Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program
The River Alliance of Wisconsin created the Dale Druckrey Action Fund to continue Dale Druckrey‘s conservation legacy. Dale cared deeply about the rivers and lands of Wisconsin, and tirelessly engaged with local and state decision makers to promote protection of these resources. He watched, he participated, he cared and he donated. He was a model conservation citizen. Dale passed away in 2010. The Dale Druckrey Action Fund includes the Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program to help watershed groups carry on his work.
The purpose of the Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program is to build strong community conservation advocates. Local watershed groups can use the grant funds to establish or grow an existing local, regional or state-wide water-related advocacy effort.
Eligibility requirements:
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First Dale Druckrey Grant: The first Dale Druckrey Advocacy grant was awarded to the Bad River Watershed Association (BRWA). The BRWA found itself in a tough position this year. An iron mine has been proposed in their watershed. This proposal has raised a lot of questions about the environmental impacts to the amazing water resources in Ashland and Iron Counties and Lake Superior.
BRWA has a great reputation of being a science-based educator in their watershed. They are known for water quality monitoring, increasing fish passage through culvert replacement and developing watershed restoration plans. They are not known for advocacy. With this grant, BRWA actively advocated for an issue for the first time. Their first step was increasing awareness of their organization to key members of their community. They created a simple packet with materials that highlighted BRWA’s mission and the issues surrounding the proposed mine. They also included a donation form. BRWA executive director, Michele Wheeler, met with more than 100 people in one week. As she had conversations with elected officials, business owners, and concerned citizens she “…watched people’s faces fall as they learned about the atrocities in the permit approval process, the types of mines that can be built and the exclusion of a local voice in the process.” Michele found the biggest lesson learned in applying for the grant was “to have something specific that we are asking people to do as a part of our advocacy. In the past we didn’t do that, we’ve simply presented an idea and let people do with it as they choose.” What did people do after meeting with Michele? The Ashland Impact Committee (a pro-mining group made up of elected leaders from all town, county and city governments in the proposed mining area) sent a letter to Wisconsin state legislators Jauch, Bewley, Honadel and Zipperer stating that they were very concerned about the degradation of environmental laws in the draft bill LRB 2035. Two letters to the editor concerned about the draft legislation from people who attended the meetings were also in the local paper. Michele summed up her advocacy experiences this way “… increased confidence in our organization, and the role that we play in empowering local people to understand enough to care, and care enough to act. Most importantly, it was great to see the letters to legislators, articles in the paper and report of calls to elected officials that followed up these meetings. This project helped strengthen BRWA’s relationship with key community members and define our working relationship on contentious issues that we have different opinions on. That will be very helpful as the decisions our community faces get harder – as we all know they will.” |
Applicants must be a Wisconsin-based river or watershed group with at least nonstock corporation (181) status.
This grant cannot cause your group to exceed its maximum allowed advocacy expenses set by the IRS. If you’ve filed the 501(h) declaration, your organization is allowed to spend up to 20% of its budget on grassroots and direct lobbying activities.
Examples of types of activities that this grant will fund:
The River Alliance of Wisconsin will consider grant applications that help river and watershed organizations increase their ability to be long-term advocates on local and statewide water issues.
“Advocacy,” by our definition, means working to affect public policy decisions. That can happen by promoting your organization’s cause through educating the public and policymakers, organizing your supporters, and lobbying government staff and elected officials to influence their decisions.
It can also include taking legal action to promote a cause.
For the purposes of this Grant Program, funded projects must include direct engagement with a decision maker. Funded projects need to have a clear goal and measurable outcome(s); i.e. legislator was personally engaged with the issue in a way they weren’t before.
Specifically, the Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program will fund activities such as:
- In-district meetings with legislators (town halls)
- Issue campaigns (public communications on an issue)
- Fun but educational meetings with elected officials (Example: Pontoons & Politics)
- Campaign planning and training
- Travel to Conservation Lobby Day
Types of activities we don’t fund:
The Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program will not and cannot fund activities related to candidates for public office.
River Alliance support:
We encourage your organization to contact the River Alliance to clarify questions you might have during the application process. River Alliance staff will offer suggestions to strengthen your proposal based on their experiences and known best practices. They may request changes to your proposal to help ensure you achieve your goals.
Application deadlines and submission information:
Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis until the annual allotment of funds is distributed. The amount of funds available each year will vary. Contact River Alliance staff to find out if funds are available prior to submitting your application.
We will do our best to review your proposal and respond to you within 30 days of your submission. If your proposal is time sensitive because of an emerging issue, please indicate that in your application.
Proposals must be prepared based on the questions and format contained in the Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program Form. The form is only available by contacting River Alliance of Wisconsin This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Your application will be stronger if you read two of the tools in our Watershed Advocate Toolkit, Influencing Decision that Affect Your Environment and Communicating Environmentally: Changing Minds, Building Momentum and our issue of the TRIB about lobbying.
Funding amount:
The River Alliance of Wisconsin’s Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program provides grants up to $500.
Grant period:
The period for awards granted through the Dale Druckrey Advocacy Grant Program is expected to be six months from the start date. Advocacy campaigns are usually time sensitive and therefore relatively short. If your campaign requires additional time please explain the reasons in your proposal.
Grant reporting requirements
A grant report is due within 30 days of the completion of your work. The grant report requires a brief story about the outcomes of your advocacy efforts, including picture of activities.