NAWCA Grants – Tips and Tools

NAWCA STANDARD GRANT applications ask specific technical questions and it is important  to provide complete and detailed answers. Read the proposal instructions carefully and ask our Grants Specialist if you need assistance.

Technical Question #1 on the application asks about waterfowl species. You will be asked to list and enumerate waterfowl that your project will benefit: high priority waterfowl, priority waterfowl, and other waterfowl species. These species are listed in the instructions and you can also see them below.

Technical Question #2 asks about non-waterfowl, wetland-associated species. You will be asked to list the species found in the Bird Conservation Region where the project is located. Not sure what BCR you are in? See the map below.

Technical Question #3 asks how your proposal aligns with the conservation priorities of wetlands areas in the four major national bird conservation plans. The instructions link to those four plans. In Part B, you can refer to the priorities of regional plans (such as the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Plan).

Technical Question #4 is about wetlands. The proposal instructions provide links to the National Wetlands Inventory (NWI) Mapper and suggest contacting your Joint Venture Coordinator for more information at the local level.

Technical Question #5 asks for a breakdown of how project acres will contribute to the long term conservation of wetlands and associated uplands. You will also be asked to consider how changing environmental factors could affect the proposed project acreage or bird populations and if there are adaptations to address those changes.

Technical Question #6 is about wetland-dependant or associated federal endangered/threatened species or state-level species of greatest conservation need.

Technical Questions #7 asks about partnerships and match, key elements for any submitted proposal. It is important to start well ahead of the due date to secure match and non-match partners that will add value to your proposal.

NAWCA SMALL GRANT applications also ask specific questions about birds and habitats, but they are less laborious than the Standard Grants. There are eight major evaluation questions with a three page maximum response. The scoring tables for both the Standard and Small Grant proposals are in the application and are worth careful review.