Updated 3/28/2024
Q: Who can I send additional questions to?
A: Submit additional questions to erin.loeffler@state.mn.us
Q: Who can apply?
A: Cities, Counties, Watershed Districts, Soil and Water Conservation Districts, Tribal Governments, Non-profit Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO) including but not limited to PreK through grade 12 schools, and PreK through grade 12 public schools
Q: How Much Funding Can Be Requested?
A: $50,000 minimum with no maximum award cap, can be requested for each Pollinator Pathways grant application. There is also a required 10% non-state match.
Q: Can Multiple Partners Be Involved?
A: Yes, public/private partnerships are encouraged to assist with resident outreach, project design and project maintenance.
Q: How Do Applicants Apply?
A: Apply here on the eLINK webpage, Watch this guidance video Creating and Submitting a Funding Request in eLINK. BWSR's website hosts several resources to assist you, we recommend the following resources: eLINK guidance documents and videos.
Q: Can Applicants Apply for More Than One Grant?
A: Yes, applicants can apply to work in more than one pollinator pathways project, but they will need to be submitted as separate grants.
Q: What Landscape Areas Apply for the Program?
A: All land types are eligible though individual project size should be 5 acres or smaller with a focus on residential and/or community and/or educational space gardens. It is encouraged to have some residential projects as part of applications but not required. Example of community spaces include schools, city and county parks, community centers, libraries, and churches.
Q: In the BWSR grant payment schedule, do the first 50% for the funds need to be incumbered or expended to receive the next 40% payment?
A: The first 50% of the funds must be expended before requesting the next payment. For information regarding the payment schedule, please see the BWSR Grants Manual: Requesting a reimbursement or payment
Q: Can Landowner time spent installing projects be counted as match for the program?
A: Yes, Landowner time can be counted as match at a rate of $25 per hour.
Q: Does the match requirement need to be met for each individual landowner?
A: The match requirement doesn’t need to be met for each individual landowner but does need to be met for the overall pollinator pathways project. Applicants can set their own match requirements for the landowners they are working with.
Q: Can overhead costs be covered by this grant?
A: Yes. A billing rate is an hourly rate used to charge staff time to BWSR grants. It consists of the employee’s base hourly rate plus the costs of benefits, leave, and facilities; and administration costs necessary to keep a person employed and an office running. Billing rates can be an efficient method for charging costs to BWSR grants. By including costs in the staff time that is directly charged, the billing rate method automatically allocates those costs to the grants that should bear them.
Q: Can any costs be incurred for the project before the grant agreement is executed?
A: No costs can be incurred until after the grant agreement is executed
Q: Will program applicants or landowners be responsible for paying contractors for installing projects?
A: It is up to the projects applicant to determine if they will pay contractors directly or reimburse landowners for paying contractors. Applicants will need to determine if they have any liability risk related to paying contractors to work on private property.
Q: Should Projects Include Different Types of Plantings?
A: There are four primary project types promoted through the Lawns to Legumes program (see the program’s Habitat Guide) including native pocket plantings, pollinator beneficial trees and shrubs, pollinator lawns and pollinator meadows. We encourage participants to incorporate these and potentially other project types into demonstration neighborhoods to help ensure they showcase best practices for supporting pollinators.
Q: Can renters participate in the program?
A: Renters can participate in the program but need written approval from their landlord for the planting that they intent to install.
Q: Can Boulevard Plantings Be Covered As Part of Projects?
A: Boulevard plantings can be included as part of projects but since they are often city property it is important that cities provide approval for any plantings that are planned.
Q: What are expectations related to the five year lifespan for the projects? What if properties are sold during this timeframe?
A: Every effort should be made by project applicants to help ensure that projects exist and are maintained through the five year timeframe. It is expected for applicants to use an agreement with landowners. If projects change ownership during the first five years applicants should try to work with the new landowners to keep the project. There may be some opportunities to rescue/move plants from projects if there is no chance of the project continuing.
Q: How should inspection of projects be addressed?
A: Landowners who are participating in the program should be asked to give permission to project applicants or other appropriate partners to inspect projects with the landowners approval. Inspection requirements should be part of the agreement.
Q: What Are the Reporting Requirements of a Demonstration Neighborhoods Grant?
A: Like the grant application process, reporting for the grant will be done in BWSR’s e-Link system and completed by the February 1st.
eLINK-Related Questions
Q: I wrote my responses to the questions in Word, but when I copied and pasted my answer into eLINK, it was truncated—or didn’t save.
A: Word and eLINK may interpret the character counts differently. Avoid using special formatting or characters, such as bulleted lists, bolded font, or symbols (such as “&”).
Q: The character limit for answering each application question in eLINK is 2000 characters. Does that include spaces?
A: Yes. A space is considered a character in eLINK. If you choose to develop your responses outside of eLINK, e.g. in Word, be aware that programs may count the characters differently due to differences in how the characters are encoded.
Q: Can I make changes to a submitted application during the RFP open period?
A: Yes. You will need to click Withdraw Request, make your updates and then “Submit” the funding request. The status change triggers generating the report, which is added to the Attachments tab and seen by reviewers. Please note that failure to change the status back to “Submitted” will not capture any changes for review team, and applications not in “Submitted” status at the time the RFP closes will not be considered for funding.
Q: Can consultants submit grant applications in eLINK on behalf of LGUs?
A: Yes, there are two ways to accomplish this. One way is for the LGU to start an application and add a consultant to the “team membership”. The consultant must have an active eLINK user account in order to be added to the team membership. The second way is for a consultant to request an eLINK user account from the eLINK homepage and indicate the LGU(s) for which they are applying. The LGUs should be aware of this request.
eLINK user accounts should not be shared by multiple individuals; a separate user account should be requested by each individual needing access. It is not necessary to create multiple eLINK user accounts for one individual if access is needed for multiple organizations. To request access to additional LGUs contact elinksupport@state.mn.us.
Q: When attempting to submit my application, I get a message stating, “For each activity, you must either check the box verifying that there are no pollution reduction estimates associated with the Activity, or enter proposed indicators.” What do I need to do?
A: Within each Activity Application Budget tab, you will either need to ensure that the “Check here if this activity does not include proposed pollution reduction estimates” is checked within the Edit Application Activity” screen (pencil icon), or enter proposed indicators within the “Edit Indicators” screen (orange diamond icon). If your project will include on the ground practices resulting in pollution reductions, indicators must be entered.