apply for grants and scholarships
Thomas Hill Jr. Education and Opportunity Fund
The Thomas Hill Jr. Education and Opportunity Fund was made possible by a generous gift from the estate of Thomas Hill. The fund provides financial resources and opportunities to SAF’s youngest members, offering grants to SAF young professional members (those under the age of 40) to support projects benefiting local, regional, or national young professional communities.
Available Grants
Young Professional Grants of up to $1,000 are available to any SAF young professional member representing an SAF local unit or external entity. Young professional grant applications are accepted until May 15.
Application Requirements
- Complete the application form linked below in the Application Form section by May 15 at 11:59pm HST.
- Supplementary documents (budget worksheet, evaluation form*) must be emailed to [email protected] in addition to the application form.
*Approved projects will be asked to submit a project evaluation form within two months of project completion.
Eligibility
- Proposed projects must benefit local, regional, or national young professional communities.
- Projects may focus on, but are not limited to: continuing education efforts, strengthening the YP community, and/or activities that promote leadership.
- Any SAF YP member representing an SAF unit or an external entity, who is the designated project manager, is eligible to submit a grant application.
- Projects that have been completed are not eligible.
- A specific project can receive funding for up to two consecutive years; however, projects that receive first-year funding are not guaranteed second-year funding and must resubmit an application for second year funding to be considered.
Grant Completion
- Project completion date should be within one year of grant approval date.
Selection Criteria
Young Professional grant applications will be evaluated against the following criteria:
- Proposal’s demonstration of how the YP community will be engaged and benefit because of the proposed project.
- Project objectives are realistic and attainable based on project scope, timeline, and budget.
- Communications and/or marketing plan indicates project reach within and/or outside of SAF.
Use of Funding
Funds can be used for delivery of a project including, but not limited to:
- Facility costs
- Food
- Audio-visual needs
- Transportation
- Marketing and promotion
- Signage
- Supplies and materials
- Support of innovative and new ideas
The Thomas Hill Fund is not designed to fund:
- Professional continuing education programs with a primary audience of forester and natural resources professionals that are typically supported by a participation fee and have CFEs available
- Student, retired, or other participation fees and expenses for annual meetings, national convention, and other programs
- SAF member dues
- Individual attendance to a meeting, leadership program, or professional development opportunity
- General overhead, such as professional salaries or faculty and administrative (F&A) costs
- Volunteer prep and administration time, transportation, meals, or other costs
Decisions and Fund Dispersal
Project managers will be notified of award decisions no later than July 15. Upon approval, the full grant award will be dispersed directly to the project manager or project fiscal entity.