What does it mean to apply with a fiscal sponsor?

Organizations or groups currently in the process of becoming a 501(c)(3) may apply with a fiscal sponsor, which is a qualified nonprofit organization that provides organizational infrastructure and administrative support for managing a grant.

Can my organization apply for more than one grant?

No, organizations can only apply for one grant, either Level One or Level Two, per funding cycle.

My organization has received funding from Energy Trust. Can we still apply?

All nonprofit organizations are welcome to apply and will be considered based on their proposal. The grant funded activities must be outside the scope of other funding from Energy Trust.

What activities can grant funds be used for?

Level One grants (up to $5,000) can be used for the following activities and expenses in Energy Trust service area:

• Increase priority community and customer awareness of clean energy solutions and Energy Trust offers:
• Printing or designing of materials
• Translation and interpretation services
• Meeting facilitation
• Event costs, such as rental space and food
• Costs and staff time for hosting trainings, workshops, and delivering education
• Increase organization understanding and capability to support clean energy programs:
• Time to meet with Energy Trust to understand options and funding sources for working together
• Staff training in energy technology or equipment that is supported by Energy Trust incentives
• Staff training to support greater understanding of Energy Trust programs and services

Level Two grants (up to $10,000) can be used to supplement an existing program or program in development that would result in priority customer participation in Energy Trust’s energy efficiency and renewable energy offers in Energy Trust service area. Costs can be in the categories of buying goods or services; staff, intern, or contractor time; costs for training, workshops or education.

Can the grant funds be used to cover energy efficiency or renewable energy project costs at a nonprofit building?

Grant funds cannot be used: 

• For the purchase or installation of home repairs, energy efficiency or renewable energy equipment   
• To fund projects covered through Energy Trust existing programs, services and incentives   
• To encourage changing existing fuel sources  
• For direct lobbying or political activities  

Our existing programs support a wide range of home and equipment upgrades. For more information on residential, commercial equipment upgrades or solar incentives call 1.866.368.7878.  

If you have questions about the purpose of these grant funds or Energy Trust cash incentives, please email workingtogethergrants@energytrust.org.

Can the grant funds be used to cover the cost of energy efficiency or renewable energy equipment?

The grant funds cannot be used to cover the cost of equipment. Nonprofits making energy efficiency upgrades or installing solar may qualify for Energy Trust cash incentives. For more information on residential, equipment upgrade or solar incentives, visit our website or call 1.866.368.7878.

What can be included as eligible expenses?

The proposal should describe how funds will be used and expected outcomes. Examples of eligible expenses include: 

• Buying goods or services   
• Staff, intern, contractor time and community participation  
• Costs for training, workshops or education 

Can my organization apply with a fiscal sponsor?

Yes, organizations or groups may apply with a fiscal sponsor, which is a qualified nonprofit organization that provides organizational infrastructure and administrative support for managing a grant.

My organization is just starting work in this area and my concept is not fully developed. Can we still get funded?

We understand each organization and potential grant activity is unique, and some proposals may be more developed than others. If the applicant meets the eligibility criteria and the proposal directly or indirectly benefits Energy Trust utility customers of Portland General Electric, Pacific Power, NW Natural, Cascade Natural Gas or Avista, it will be considered for funding.

The proposal evaluation process will review all proposals received. If you are not awarded funds in this round, we invite you to submit again in a future round.

Can a proposal be partially funded?

Yes, applications may be approved for partial funding. If this should occur, the application will be approved with an amendment clearly stating which activities are approved for funding.

Level One applicants can apply for any amount of funding up to $5,000. Level Two applicants can apply for any amount of funding up to $10,000.

If a grant application is not awarded, and the grant was for eligible activities, the organization may apply during the next funding round.

How are applications evaluated?

Energy Trust’s grant team will review all applications for eligibility requirements. Applications will also be pre-screened to determine if the proposed activities could be served through existing program offers rather than grant funds. Energy Trust reserves the right to not fund any applicant applying for grant funds for any reason.

The grant team consists of Energy Trust staff and external reviewer(s) with experience working in and with community-based programs and nonprofit organizations.

What are the grant reporting requirements?

Grantees will be required to submit a narrative report and cost summary at the end of the grant period. Cost summary must detail how grant funds were spent.

What are the insurance requirements for grantees?

If the activities require insurance, Energy Trust staff will let grantees know the level of insurance required. Insurance requirements vary depending on how the funds will be used. Some types of activities and use of funding require insurance and other activities do not.

Who reviews the grants?

The grant team consists of Energy Trust staff and external reviewer(s) with experience in community-based programs and nonprofit organizations.

How will I know if my organization’s application was selected for grant funding?

An email will be sent to all applicants announcing the selected grant recipients using the email address provided on your grant application.

Regarding the question referencing diversity of staff and leadership, is this asking for a listing of staff/leadership and their various diverse characteristics, or a general statement including the characteristics that the group embodies?

We are interested in learning more about your organization’s staff and leadership and the experiences and skills they will apply to the activity proposed in this grant application. You can provide a general statement or specific detail by staff member in your response to this question.  

These grant funds are designed to help diverse customers and communities save energy or use clean, renewable energy. The information you provide will help the selection committee gain an understanding of the staff doing this work.

Which organizations received funding previously through the Working Together Grants? What activities were funded?

Previous grant awardees and activities can be found here.  

What type of organizations are eligible? 

Working Together Grants are for 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The application allows organizations to select 501(c)(3) or to apply with a fiscal sponsor. Energy Trust will review eligibility for future rounds and determine if changes are made.

Can grant funds be used to cover energy efficiency or renewable energy project costs at a nonprofit building?

Grant funds cannot be used:

• For the purchase or installation of home repairs, energy efficiency or renewable energy equipment
• To fund projects covered through Energy Trust existing programs, services and incentives
• To encourage changing existing fuel sources
• For direct lobbying or political activities

Our existing programs support a wide range of home and equipment upgrades. For more information on residential, commercial equipment upgrades or solar incentives call 1.866.368.7878. If you have questions about the purpose of these grant funds or Energy Trust cash incentives, please email workingtogethergrants@energytrust.org.

The grant application asks about diversity of staff and leadership. Is this asking for a list of staff/leadership and their various diverse characteristics, or a general statement including the characteristics that the group embodies?

We are interested in learning more about your organization’s staff and leadership and the experiences and skills they will apply to the activity proposed in this grant application. You can provide a general statement or specific detail by staff member in your response to this question.

These grant funds are designed to help diverse customers and communities save energy or use clean, renewable energy. The information you provide will help the selection committee gain an understanding of the organization’s capacity to do this work.

How are grants selected?

Level One Grants (up to $5,000) Selection Process

Staff will prescreen applications to ensure that proposed activities and costs align with grant purpose.

Applications will be grouped into five tiers allowing Energy Trust to prioritize funding for this round. Tiers are determined by alignment with the following categories:

• How well the organization reflects and serves grant priority communities.
• If the organization is located outside of the City of Portland and does not have access to the Portland Clean Energy Community Benefits Fund mini grant offer.
• Whether organization has applied for a Working Together Grant previously, with preference given to first-time applicants.
• Organization size, with preference given to smaller organizations.

Funding will be awarded starting with applications in tier one, then on to tier two. The process will repeat down the tiers until all funding has been allocated. If there are more applications than funds available in a tier, awards will be made through random selection.

Tiers may be updated in future rounds to ensure equitable distribution of funds across funding rounds.

*Rural community: For the purposes of this grant round, rural is defined as communities with populations under 25,000.

Level Two Grants (up to $10,000) Selection Process

Staff will prescreen applications to ensure that proposed activities and costs align with the grant purpose.

All eligible applications advancing through prescreening will be scored by a diverse grant review team. The team will evaluate and score all eligible grant applications. Applications will be scored in two groups: organizations located in the Portland metro area (including Clackamas, Columbia, Multnomah, Washington and Yamhill counties in Oregon and Clark and Skamania counties in Washington) and organizations located outside the Portland metro area. This is to ensure grants are awarded to applicants from across Energy Trust’s service area.

We anticipate we will receive more requests for funding for Level Two grants than we have funds for this round. Priority will be given to applications that:

• Align most directly with grant objectives.
• Demonstrate ability to manage and implement planned activities with grant funds.
• Highlight greatest community and organization impact.
• Deliver greatest benefit to Energy Trust priority customers.
• Meet current round priorities:
  • Organizations that received funding previously will be considered for funding if funding remains after other applicants are scored.
  • A distribution of awardees from across Energy Trust service area and priority customers served.