Exemplary grant applications:

1) clearly define the problem you hope to solve,
2) outline a detailed plan for what will be accomplished, and
3) define the roles and responsibilities of those involved. 

VT UCF has simplified our application over the years to focus on these three components. Here are a few past grant applications that have ranked high in part because of the quality and clarity of the application:

• Town of Essex
• Town of East Montpelier
• Town of Richmond

Yes! If you will be involved in the administration of a funded project, it is your responsibility to read and understand the executed (signed) grant agreement, particularly pages 4 and 5 (Attachments A & B), which outline your specific project's scope of work and the payment provisions (how to get the money!).  

Your executed grant agreement was sent directly to the designated individual in your municipality or organization that provided the e-signature to execute the grant. If you are involved in the administration of a funded project and this person did not forward you or send you the grant agreement, we would be happy to share it with you. Simply send elise.schadler@vermont.gov an email request and we'll send you the PDF. In the meantime, refer to this blank sample grant agreement.

VT UCF grant funds are not awarded as a single check -- they are released after the grant recipient submits an invoice. The funds awarded are available for payment according to Attachment B: Payment Provisions (page 5) of your grant agreement.  

For 2022 Emerald Ash Borer Reforestation Grant recipients, funds are available on the following schedule: 33% payable upon grant execution (the grant agreement is signed) and submission of an invoice, and the remaining amount available upon receipt and approval of the final report. 

For 2022 Caring for Canopy Grant recipients, funds are available upon project completion and submission of a final report and invoice.

For 2023 Caring for Canopy and Growing Urban Forests in the Face of EAB Grant recipients, funds will be available upon project completion and submission of a final report and invoice.

An invoice should be on municipal or organizational letterhead and must include:

• the subaward number,
• the amount being requested for payment, and
• address to where a check should be sent.

Click here to see a sample invoice.

As outlined on page 5 of your grant agreement, invoices shall be addressed to the below and emailed to ANR.FPRAgreements@vermont.gov.

ATTN: Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation
Accounts Payable
1 National Life Drive, Davis 2
Montpelier, VT 05620-3801

Please cc elise.schadler@vermont.gov to the email so that our program staff knows that it is in process. 

Yes. Attachment B of your grant agreement states: Up to 90 days of Pre-award costs are allowable under this agreement as determined by the State and as related to scope of work in Attachment A. In other words, completed project work that occurred as early as 90 days before the grant agreement was signed is eligible for reimbursement as long as the costs were properly documented.

Most VT UCF grants require 50-100% match. This means that whatever funding amount your municipality or organization has been awarded needs to be matched partially or entirely by monetary or in-kind services. So, if the award requires 1:1 match and you have received a $2,000 grant, you need to document and demonstrate at least $2,000 worth of additional contributions to the project. This shows that the total value of the project is actually $4,000 or more. 

Most grant recipients choose to include volunteer in-kind match - the value of volunteers working on the project - as some portion of their documented match.  

In Attachment A (page 4) of your grant agreement, condition number 4 reads: Comply with OMB guidance subparts A through F of 2 CFR Part 200 as adopted and supplemented by the USDA in 2 CFR Part 400. This language refers to the federal rules and guidelines on valuing and documenting match. To support Subrecipients (aka our grant recipients) in appropriately keeping track of and documenting volunteer match on grant projects, the Forests, Parks and Recreation business office has developed Subrecipient Guidance for Valuing and Documenting Match from Non-Federal Sources.  

In a nutshell, if you will be using in-kind volunteer services as match, you should provide volunteer sign-in sheets as documentation of volunteer match.

• A template to document match from a single volunteer completing multiple tasks on multiple days is provided as a printable pdf.
• A sample sign-in sheet for a group event or training is provided as an Excel Worksheet or a printable pdf.

The Subrecipient (grant recipient) can determine the rate (hourly dollar value) at which they value volunteer in-kind services based on the guidance provided in this document.

Consistent with a recent process within the business office of the Department of Forests, Parks & Recreation to accurately determine and account for the value that community volunteers contribute to a variety of projects, we offer the following to use to document volunteer in-kind match for urban and community forestry projects:

• Tree Warden: $34.96/hr
• Selectboard member: $37.05/hr
• Conservation Commission member: $32.94/hr
• Tree Committee member: $32.94/hr
• Town Forest Committee member: $32.94/hr
• Planning Commission member: $29.43/hr
• Trained and/or Tenured volunteer: $27.81/hr
• General citizen volunteer (untrained): $11.25/hr

Your final report is a summary of what you were able to accomplish with the grant funds and documentation of your spending and match. Your final report should directly address the deliverables that were outlined in your grant agreement. If you have achieved all deliverables before the end of the project period  you may choose to submit the final report and invoice and close the project out early.  As outlined in Attachment B (page 5) of your grant agreement, the final report should include the following:

• A written list of expenditures, including match, comparing proposed budget outlined in grant application to actual expenditures.

• A short (up to one page) story about the project with available photo documentation to be used by the Vermont Urban and Community Forestry Program in outreach material. Possible uses include e-newsletters, blog posts, websites, and printed material

• Digital copies of all products developed as part of this grant, if applicable. This might include master plans, maps, inventories, or other printed materials.

• Additionally, Ash Management grant recipients need to submit a copy of Request for Proposals or other procurement documents related to any portion of the work under this grant performed by a subcontractor.

We have developed a Final Report Template (fillable PDF) as an option for grant awardees to use.

Final reports and final invoices should be submitted together in a single email and sent to ANR.FPRAgreements@vermont.gov. The final report can be submitted by anyone (town staff, the volunteer project coordinator, etc.). Though not required, please cc elise.schadler@vermont.gov so that our UCF program staff is aware that the report has been submitted.