Frequently Asked Questions

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is federal funding that includes a broad range of national investments, including $1.5 billion dedicated to trees in cities and towns. The IRA was signed into law in August of 2022.

The Arbor Day Foundation is a national pass-through partner of the USDA Forest Service, with the goal of distributing Inflation Reduction Act funds through the Forest Service’s Urban and Community Forestry Program to Federally Recognized Tribes and Tribal organizations and community-based organizations using trees to promote equity, enhance urban resilience, and create more livable conditions for all. To expedite the funding process, a mix of national pass-through partners— including state forestry agencies and nonprofits with granting experience (like the Arbor Day Foundation) — are helping distribute IRA dollars. You’ll see this referred to as “pass-through funding.”

With more than 50 years of supporting planting partners, the Arbor Day Foundation is here to help subawardees with guidance, tools, and a network of peers.

No, match funding is not required, nor does it increase your chances of a successful award.

Each subaward will be for a 3-year period.

Yes, no-cost extensions will be allowed with prior approval and appropriate justification for why the project can’t be completed by the end date.

Yes! The Arbor Day Foundation has a network of nurseries and may be able to help you source your trees. You will include the cost for the trees in your budget, and we’ll do all we can to help you find the type / quantity of trees you need.

If you are interested in distributing trees to individuals in your community, our tree distribution tool offers a turnkey approach to sourcing and fulfilling trees, which can be shipped directly to individual addresses or to one community organization to lead a tree pick-up event. If you’re interested in learning more about the tree distribution tool and potentially incorporating it into your proposal, contact [email protected].

We are offering subawards in the range of $100,000 to $1,000,000.

A maximum of $4,300,000 will be available for Community Based Non-Profit Organizations.

Yes, salary and fringe benefits are an allowable expenditure.

No, you are permitted to use either the de minimis rate or your Negotiated Indirect Cost Rate Agreement (NICRA) rate.

Examples of allowable costs include salary and benefits, travel to conferences or professional development training sessions, supplies including trees, tree diapers, pruning shears, and shovels, contractual agreements including tree trimming service and tree maintenance, and indirect expenses using either the de minimis rate or your NICRA rate.

Examples of unallowable costs include capital equipment (over $5,000 per unit cost), indoor trees, construction costs, pre-award costs, and real property.

Yes, you can submit more than one application to the Community Roots Program.

Technically, any community-based organization that represents a community and/or certain populations within a community through engagement, education, and other related services provided to individual community residents and community stakeholders is eligible. If you represent a local government or a school, we strongly encourage partnership with a local non-profit organization that has programming or expertise related to trees and/or that represents a specific neighborhood or historically underserved or underrepresented community.

Yes, all U.S. Territories, including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are eligible to apply for the Community Roots Program.

Priority will be given to organizations that have not already received some amount of Inflation Reduction Act funding for urban forestry.

With this Federal funding, you will be reimbursed as you spend.

The Arbor Day Foundation may take proposals that do not get selected to receive IRA funding from the USDA Forest Service into consideration for future funding opportunities. We are always looking for high-quality, high-impact projects that align with the goals of our partner network.

We don’t have specific sub-criteria. In general, we’re looking for proposals that have a clear and strategic plan to engage the target community in urban forestry, and that demonstrate that they have an authentic relationship with the targeted community.

No, this funding is not available for locations outside the United States and US Territories.

Originally the word limit was 500, but we increased it to allow for more room to detail your project. You aren’t required to provide that much information, but the space is there if you need it.

In the context of urban and community forestry projects, capacity building refers to activities that enhance the ability of organizations, communities, and individuals to effectively manage and maintain trees and green spaces. Capacity building dollars can encompass your organization’s community engagement needs to build a more equitable urban forest including, but not limited to staffing, resource development, and material creation. Any hiring needs must be directly related to grant deliverables and with the goal that newly created positions be permanent, not just temporary and for the grant period.

We want to maximize time for prospective applicants to find out about and apply for this opportunity, and also for prospective subawardees to execute subaward agreements while beginning to get funds to communities beginning in this calendar year. Therefore, we will review and score applications as they come in to create as much efficiency as possible in the review process.

You can request reimbursements by providing your invoices / documentation either weekly, monthly- or as frequently as your capacity requires you to. Reimbursements will be made through the application portal.