printing, and mailing of membership and volunteer opportunity information to be sent to Columbia County residents in conjunction with the construction and completion of the trail within the county.
  • John Burroughs Association, Ulster County - $1400 for design and printing of a new membership brochure to present a fresh new identity for the organization and attract new members.
  • Friends of Taconic State Park, Columbia County - $500 for expanding its website to allow for on-line membership solicitation, donations, and shopping.

Grants Awarded 2010

  • Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, Brooklyn, Kings County – $2,250 for design and printing of a membership brochure, website upgrades and member database support
  • Friends of Grimes Glen, Naples, Ontario County - $2,150 for website hosting and graphic design and printing of a membership brochure
  • Friends of Kinderhook Trails, Kinderhook, Columbia County - $1,900 for website development and individual and business membership materials
  • Owasco Flats Nature Reserve – Moravia, Cayuga County - $1,500 for graphic design of a logo and newsletter template and newsletter printing
  • Erie-Cattaraugus Rail Trail, Inc., Orchard Park, Erie and Cattaraugus Counties – $1,300 for design, production and distribution of membership materials and volunteer recruitment and training
  • Friends of Connetquot , Oakdale, Suffolk County - $1,200 for a membership brochure and development of a tabletop display
  • Association for Conservation of Recreational and Natural Spaces, Inc., (ACORNS) Stafford, Genesee County - $650 for a membership recruitment brochure and banner

Grants Awarded 2009

Each group has used the funding to bolster a variety of outreach efforts designed to deliver their message to a wider audience and enlist members and volunteers to support them in their work.

Friends of Robert Moses State Park Nature Center, Massena, St. Lawrence County - $2770 –The Friends of the Robert Moses State Park Nature Center distributed more than 500 member and community surveys to teachers, disability groups, senior organizations, the Akwesasne Mohawk community, local officials and Chambers of Commerce. They received responses from all ages and socio-economic levels and were representative of the demographics of the community.  The surveys helped determine what the community thinks is needed at the Nature Center as well as identify potential donors; recruit board members, committee chair people and new volunteers and generated an increase in memberships, publicity, visibility and support.

Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, Bronx - $2500  The Friends of Van Cortlandt Park organized a series of five community forums in the neighborhoods surrounding their New York City park. The main objective of the forum series was to hear concerns and gather suggestions for projects or programs that residents would like to see in the park, but recruitment of volunteers was a corollary benefit.

Friends of Glimmerglass State Park, Cooperstown, Otsego County - $2400- The Friends of Glimmerglass State Park created a tabletop display that has made it possible for them to showcase their activities and solicit memberships at community events. With the projector and indoor and outdoor screens that they also purchased, the group hosted a series of free public programs, which provided opportunities for membership recruitment.

Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association, Highland, Ulster County - $2240 –The Hudson Valley Rail Trail Association hired a consultant to develop a new website.

Friends of the Rail Trail, Delmar, Albany County - $2000 – Thanks in large part to the grant, the Friends of the Rail Trail were able to quickly partner with and become a committee of the Mohawk Hudson Land Conservancy, an existing 501(c)(3) organization with compatible goals; produce professional quality brochures and letterhead and begin to distribute materials widely in the community; create a website; gain over 80 new members and approximately 40 active volunteers, raise over $3,000 in donations, gather citizen input and help advise County officials on the Rail Trail design process, help assure a standing-room-only crowd at the County's first public information meeting on the Rail Trail--over 150 people in attendance; receive favorable coverage in the local print and broadcast media; and participate in 10 tabling events in the community.

Trail Works, Inc. Williamson, Wayne County - $1850 – Trail Works, Inc. created a power point program highlighting its activities that has already been presented in public programs conducted in 11 of the county's 13 libraries and for several Scout and civic groups. They also used their grant funds to produce and distribute display posters and membership brochures throughout the county. Results have been impressive: the group's membership grew by 142 percent.

Hoosic River Watershed Association, Hoosick Falls, Rensselaer County - $880 –The Hoosic Watershed Association hired a consultant to develop a website for the Hoosic River Greenway.

Friends of Great Bear Recreation Area, Fulton, Oswego County - $360 - Friends of Great Bear Recreation Area printed a new brochure which attracted several new trail adopters and a $500 donation from the local fire department.

OUR AWARDEES: In their own words

Brooklyn Greenway Initiative
When the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI) submitted its capacity grant proposal to PTNY, very few of the organization’s 2500 e-newsletter subscribers were annual donors, despite the fact they participated in events, tours, and workshops.  BGI used its $2250 capacity grant to upgrade its website with a new membership page and design and print an engaging and colorful promotional and membership brochure for the organization.  As a result, in 2010, BGI added almost 1700 additional names to its newsletter list (an increase of 66%) and doubled its membership.

“We knew that building a strong membership base would be essential to insuring the long-term success of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, but we needed dedicated funding to jump-start the process.  The capacity grant from Parks & Trails New York was the perfect catalyst.” - BGI Director of Programs Meg Fellerath

Thanks to a capacity building grant from PTNY, the nonprofit Owasco Flats Nature Reserve has a new logo, newsletter template, family-friendly information kiosk designs, and its first member newsletter in three years.

“We loved the logo that we used for the past 30 years, however, we recently realized that in order to communicate to our members, we needed to go digital, with a new digital logo, a digital newsletter and web blog. A capacity grant from Parks & Trails New York allowed us to better communicate the opportunities available in the Owasco Flats Nature Reserve. Our hope is to grow a foundation of support amongst youth, families and communities. We sincerely thank PTNY for giving us the opportunity to expand and improve our organization and our community outreach. The grant has allowed our organization to grow, conduct outreach in the digital age, and improve our trail system at the Owasco Flats Nature Reserve.” - Sandie Doran, Chairperson of the Owasco Flats Nature Reserve. 

Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail, Inc.
Capacity grant funds helped Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (ECRT) create and distribute 1000 “Become A Supporter” business cards and 3500 “Become A Supporter” post cards. The distribution was made through person-to-person contact and through display stands placed in local businesses and government buildings.  ECRT also purchased a 36” standing display banner for use at events, meetings and presentations.

“Our objective is to build public and political support for the proposed trail, but with five very different towns, some in favor and some fearful, we need outreach programs that target diverse interests.  Having the capacity grant dollars has allowed us to develop individualized strategic communication materials that are so vital to addressing many different community concerns and has helped us generate a broad base of committed, enthusiastic supporters in every community along the corridor.” - Anne Bergantz, ECRT Chairperson

Association for Conservation of Recreational and Natural Spaces
The Association for Conservation of Recreational and Natural Spaces (ACORNS) used their capacity grant to produce a banner and a membership brochure.  As a result, the group has attracted a new patron level member ($100) and their first life member ($500), added 50 new names to their newsletter mailing list (an increase of 9%), and enjoyed overflow attendance at several public events.

Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve

The Friends of Connetquot River State Park Preserve’s capacity grant allowed the group undertake its first concerted effort to raise public awareness of the park as a valuable community resource and gain support for the work of the Friends on behalf of the park.  Funds were used to print a new brochure and purchase and create a tabletop display for use at public events. 

“The publicity materials supported by the grant have greatly helped us to promote the Preserve and our work.  Our membership increased by 23% from 416 in December 2009 to 512 in December 2010.  This is a significant gain considering that in the past two years the organization’s member base was decreasing by five percent.” - Edith Wilson, board member

Friends of Rockland Lake and Hook Mountain, Inc.
The membership campaign made possible by the Park and Trails capacity building grant generated a 50% increase in membership renewals and number of new members from 2009 to 2010, resulting in the greatest one-year membership revenue increase in the group’s seven-year history.

“As a small all-volunteer non-profit, support from an organization like Park and Trail’s is so very important.”  -
Robert Maher, President

Friends of Taconic State Park
The Friends of Taconic State Park used their capacity building grant to hire a marketing and membership development consultant to help the group undertake a membership mailing and a major member cultivation event and create marketing materials for community events.

“We have been humbled and slightly incredulous at the extraordinary response to our membership outreach.  As of the end of September 2010 we met our goal of adding 100 new members and by January 2011 we reached 184.  I truly believe that winning the Columbia County Heritage Award was the result of our increased publicity and outreach efforts, neither of which would have been possible without your support.” - Deborah Cohen, treasurer

“The Friends of Taconic State Park also realized a completely unexpected benefit as a result of receiving the Parks & Trails New York capacity building grant: two fund-raising consultants held training workshops for us at no charge. Both firms told us that although they do not normally take on clients as small as FTSP, they were so impressed with what we are doing that they wanted to help in some way. We really believe we learned a lot as a result of both workshops! Thank you Parks & Trails New York for helping us take this very important next step in our development.”
- Deborah Cohen, Treasurer, Friends of Taconic State Park

“The capacity grants definitely made a difference.  The (member and community) survey alone was such an important next step after completing our five-year strategic plan but we never would have been able to do it without the capacity grant.  Then getting such a positive response from the surveys shows the Friends group that people feel we are on the right track.”
- Mary Danboise, Friends of the Robert Moses State Park Nature Center, Inc.

“The community forum series would not have been accomplished without the capacity grants.  The funding allowed us to do advertising and outreach which made a difference in allowing us to reach new audiences.  Everyone who attended said they came because they saw an ad in the local paper.  If we hadn’t placed those ads, I’d have been sitting in a room by myself.”

“Over the last year, the capacity grant and other grants we have received have allowed us to undertake outreach activities that have increased our membership numbers and tripled our number of volunteers.  It’s been a great year for us.”
- Christina Taylor, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park

“A capacity grant from PTNY allowed us to get started quickly and get mobilized.  It was the impetus that helped our committee get organized faster than we would have otherwise. Without the grant it would have taken us a couple of years to get where we are today. Our work is only just beginning, but the grant has indeed helped build our capacity better than I imagined was possible. Thank you!"
- Dan Rain, Friends of the Rail Trail

“The capacity grants gave us the support and impetus we needed to expand our focus. Previously, we consisted of members in two towns and put all our energies there despite the fact that we were supposed to be a county-wide group.  But with the capacity grant funds we did presentations about Trail Works at the libraries in every town and hosted a variety of speakers in locations throughout the county. As a result we not only have a great increase in the number of members, they also come from many other towns.” 
- Carol May, Trail Works, Inc.

 

  

 

 

 

           
 

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