Ellie Kim

1. Applying Your Way To Success:
Grants and Best Practice Awards
Ellie Kim
Alliance to Save Energy
ekim@ase.org

2. Outline
• Types of grants/applications:
– Campus Grants (e.g.- TGIF)
– Best Practice Award Applications
– Outside grants (city, campus, private, non-profit,
etc.); not covered here.

3. General Tips
• Pay attention to the application questions
• What makes your project worth funding?
– Unique attributes
– Metrics (students reached, energy savings, etc.)
– Bigger picture/theme?
• Explain the Alliance to Save Energy/Green
Campus Program (elevator speech)
• Good writing!

4. General Tips (cont.)
• Resources
– MLA/AP writing
– Active voice!
– Campus lead
– Previous applications/Past funded projects
– Stakeholders? (advice on how to apply)
• Let’s talk campus-specific grants!

5. Writing a Successful Grant
Proposal
Kimberly Lam
UC Berkeley
klam789@berkeley.edu

6. Case Study
“End the Cycle:
Sustainable Laundry Campaign”

7. Project Overview
• Pre- and post-surveys
• Static cling stickers for machines
• Laundry Tips posters
• Outreach: tabling and giveaways
• All residential halls and student family housing

8. Type of Grant:
• TGIF – The Green Initiative Fund
• $250,000 each year ($5/semester/student fee)
• Student, faculty, staff submit project proposals
• In 2010, awarded 14 projects: education,
retrofits, metering, compost & waste, energy
• “End the Cycle” - $3,100

9. Application Process
1. Abstract
2. Grant Proposal
3. Notification
4. Project Updates

10. Abstract
• Give basic idea of project:
– Goals
– Target audience & participants
– Project components
– Estimated itemized costs
– Entities we will be working with
• 1 page: brief and to the point!
• Reused some of Abstract in Final Application

12. Grant Proposal
1. Project Description
2. Project Approvals
3. Metrics and Measurability
4. Project Team
5. Project Education, Outreach & Publicity Plan
6. Budget
7. Project Timeline
8. Appendix (Optional)

13. Grant Proposal
1. Project Description
 Background info about GCP
 Statistics about practices w/o proposed project
– shows potential for outreach, savings

14. Grant Proposal
1. Project Description, cont.
 Basic goals of project
- Include pre-survey data to show goals are attainable
- Behavioral change goals: carried past college
 INclude

15. Grant Proposal, cont.
2. Process for implementing your project – key
components and steps.
Design, print product/program
Static-cling machine stickers
Publicity & Outreach:
Laundry Tips posters
Tabling
Pre- and post-surveys
Raffles, giveaways

16. Grant Proposal, cont.
3. Which aspects of campus sustainability will this
address? Benefits to campus community?
Be specific: Which project components will
address which sustainability aspects?

17. Grant Proposal, cont.
4. Does project tie into broader campus
sustainability initiatives? How?
Look up your campus’ specific sustainability
initiatives or Climate Action Plan

18. Project Approvals
5. Approval required from entity on or off
campus?
 Specific names and departments
 Don’t forget: campus officials, private
manufacturers, etc.
“This project requires approval from Jeff Urdahl, Campus Director of
Housing Operations Maintenance and Environment. Additionally, the
static-cling sticker component of this project requires approval from the
entity overseeing the washing machines in the campus residential halls and
family student housing – WEB Laundry Services…”

19. Metrics & Measurability
6. Quantifiable sustainability impacts? Cost
savings to campus?
 Used campus-specific data
 Calculate potential metrics and savings

20. Metrics & Measurability, cont.
7. How to measure impacts of project?
 Metering data available?
 Electricity, natural gas, water
 If not:
 Calculate based on pre- and post-surveys

22. Project Team
• Project managers
- contact info, relevant experience
• Student involvement
• Other stakeholders or organizations

23. Education, Outreach & Publicity Plan
• Plan for publicizing:
• How will you update campus about project
progress? (newsletters, forums, meetings)
• Outreach Goals:
– What proportion of campus community, and by
what means?
“We hope to reach 1,000 students living in the residential halls directly
through surveys and tabling in the Dining Commons, and 75% of the student
population living in both the residential halls as well as family student
housing, indirectly through our Sustainable Laundry Tips posters, static-cling
stickers, etc…”

24. Budget
• Equipment and construction costs
• Publicity and communication
• Personnel and wages
• General Supplies and other
• Over-estimate costs to be safe!

25. Budget

26. Project Timeline

27. Appendix
• Provides credibility, shows you did your
research and calculations
• Include items referenced in application
Calculations
Explanations
Photos and diagrams
Example designs

31. Grant Writing Tips
• Thorough Background Research
– Is this a NEW project? No similar existing projects?
– Approvals – is this project even feasible?
• Clear, Comprehensive Calculations
– Specific to your building’s machine models, etc.
– Footnotes for sources
– Include formulas used

32. Grant Writing Tips, cont.
• Show connections between campus
sustainability needs and your project goals
• “Name-drop” relevant departments,
organizations, to show who you have
contacted already to ensure project success
• Include photos and calculations (hard metrics,
savings to campus)
• Edits from team for grammar and clarity

33. Grant Writing Tips, cont.
• How much have previous projects been
awarded?
• Start research early
• Follow up after submitting
– If you run into surprises, still have time to edit
project plans
• Follow up after submitting

34. Thank You! Questions?
Kimberly Lam
UC Berkeley
klam789@berkeley.edu

35. Best Practice Awards
• What are the Best Practice Awards?
– Part of the CA Higher Ed Sustainability Conference
(June/July- we hold the EOY in conjunction)

36. Best Practice Awards
• Case Study Example:
• West Los Angeles College – Green Campus Program (2010 Best Practice Award in
Student Energy Efficiency)
The West Los Angeles College Green Campus Program initiated a wide-reaching
educational campaign to engage student, faculty, and staff in an effort to
conserve energy and water at home and on campus. Through this effort, interns
have developed mock energy bills to display campus energy consumption and
energy cost data. This information is being displayed on two large banners in high-
traffic areas on campus. Interns have also posted 500 stickers on light switches to
encourage people to turn off unused lights. Lastly, interns have posted 100 fliers in
campus lavatories; each flier contains tips on how to conserve water and energy.
The West LA College Green Campus Program is the first California Community
College winner in this category.

37. Best Practice Awards
• ELIGIBILITY
• Applications may only be submitted by CCC, CSU, or UC faculty, students,
and staff. Applications submitted by outside parties will not be
considered.
• Projects that have previously won best practice awards are ineligible.
• Projects implemented at any point over the last five years (1/1/2005 –
present) will be considered.

38. Best Practice Awards
• Project Category (dependent questions)
• Project Information
– Name/location/cost
– Estimated energy savings
– Description
– Relevancy to BP Program
– Integration (aka stakeholders)
• Dependent Questions

39. Best Practice Awards
• II. PROJECT CATEGORY- see attached category descriptions
•
• NEW CONSTRUCTION
• ___ Best Overall Sustainable Design
• ___ HVAC Design/Retrofit
• ___ Lighting Design/Retrofit
•
• SUSTAINABLE OPERATIONS
• ___ Water Efficiency/Site Water Quality
• ___ Innovative Waste Reduction
• _X__ Student Energy Efficiency
• ___ Student Sustainability Program

40. Best Practice Awards
• A. GENERAL QUESTIONS
• Project/practice name: Educational Outreach Campaign
• Project/practice location: West Los Angeles College Campus
• Implementation cost: cost of printing materials? $600
• Estimated annual energy savings (as applicable):
• 75 Watt bulb x 1 hr/day x 365 days/year x 1 kWh/1000 Watts= 27.4 kWh/year per
person
• 273,750 kWh potential energy savings annually
• Estimated annual energy cost savings (as applicable - please state assumptions
for electricity and gas rates): 273,750 kwh x $0.08 = $21,900

41. Best Practice Awards
• Description- Provide a detailed narrative
describing the project or practice.
– What is this project? (Components)
– Basics of what it’s designed to do
– Name drop metrics/unique descriptive details in
the description
– Actually better if more concise (basic mechanics)

42. Best Practice Awards
• Relevancy to the Best Practices program-
Describe the features of the project/practice
that qualify it as a best practice of potential
interest to other campuses (eg. replicability).
– REPLICABILITY!
– Uniqueness: reach, first ever, unfulfilled niche, etc.
– Bigger picture (overall theme/impact)

43. Best Practice Awards
• Design integration- If appropriate, describe
the ways in which this project/practice
incorporated multiple disciplines and/or
stakeholders into the design process.
Describe how collaboration produced
sustainable solutions or improved the
project’s performance.
– STAKEHOLDERS!!! (name drop org’s, titles, etc.)
– Support, impact on project

44. Best Practice Awards
• Student Sustainability Award & Student
Energy Efficiency, if applicable:
• Describe project results, other than energy
savings, that demonstrate its impact on your
campus.
– Wrap up, larger theme not related to energy
savings
– Usually outreach numbers, education, etc.

45. Best Practice Awards
• Submitting
– Respect the deadline
– Involve your campus lead in the editing process
– Usually uploaded to ProjectSpaces
• Other tips:
– Pick a good project and know how to sell it!

46. Thank You! Questions?
Ellie Kim
Alliance to Save Energy
ekim@ase.org