1

Planning your Project

Begin planning your project by considering an environmental issue that relates to one of our program’s focus areas:

• Marine debris
• Habitat conservation and restoration
• Carbon footprint reduction
• Carbon sequestration

The funding application will ask you to explain how the issue relates to your community and to connect your local issue within a broader (regional, global) context.

Once you’ve identified an environmental issue, think about how you can address it by engaging the resources of your school, organization, and community, and how you would measure your project’s success. A successful project will make a substantive, measurable impact on the environmental issue you’ve identified. The impact of a Planet Stewards funded project must be quantitatively measured (e.g., acres of habitat protected or restored, tons of carbon sequestered). Educational/learning outcomes should be a part of, but not the primary measurement of the project’s success.

2

Formulate a Strategy

The next step is to formulate a strategy to address your chosen environmental issue. Look at previously funded projects and materials on the Focus Area Resources page. These can be very helpful at this stage. Projects do not need to be original in scope and may replicate previously funded projects. But, each project should deal with an environmental challenge local to the educator submitting an application.

• Who will be involved — students, other teachers, partnering institutions, etc.
• What activities your group will engage in to reach your desired goals.
• The order and timing for the project’s activities.
• What equipment and supplies you will need to complete your project.

Research or demonstration activities may be included, but should not be the main activity for the project. The projects’ primary outcome(s) should focus on hands-on environmental stewardship with quantitative/measurable results.

Finally, begin to pull together a budget and gather support from necessary stakeholders (e.g., school administrators, organizational managers, partnering educators).

These are the basic questions to ask yourself before you begin the application process. The following resources offer more detailed information and guidance related the project’s development, application and evaluation process:

• Project Development Guide — Recommendations for developing your project plan, garnering support and resources for your project’s implementation, and materials you’ll need to submit with your application.

• Application Walkthrough — This will help you frame your answers to each of the questions on your stewardship project application.

• Application Evaluation Rubric — A guide to how Planet Stewards evaluates each proposal, determining which projects merit funding.

• Example Project Proposals — These project proposals (one for each stewardship project focus area) were highly rated and funded by NOAA Planet Stewards. We recommend you review them for the level of information they provide as well as its presentation.

  • Habitat Restoration & Conservation: Young Stewards Promoting Border Resiliency
  • Marine Debris: Clean Up Crew: Empowering Future Changemakers
  • Carbon Footprint Reduction: Runaway Carbon Cycle - Reducing Carbon Emissions
  • Carbon Sequestration: The Tiny Forest Project

• Progress Report — This is the general format and details used in providing progress to date of each funded project.

• NOAA Likeness and Profile Release (English) (Spanish) — EVERYONE appearing in a photo submitted to NOAA Planet Stewards as a progress report requirement MUST complete and submit a NOAA Likeness and Profile Release Form.

3

Ready to Apply for Funding?

NOAA Planet Stewards Project Applications are submitted via a Google Form. Because this form does not allow you to save your work and return, or to edit your application once it is submitted, we STRONGLY RECOMMEND you prepare your answers in another document and then copy and paste into the online application form.

We further STRONGLY RECOMMEND you read through our application walkthrough document WELL IN ADVANCE of writing your proposal. The document is designed to help you organize, format, and check the length your answers to each question on the application.

You will be required to provide and upload the following supporting documents as part of your application:

• Support letters (.doc or .pdf)
• Project budget (.doc, .xls, or .pdf)

Requirements on formatting and naming these documents are noted in the application walkthrough. Applications lacking these documents will not be reviewed.

The deadline for applications and all supporting materials is midnight (Pacific Time), June 2, 2024. Applicants will be contacted regarding the status of their submission no later than July 31, 2024. If approved, educators shall use the funds to carry out their project during the 2024/2025 academic year (August through June).

Apply using the following form:

NOAA Planet Stewards Project Funding Application