Protecting The Environment – Toyota and NEEF Team Up

Aug 15, 2014

Thanks to grants provided by a partnership between the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF) and Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), more than 30 nonprofit organizations around the country will receive funds to help support public lands. More than $150,000 in capacity building grants are available to help nonprofit organizations make important improvements and maintenance of facilities and programming on public lands.

“It is often difficult to raise funds for strategic planning, communications and technology upgrades, but these activities are vital to the growth and engagement of Friends Groups, ” said Diane Wood, president of the National Environmental Education Foundation.

Land managers at all levels often have thin budgets and limited staff. Help in the form of grants and donations from nonprofit organizations known as Friends Groups provide much needed support for public lands. NEEF and Toyota seek to strengthen these organizations so they can serve public lands to the best of their ability.

“We believe stewardship of our public lands starts at the local level,” said Michael Rouse, TMS vice president of diversity, philanthropy and community affairs. “We hope to help local community groups gain traction in caring for millions of acres of public lands and grow as stewards of an important American resource.”

Each group will receive a grant of up to $5,000 for “capacity building.” The money will be used to serve public lands by allowing land managers and their staffs to develop communications and websites, software and technology, staff training, fundraising, board development, and strategic planning.

This is the fourth year the NEEF’s Public Lands Program has provided these grants to Friends Groups to support capacity building and events. Proposals for the next round of Public Lands Every Day grants are due by the end of October.

“If a Friends Group can better engage the public, it can attract more volunteers. If it can attract more volunteers, it has a larger base of individuals to ask for support. If it can gain more support, it can offer more volunteer events,” added Wood.