Fund Your Program

You know what your Tree Equity goals are, who will be involved, and how your coalition aims to pursue those goals. Now it’s time to place one of the most important pieces of the puzzle: Where your funding will come from.

Building or expanding an urban forestry program to include Tree Equity objectives usually comes with added expenses — from specialized staff who engage with community partners to additional tree stock and planting resources. These new expenses, however, can create opportunities for new funding mechanisms. Use this toolkit to assess your Tree Equity funding needs, identify potential new sources of support, and develop effective strategies to make your case to funders.

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Tree Equity Funding Needs Assessment

Suggested Time: 1 week

Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Partcipants: 1–2 individuals with strong knowledge of the finances and/or programmatic budget

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Funding Mechanisms and Priorities

Suggested Time: 1–2 weeks

Level of Difficulty: Moderate

Partcipants: Select Tree Equity Coalition members and staff or collaborators with financing and fundraising experience

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Funder Inventory and Engagement Strategy

Suggested Time: 4–6 weeks

Level of Difficulty: Challenging

Partcipants: Tree Equity Coalition members

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Tree Equity Funding Needs Assessment

Drawing from the Coalition Action Plan you developed in Toolkit 3, compare your current budget to your anticipated funding needs, determining not just how much more funding you need to secure overall, but where additional resources will be most needed to implement your vision for Tree Equity.

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Activity Steps

Gain a detailed understanding of your Tree Equity budget needs, from funding sources to dollars needed, by completing the Funding Needs Worksheet.

Funding Mechanisms and Priorities

With your Tree Equity funding gaps identified, consider every potential funding source to close those gaps and scale your equity-forward initiatives. Remember that most urban forestry programs are supported by a tapestry of funding sources. An equity focus creates numerous intersections between your Tree Equity goals and the priorities of other organizations, opening more opportunities for funding and collaboration.

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Activity Steps

Use the Funding Opportunities Assessment Worksheet to understand your current funding sources and identify additional sources for current or future funding needs.

Use the Funding Priorities Ranking Worksheet to identify five high-priority funding sources that are timely and achievable and will bring momentum to your Tree Equity initiative.

Funder Inventory and Engagement Strategy

Urban forests provide living infrastructure that can support many civic needs and goals: improving public health, increasing walkability and transit usage, reducing air and water pollution, and more. This activity helps you match your coalition’s funding needs to strategic opportunities from a wide range of potential funding sources that your stakeholder committee can pursue.

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Activity Steps

Complete the Funding Inventory Worksheet to identify potential funders and begin to develop outreach strategies.