EmailMe Form - Firewood Bank Assistance: Start-up Grant Form

1. Organizational and Contact Information

a. Proposed Firewood Bank Name

b. Proposed Firewood Bank Physical Address

Street Address City State / Province / Region Postal / Zip Code

Proposed Firewood Bank Mailing Address

Note: Only fill out if this is different from the physical address above.

Street Address City State / Province / Region Postal / Zip Code

c. Phone

### - ### - ####

d. Email address

e. Your name

f. Your Position/Role

g. Secondary Contact Name
(We like to have more than one name and contact information on record.)

h. Secondary Contact Phone

### - ### - ####

i. Secondary Contact Email

j. Secondary Contact's Position/Role

k. Describe the planned organizational structure of your firewood bank (e.g. town, non-profit, tribal, faith-based, etc.)

Note: All for-profit businesses seeking a firewood bank grant must have a written letter(s) of support from community partner(s) (e.g. local government, non-profit, faith, tribal committee, etc.) who will serve as the fiscal agent.

Attach a letter(s) of support from community partner(s), if applicable

l. Do you already have committed volunteers?

Yes

No

m. If yes, how many volunteers do you have? What is your plan for recruiting others?

n. Does the proposed firewood bank have other organizational partners or collaborators to assist efforts?

Yes

No

o. If yes, please list names of participating organizational partners or collaborators and their role in assisting the firewood bank.

p. Does your group have a written liability waiver form for volunteers?

Note: We require all recipients to have a liability form. Click here to view our sample form. You are welcome to use ours by downloading and adding your firewood bank’s name. If you already have a liability form, we ask that you please add the Alliance for Green Heat to it.

Yes

No

Attach Waiver

q. Does your group have liability insurance? If yes, please attach it below.

Note: This is not a requirement, but we do recommend it.

Yes

No

r. If you do have liability insurance, please list the name of the policy holder.

Attach Insurance Policy

Section 2: Mission and Operations

a. Please describe your mission. Explain why you are starting a firewood bank and how the firewood bank will assist the heating needs in your community. Describe why you think it will be successful.

b. Describe your outreach plan for advertising your wood bank to the community. Include any social media profile (Facebook, Instagram, etc.) if you have one and/or other written outreach materials you have developed or plan to develop. Please share attachments below.

Attach outreach materials/plans.

Section 3. Safety, Health, and Impact

a. What equipment, if any do you have to start a firewood bank (e.g. chainsaws, wood splitters, trailers, etc.)?

b. Which of the following safety equipment do you use at your firewood bank? Check all that apply.

Note: All grant recipients must have the basic safety equipment listed here or purchase them with their grant money.

c. What is your plan to insure the safety and health of firewood recipients by using a moisture meter and seasoning your wood before distributing it (drier wood has less creosote build up and burns more efficiently)? How long (months/years) do you think most of the wood can be seasoned before it is delivered?

Note: All grant recipients must have a moisture meter or purchase one with their grant money. Click here for a sample moisture content log that can be used at your firewood bank!

d. What is your plan for safety training to help ensure those working at the firewood bank will avoid injuries? A safety plan is required for this grant.

Note: We have sample training materials if you need them.

Check here if you need safety training materials sent to you.

Yes, I need safety training materials.

e. Please describe your plan to distribute firewood (e.g. will it be self-serve or delivery? How will delivery take place?).

If applicable, attach any form/application/voucher that you have created to determine edibility for firewood.

f. What is your estimate on the number of cords of wood you will be able to process and the number of households you plan to assist during your first year?

g. When during the year will you begin and end firewood deliveries (if applicable)? What is the earliest date you will be able to have firewood ready for distribution?

h. How will you choose who can receive firewood (e.g. application, referral, word of mouth, etc.)? Will you set criteria for who can receive firewood or not? How much wood can each household receive? Please elaborate.

i. Describe your firewood bank schedule (e.g. How many months per year will your firewood bank operate during the calendar year?).

Section 4. Application Requirements

a. Does your firewood bank have a bank account or a fiscal sponsor?

Yes

No

Name of Fiscal Sponsor (if applicable)

Name of Bank/Financial Institution

Name on Bank Account

b. Does your proposed firewood bank or your fiscal sponsor have a UEI?

Yes

No

Please list your UEI or the UEI of your fiscal sponsor below.

Note: UEI's are assigned by the federal government (sam.gov) and are a 12 character alphanumeric value. A UEI is required to receive a grant.

Section 5. Proposed Grant Request Budget

Start up grants for firewood banks are available on a sliding scale up to $10,000 depending on the needs and capacity of your planned firewood bank. Examples of eligible expenses include chain saws, splitters, logs, building materials for firewood sheds or tool sheds, protective equipment, wheelbarrows, and many other items. Grant funding may also be used to purchase insurance, fuel and transportation expenses and related equipment. First aid kits, moisture meters, and sufficient safety equipment (helmet, chaps, eye protection, gloves, etc.) are required on site, so these items must be added to the budget if they are not already owned by the firewood bank. Products made in the United States are preferred. Also, since this is federal money, no single item can cost more than $5,000, and funds cannot be used to cover food, drinks or entertainment. Please let us know what you need, and we can determine if it’s an eligible expense. Please provide a simple budget using our sample budget form and include links to the items you need. Tax and shipping fees are eligible expenses and should be calculated separately and included in the total item cost. Remember, if you forget to include taxes or shipping, you will be required to cover those expenses on your own. (Each state is different. The average state tax is 5.6% and the average local tax is 1.9%. If your budget has items totaling $10,000, the average sales taxes would be over $700. You can find your state sales tax here ). (You can adjust the budget before the grant is finalized if it is accepted).

Click here for a sample budget that you may download and use.

Attach Grant Request Budget

Section 6. Reporting requirements

We have created a simple and straightforward reporting process. All groups receiving funding must provide an interim and final report describing how the money was spent and what was achieved. Please note that 80% of funds must be spent (or equipment ordered) within two weeks of receiving the grant funds. Groups will need to provide receipts for their major expenses (items over $250), describe outcomes (e.g. how many cords of wood were delivered etc.) A screenshot showing the completed purchase can serve as a receipt for online purchases. The due date for the interim report will be in the email confirming the wiring of funds and the final report due date will be in the signed contract.

Section 7. Reasons for Denial

There are not many reasons that your renewal grant application would be rejected. Our goal is to expedite funding to as many existing firewood banks as possible. If the application is not properly filled out, we will work with firewood banks to get it right, not deny funding.

Section 8. Photos

Please upload a photo of the proposed firewood bank location and/or a group photo of those working on the firewood bank's creation.

This funding is made possible from the USDA Forest Service through section 40803(c)(17) of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

This institution is an equal opportunity provider.