Cool Streets Coalition

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Executive Summary

Cool Streets Coalition is a nonprofit in Arizona that works with residents of the hottest neighborhoods to plant shade trees, build shade structures at bus stops and schools and test cool pavement coatings. Residents choose where the work goes, and we train neighbors to water and care for new trees.

Heat is one of the most serious summer dangers, and neighborhoods with few trees and a lot of pavement can be many degrees hotter than leafy areas. With this grant we will fund trees, shade materials and a cool pavement pilot on one block. We cannot promise a specific drop in temperature, and we will measure what we find and report it honestly.

What we are asking for. Our program has a Year 1 budget of about $218,000. We are asking for $70,000 from a state climate action fund to tree planting, shade materials and a cool pavement pilot. The rest of the budget comes from other grants, sponsors and donors that are listed in the funding section. Every dollar amount in this plan is an estimate and none of it is a promise of any result for the people we serve.

Company Description

Cool Streets Coalition is a nonprofit organization recognized under section 501(c)(3) of the tax code, governed by a volunteer board that meets monthly and includes residents of the neighborhoods we serve. The board approves the budget, reviews financial statements and oversees the executive director. A new organization without its own determination letter can use a fiscal sponsor, explained in the funding section.

What we believe. Residents know their neighborhood best. We plan with them, never push work on a block that does not want it and keep promises about care for every tree.

What we do:
- Tree planting. We plant shade trees on public right-of-way and on private property with the owner's written permission, using species suited to the desert and local water supply.
- Shade structures. We install shade at bus stops, school entrances and parks with the owner's permission and the proper permits.
- Cool pavement pilots. We test reflective coatings on a small number of streets and parking lots with a licensed contractor and report results.
- Neighborhood stewardship. We train residents to water and prune trees and to check on neighbors during heat waves.

What we do not do. We do not dig without calling the utility locate service, do not plant where the owner has not agreed and do not claim that a tree or coating will protect anyone from heat illness.

Who we serve. Residents of neighborhoods with the highest summer heat and the lowest tree cover.

Our board has at least five members, including at least one person who has used our services or lives in the community we serve, and only a minority of board members may be related to each other or paid by the organization.

We keep a written conflict of interest policy, a whistleblower policy and a record retention policy, and the board reviews them every year.

Problem & Opportunity

Some neighborhoods are much hotter than others.

1. Few trees and lots of pavement. Dark surfaces hold heat, and neighborhoods with less shade can be many degrees hotter.
2. Health risk. Heat illness is a serious danger for children, older adults, outdoor workers and people without air conditioning.
3. High cooling costs. Hot homes mean larger utility bills for families with little room in their budgets.
4. Neglect. Many hot neighborhoods have not had the same investment in trees and parks.
5. Water and care. New trees need regular watering for the first few years, and without a plan many die.

Why it matters now. Summers are getting hotter, heat waves are lasting longer and cities are looking for lower-cost ways to cool streets.

How we know the need is real. We reviewed city heat maps and tree canopy data, measured temperatures with sensors on several blocks and talked with 100 residents. Residents told us they want shade at bus stops and trees on their streets and are willing to water if they have help. The numbers are in the appendix.

We update these facts every year using public data, partner reports and what the people we serve tell us, and we change the program when the facts change. If a need turns out to be smaller than we thought, we will say so and put the money where it is needed most.

Products & Services

What the funded project will do. With this grant we will pay for trees, shade materials and planting supplies and a cool pavement pilot on one block, with a community organizer and project coordinator.

How a block takes part:
1. Resident request. Neighbors ask for trees or shade, or we invite a block that scores high for heat.
2. Planning. We meet residents, map sunny spots, check utilities and agree on tree types and who will water.
3. Permits and locates. We call the utility locate service before any digging and obtain permission and permits.
4. Planting day. Residents and volunteers plant trees with staff, mulch and stake them.
5. Care. For the first three years, trained neighbors and our staff water and check each tree, and we replace trees that fail.
6. Pilot and measurement. On one block, a licensed contractor applies a reflective pavement coating and we measure surface temperatures before and after.

What the grant pays for. The request covers trees, shade materials and planting supplies and the cool pavement contractor.

What we do not promise. We do not promise a specific drop in temperature or that every tree will survive. We measure and report honestly and replace failed trees.

Safety. We call 811, the utility locate service, before digging, we wear protective gear, we do not plant under power lines and we hold events in cooler hours with water and shade for volunteers. We call 911 in any emergency.

We start small, check what works and grow only when we can do the work well. Every few months we review the numbers and the stories from the people we serve and change the plan where it is not working.

We write plain-language handouts for every step so people know what to expect, what it costs and who to call with questions, and we ask each person at the end whether the help was useful and what we could do better.

Market Analysis

Who benefits from this project are residents of the hottest neighborhoods in our service area.

Who we serve. Families, older adults, children, outdoor workers and renters, most with low incomes and limited access to air conditioning and shade.

How many people we plan to serve. In Year 1 we plan to plant about 400 trees, install shade at about 6 bus stops and school entrances and complete one cool pavement pilot block, reaching about 3,000 residents. By Year 5 we plan to plant about 800 trees a year. We chose these numbers from the capacity of our crews and volunteers and from water access.

Where we serve. Neighborhoods ranked highest for heat and lowest for tree cover by the city's data.

Who else benefits. Neighbors who gain shade and lower cooling costs, schools and transit riders who wait in shade, and the whole city when streets are cooler.

How we will be careful. We only plant where we have permission and a watering plan, we do not collect personal information beyond what we need and we respect residents' choices.

We choose how many people to serve from the number of staff, hours and rooms we really have, not from the size of the need. If we reach fewer people than planned, we will report it and explain why.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices in our area.

1. City tree programs. Plant trees but have limited budgets and focus on public property.
2. Utility tree giveaways. Distribute free trees but often without planting or care.
3. Other environmental nonprofits. Plant in parks and watersheds but may not focus on residential streets.
4. Property owners and homeowners associations. Plant on their own land.
5. Cool pavement vendors, who sell coatings but may not measure impact or involve residents.

What makes us different. We work with residents, take responsibility for watering and replacing trees for three years and pair trees with shade structures and a measured pavement pilot.

How we avoid duplication. We coordinate with city staff, the utility and other nonprofits, share maps and agree on blocks so we do not plant the same blocks twice.

We keep a written list of every other organization that does similar work in our area and review it each year. If another group can serve a person better, we refer the person and say so plainly. Funders can expect us to tell the truth about overlap, to share what we learn and to work as part of a larger network of help.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach the neighborhoods we serve once the project is funded.

Neighborhood partners. Neighborhood associations, churches, schools, tenant groups and bus riders' groups will help us find blocks and recruit volunteers.

Door-to-door outreach. Our organizer and trained resident leaders will visit homes, explain the offer and ask neighbors to sign up for trees and shade.

City and utility partners. We will work with city forestry and the utility to find sites and share what we learn.

Word of mouth and events. Planting days and heat safety fairs bring neighbors together, and each planted block becomes a model for the next.

Digital outreach. A website and social media will share maps, dates and sign-up forms in English and Spanish. We will not post identifiable photos without permission.

Measuring outreach. We will track how many blocks asked for trees and how many signed up, and adjust where outreach is not working.

Marketing budget. Outreach and community events are part of the program budget and we use door hangers and partner channels.

Most people hear about services from someone they already trust, so we spend more time with partners and neighbors than on advertising. We write our materials in plain language, test them with a few people from the community and fix anything that confuses them.

Operations Plan

How the project will be carried out, in plain terms.

Timeline for Year 1. Months 1 and 2: hire the project coordinator, sign agreements, map sites, call the utility locate service and order trees. Months 3 to 12: hold planting days in the cooler seasons, install shade, complete the pavement pilot in a cooler month and water and monitor trees.

Space and equipment. We use a water trailer, tools and a vehicle for planting days and storage space donated by a partner.

Partners. The city, the utility, schools, neighborhood associations and a licensed paving contractor. Each has a written agreement.

Safety and compliance. We call 811 before every dig, avoid utilities and power lines, obtain permits for work in the public right-of-way and written permission from private owners, and follow the contractor's safety rules and the product's instructions for coatings. Volunteers wear gloves and sun protection and take breaks in shade with water. We call 911 in an emergency.

Care. Each tree is mapped and watered on a schedule by trained neighbors and our staff, and we replace trees that die in the first three years.

Records and reporting. We track trees planted, survival, shade installed and surface temperatures, and report to funders each quarter.

Training. Staff and resident leaders receive training in tree planting, heat safety and volunteer management.

We write down every step of the project in a short manual so that any trained staff member can carry it out the same way. We hold a short team meeting every week to review problems, safety concerns and numbers, and we ask the people we serve for feedback at least twice a year.

Management & Organization

The executive director leads the organization and manages the budget, partners and permits. The community organizer works with residents and volunteers, and the forestry and project coordinator leads planting, care and the pavement pilot.

The team. Pay figures include payroll taxes and workers' compensation insurance. The numbers in parentheses are how many people we plan to have in Years 1 through 5.
- Executive Director: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $62,000 a year each.
- Community Organizer: 1, 1, 2, 2, 2 (Years 1 to 5), about $46,000 a year each.
- Forestry and Project Coordinator: 0, 1, 1, 1, 1 (Years 1 to 5), about $52,000 a year each.

Governance and money controls. A volunteer board of directors oversees the budget and the executive director. Two people review every payment, the board reviews financial statements every month, an outside accountant prepares the yearly tax return and audit-ready records, and every grant is tracked in its own budget line. We screen staff and volunteers who work with the people we serve, train everyone on privacy and safety and keep written policies on conflicts of interest and complaints.

Staff and advisors. We seek staff with experience in urban forestry, community organizing or public works. An advisory group of residents, an arborist, a public health nurse and an engineer meets quarterly. We post a clear complaint process for residents.

Feedback and complaints. Anyone we serve can give feedback or a complaint by phone, in writing or in person, and can ask to speak with the board chair. We reply within five working days, keep a log of every complaint and report the themes to the board each quarter. No one loses services for speaking up.

Milestones Narrative

Goals for each of the first five years and how we will measure results. These are goals, not promises.
- Before the grant starts (3 to 4 months before the grant starts): hire the coordinator, map sites with residents, sign city and utility agreements, order trees and train volunteers
- Year 1: plant about 400 trees, install shade at about 6 sites and complete one pavement pilot. The budget is $218,000.
- Year 2: add a second community organizer and expand stewardship. The budget is $277,500.
- Year 3: plant on more blocks and publish pilot results. The budget is $331,500.
- Year 4: add a youth crew and heat safety checks for neighbors. The budget is $338,500.
- Year 5: plant about 800 trees a year and publish a plain results report. The budget is $345,500.

How we will measure results: trees planted, trees alive after one and three years, shade structures installed, surface temperatures before and after, residents trained and resident satisfaction. We report results to funders in the same plain numbers we use here, and we say honestly when a goal was missed and what we changed.

We report to funders every quarter and send a short plain-language summary to our board each month. At the end of each year we review all of the goals, publish a short results report and update the plan for the next year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $70,000 from a state climate action fund for tree planting, shade materials and a cool pavement pilot, for January through December 2027.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Supplies: Trees, shade materials and planting supplies, $40,000 (other funds add $5,000).
- Contractual: Cool pavement coating contractor for one pilot block, $30,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 42% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $218,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $8,200 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: grant revenue $168,000; individual donations $30,000; corporate and utility sponsors $20,000. Year 1 costs: executive director $62,000; community organizer $46,000; trees, plants and planting supplies about $60,000; tree watering and maintenance about $14,000; outreach and community events about $12,000; administration and insurance about $14,000.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $18,600 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $5,800 for water trailer, hoses, tools and a pickup trailer for planting days, $3,200 for laptops, a projector and heat monitoring sensors, $2,400 for opening stock of shovels, stakes and gloves, $2,200 for utility locate, permit and insurance setup, $2,600 for policy review and legal setup, and $2,400 for banners, door hangers and a simple website.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($18,600), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $900) and a cash cushion of about $52,000, which is about 3 months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $71,500. We start with $18,000 of our own savings and $55,000 in startup support from a local foundation and our board, $73,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $218,000 in Year 1 to about $345,500 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $168,000, $215,500, $257,500, $252,500, $247,500 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows as sponsors and donors join. The program plans a small surplus each year, about $8,200, $9,400, $10,800, $10,700 and $10,200 in Years 1 to 5, which we put into savings.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $63,100, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $10,900 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Individual donors and corporate and utility sponsors grow each year, so grants become a smaller share. The city may adopt successful sites into its own maintenance, and residents keep caring for trees.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Trees may die in hot summers. We plan watering, choose hardy species and replace failed trees.
- A utility line may be damaged. We call 811, hire professionals where needed and carry insurance.
- A grant may end. We grow donors and sponsors each year and keep savings.
- Residents may lose interest. We build resident leaders and celebrate each planting.
- Water costs may rise. We plan for rainwater and efficient irrigation.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller with one site or one staff member and track results carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach before you send this proposal:

- Your IRS determination letter showing 501(c)(3) status, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your board list and board minutes approving the application.
- Your most recent budget and financial statements.
- A list of other funders and what each has given or been asked to give.
- Your site map, tree list and watering plan.
- City and utility agreements and permits.
- The paving contractor's license, insurance and product information.
- Letters of support from neighborhood groups.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $168,000 in Year 1, growing to $247,500 in Year 5.
- Individual Donations: $30,000 in Year 1, growing to $54,000 in Year 5.
- Corporate and Utility Sponsors: $20,000 in Year 1, growing to $44,000 in Year 5.
- Staff pay is shown in the management section and includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: trees, plants and planting supplies $60,000, tree watering and maintenance $14,000, outreach and community events $12,000, and administration and insurance $14,000. These grow between 4% and 8% a year as the program grows.
- Grant and partner payments arrive after we bill, so about $10,900 (5% of Year 1 income) is owed to us at the end of Year 1.
- The program does not pay income tax. Any surplus stays in the program.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your organization's real numbers.

Plain words used in this proposal:
- Grant: money given for a specific purpose that does not have to be paid back, as long as it is spent as promised.
- Request: the part of the budget we are asking this funder to pay for.
- Surplus: money left over after a year's costs. A small surplus is healthy because it builds savings for slow months.
- Startup costs: one-time costs, such as equipment, paid once before the program runs at full speed.
- Working capital: cash kept in the bank to pay bills while waiting for grant payments.
- In-kind: goods or services given instead of money, such as donated space.
- Fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for a new group and passes the money to its program, usually for a fee.
- 501(c)(3): the tax status that lets a nonprofit receive tax-deductible gifts and many grants.

How to read the numbers. Every income and cost figure is a plan, not a result. Income rises as sponsors and donors join, costs rise a little each year, and each year's budget is planned to balance with a small surplus. Startup costs are shown separately because they are paid once. If a real number turns out different, we will update the plan and tell our funders why.

Startup Costs