Professional needs assessment/base line survey of local equine land conservation organizations and activities.

Grant Information
Requested	10000.0
Granted	3000.00
Categories	Environment , Education , Community
Location	United States
Grant Cycle	2016

Organization Info
501c3 Organization	Equine Land Conservation Resource
Organization Website	http://ELCR.org

Grant Description
Description	We feel that the future of the horse tradition in America depends on the strategic building of a nationwide network of local organizations learning from one another and united by a shared commitment and approach – a strategy of forging alliances among local horse organizations and acting as a united voice on behalf of the horse – both in response to crisis and proactively shaping public support and local policies that strengthen the horse community. In 2016 we began Phase I of our three year strategic plan. We have identified over 250 local conservation and equine related organizations across the country working on local horse land issues to populate our national database of local organizations. We will continue to expand this database which will serve as the audience for our professional survey. We will be contracting with the University of Kentucky School of Agriculture to conduct the survey of local organizations which is the final task in Phase I of our strategic plan. Goals to be funded: The ultimate goal of our three year strategic plan is to build and nurture a national network of local equine-related organizations dedicated to protecting the future of open lands for horses and equine-related activities in order to ensure the future of America’s equine culture, heritage and industry. We are specifically requesting support for completing the end of Phase 1 of the strategic plan which is conducting the professional survey of local organizations involved in conserving horse land and protecting access to land for horses and equine related activities. A copy of our 2016-2018 Strategic Plan is provided in Attachment A. Phase 1 Tasks completed in 2016 (Identification of local organizations and data base development) • Identify local equine-related organizations working in the following areas: land protection, planning and zoning, publicly owned and accessible equestrian facilities, trails and trail networks and raising public awareness of the importance of horses to communities • Develop a database of these organizations to serve as the base for building a national network of local organizations working to conserve land for equine related activities Phase 1 Tasks to be completed in 2017 (development and execution of survey of local organizations) • Work with University of Kentucky to develop the format for the professional survey of local organizations working on equine land related issues in the established database • Continue to expand database of local organizations to ensure that each state is adequately represented in the survey • Administer the survey in partnership with the University of Kentucky • In cooperation with the University of Kentucky publish the findings of the survey • From the results of the survey highlight best practices and success stories of conservation and advocacy of horse lands at the local level • Using the needs assessment information from the survey begin to formulate a plan for fine tuning ELCR educational programming and resources for delivery in 2018 This survey will directly benefit local communities by: • Providing a base line of what local organizations are currently in existence working on equine land related issues to help chart future success at the local level • Laying the groundwork for the establishment of a grassroots network of local horse advocacy organizations affiliated with and supported by ELCR is established and growing • Identifying model local organizations and success stories that can be highlighted and implemented in other communities • Relying on survey results to inform future ELCR educational programs, resources and services to ensure delivery of professional adequate services to local organizations in order to increase the amount of land conserved and made accessible for equine use • Fostering greater collaboration and creating coalitions around issues of protecting our equine heritage, industry and culture among survey respondents • Identifying common land related issues among local communities that need to be addressed • Identifying local communities across the country facing the most pressing horse land issues Summary of the Project Request Budget Components Network Survey Design and administration $ 27,000 Administrative Support $7,500 Total Project Costs $34,500
Used for	The funding will help support the completion of Phase 1 of ELCR’s three year strategic plan to establish a national network of local conservation and equine organizations working on equine land conservation issues in their communities. The first phase of the strategic plan is to identify these local organizations to establish a national database and lastly survey these organizations to establish a baseline of the types of activities that are occurring at the local level in order to identify model organizations and best practices to share within the network. This grant will be used specifically to complete the final task in Phase I of the strategic plan -- conducting the professional survey of the organizations in the database established in the early stages of Phase 1. The survey will also identify the needs of these organizations and will be used to inform the work of ELCR over the next several years. ELCR will publish a report on the survey findings.
Benefits	The funding will help ELCR to fulfill its strategic plan to build and nurture a national network of local equine-related organizations dedicated to protecting the future of open lands for horses and equine- related activities in order to ensure the future of America’s equine culture, heritage and industry.