Stand Up, Stand Out
To earn funding, you must be viewed as part of the solution to an acknowledged problem in your community. Perhaps people and organizations are already aware of the tree equity crisis; perhaps not. You need to be engaged in these conversations and shape them as best you can.
American Forests mobilized and helped lead the Tree Equity movement. Critical to spreading the word: a graphics-rich story in the New York Times.
Nationwide, community advocates deploy the Tree Equity Score tool to ensure all neighborhoods enjoy the benefits of trees.
Find Allies, Partners and Funders
Begin by learning which organizations in your community already have a stake in urban forestry. Your state urban forestry coordinator can help direct you.
If your community employs an urban forester or municipal arborist, get in touch. The state coordinator may know them, or you can look on your city’s website. Often, they can direct you to local groups active in tree planting, or other urban forestry activities.
Determine whether other organizations like yours are pursuing similar goals or funding similar programs. They can serve as “door openers,” even potential partners. Your state urban forestry coordinator or your city forester/arborist may help you locate them.
Local community foundations tend to be front-line funders of urban forestry and tree equity projects. Most cities and towns will be served by a community-oriented foundation. Their staff often are willing to discuss their work and how it might evolve. Looking at their annual reports may show trends in their giving patterns, and those of other donors. And they can direct you to organizations that might share your goals.
Find local business leaders with interests in making their community a better place to work and shop. In many cities, they’ll be organized into self-funding business improvement districts (BIDS) or chambers of commerce. Your local chamber can direct you to leaders of local BIDS. Many may support neighborhood greening projects.
Network
- Check attendee lists. Note whom you’d like to meet. If you don’t know them, ask someone you [and they] know to introduce you. Otherwise, just introduce yourself.
- Research. Try to learn about the people you want to talk to -- their background (maybe you went to the same high school or college) and their interests. Finding common ground makes any conversation easier.
- Know your one-stop "elevator" pitch. Fear not -- most people at these events are willing to chat. But you need to earn their attention. Make sure you can describe who you are and why you're there in 30 seconds.
