Canopy Forward Community Tree Planting and Green Spaces Initiative

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Executive Summary

Canopy Forward Community Tree Planting and Green Spaces Initiative is a nonprofit in Pennsylvania that plants and cares for trees, builds small neighborhood green spaces on vacant and unused lots, and employs young people in a paid Youth Green Corps, in five city neighborhoods that have far less tree cover than the rest of the city. Our team of an Executive Director, an Urban Forestry Program Director who is a certified arborist, two Community Greening Coordinators and a Youth Green Corps Coordinator plants trees only where residents agree, waters and prunes every tree for its first three years, and counts how many survive. There is no charge to residents.

Neighborhoods with few trees are hotter in summer, send more rainwater into streets and basements, and have fewer shaded places for children and older neighbors to be outdoors. In our city those blocks are largely the same ones that went without public investment for decades. Vacant lots, where little grows but weeds and dumped trash, make the problem worse. Many residents have asked for trees for years. What has been missing is not interest. It is a free, local team that will plant the tree, care for it and still be there in year three.

With this grant we will plant about 800 trees and build 3 small green spaces in Year 1, and employ 20 young people ages 16 to 24 in the Youth Green Corps. Our goals are that at least 85% of the trees we plant are alive after one year and at least 80% after three years, that at least 70% of Youth Green Corps members finish the program, and that at least half of them are working, in school or in a training program six months later. We do not promise a temperature drop, a health result or a rise in property values. We measure what we can count and report it honestly.

Our Year 1 budget: about $534,000, growing to about $812,000 by Year 5. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 6 paid staff in Year 1 and 9 by Year 5. City stormwater and urban forestry contracts, tree care contracts and sponsors add steady support, so grants fall from about 75% of our income in Year 1 to about 59% in Year 5.

We are asking the Urban Canopy Resilience Fund for $100,000 for one Community Greening Coordinator, trees and planting materials for 400 trees, and wages for half of the Youth Green Corps. City contracts, other grants and sponsors cover the rest, so this grant is one part of a shared funding plan.

I am Gloria Santiago, the Executive Director, a landscape designer and former city forestry crew leader who grew up on one of the blocks we serve. The numbers in this proposal are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end, not promises.

Company Description

Canopy Forward Community Tree Planting and Green Spaces Initiative is a nonprofit organization in Pennsylvania. We are a 501(c)(3) public charity (or a program of one, through a fiscal sponsor), governed by a volunteer board of directors. We will provide our IRS determination letter, board list and most recent financial statements with this proposal.

Our mission. To grow a healthier, cooler and greener city, one block at a time, by planting and caring for trees, turning unused lots into places neighbors want to be, and giving young people paid work outdoors.

What we believe. Shade and green space are basic parts of a healthy neighborhood, and they should not depend on which zip code a family lives in. A tree is a long-term promise, so planting is the easy part and caring for the tree for years is the real work. Residents know their blocks best, so no tree is planted and no lot is changed without the consent of the people who live beside it. We serve everyone who lives in our neighborhoods, regardless of race, faith, income, immigration status or housing situation, and we make reasonable accommodations for disability.

How we started. Canopy Forward began when a group of neighbors asked the city for street trees and were told the waiting list was years long. A retired city forestry crew leader taught them to plant, a landscape designer drew a simple plan and the group planted 60 trees over two spring weekends with donated stock. The next summer they watered every one. Two years later 54 of the 60 were still alive, and neighbors on surrounding blocks began asking for trees of their own. The city's urban forestry office and a local stormwater program asked whether the group could take on more. This proposal asks for support to turn a volunteer effort into a staffed program.

What we offer:
- Tree planting. Free street trees, yard trees and trees in parks and green spaces, chosen by an arborist for the site and planted by trained crews, residents and volunteers. We call the state 811 service to mark underground utilities before any digging and we get city permits for trees in the public right of way.
- Three years of care. Every tree is watered, mulched and pruned for its first three years, and neighbors who adopt a tree get a watering bag, a short lesson and a number to call. Trees that die are replaced once at no charge.
- Small green spaces. Pocket parks, rain gardens and shaded seating on vacant or unused lots, designed with the neighbors who live next to them and built under written agreements with the landowner.
- Youth Green Corps. A paid, 12-week program for young people ages 16 to 24, in cohorts of 10, with training in tree planting, pruning basics, watering systems, soil, and safe tool use. Members are paid wages through our payroll.
- Community stewardship. Spring and fall planting days, a tree inventory neighbors can see on a map, and a block-by-block adopt-a-tree network.

Who we serve. Residents of five city neighborhoods with low tree cover, based on the city's tree canopy data and national tree equity mapping. We do not charge residents for trees, planting or care.

What we do not do. We do not own land. We do not plant on private property without written consent. We do not remove or prune large trees, which only licensed, insured tree service companies do, and we hire them when needed. We do not promise that a tree will thrive, because drought, storms, vandalism and pests are real.

How we are run. A nine-member volunteer board of directors oversees the organization and approves the budget each year. The board includes two residents of the neighborhoods we serve, a certified arborist, a landscape architect, a stormwater engineer, a public health nurse, a school principal, an attorney and a certified public accountant. The Executive Director manages the organization, the Urban Forestry Program Director runs the planting and care program and an outside accountant reviews our books every year.

Where things stand today. We have a letter of support from the city's urban forestry office, two neighborhood associations, a school and a stormwater program. We have a letter of intent for a small yard with water access to use as a nursery and equipment base. Before we begin, we will have an attorney review our homeowner consent form, site-use agreements and youth worker policies and confirm any requirements of Pennsylvania.

Problem & Opportunity

Trees are not spread evenly across a city. Neighborhoods that were redlined, bypassed by investment or cut apart by highways tend to have far fewer trees than neighborhoods that were not. That gap matters. Paved blocks with little shade hold heat, so summer afternoons can be several degrees hotter than on leafy streets, and the hottest nights are hardest on older adults, young children and people without air conditioning. Trees also slow and soak up rain, which reduces the water that runs into streets and basements, and they help clean the air near busy roads. Shade makes it more comfortable to walk to the bus stop, sit on a porch or let a child play outside.

Vacant lots add to the problem. A lot with no trees and no care collects trash and weeds, and neighbors often feel they can do nothing about it. Our five neighborhoods have many such lots, and the city does not have the money or staff to turn them all into anything better.

The city's urban forestry office does good work, and it is stretched thin. Street tree requests can wait for years. Planting trees is one cost. Keeping them alive through the first three summers is another, and young trees die most often in those years from thirst, damage and neglect. Programs that give away free trees help only when the neighbor who receives the tree can water it, which is not always the case for renters, older residents, or families working long hours.

Young people in these neighborhoods also face a shortage of paid first jobs. Outdoor, skilled work such as tree care, landscaping and green infrastructure is a growing field, and entry-level employers say it is hard to find workers with basic training and a record of showing up. A paid, supervised first job gives a young person a reference and a skill.

We want to be clear about what we know and do not know. Research from public agencies and universities shows that urban trees provide shade, intercept rainwater and improve air quality, and that the benefits grow as the trees mature, which takes years. The cooling effect of any one planting depends on how many trees there are, where they are and how long they live. We do not know how much our planting will change the temperature of any block. We will use local canopy data and the free i-Tree software tools from the U.S. Forest Service to estimate benefits, label those figures as estimates and measure the thing we can control and count directly: how many trees we plant and how many are alive.

Our city has strong resources, including the urban forestry office, a regional horticultural society and national tree-planting groups. They serve the whole region and are not set up to provide neighborhood-level planting with three years of follow-up care and paid youth work in the specific blocks we serve. We aim to partner with them, not replace them.

Products & Services

Canopy Forward will plant trees, build small green spaces, care for every tree for three years and employ young people in a paid Youth Green Corps, at no cost to residents.

How it works, step by step:
1. Listening first. We meet with each neighborhood association and hold block meetings to ask where residents want shade, what they want in a green space and who will help. Requests come from residents, not from us.
2. Site review. The Urban Forestry Program Director, a certified arborist, checks each site for space, sun, soil, overhead wires, and underground utilities (we call 811 before digging), and chooses species suited to the site. We favor a mix of species so one pest or disease cannot wipe out a block, and we avoid trees that drop heavy fruit or crack sidewalks.
3. Consent. For private yards we get a signed homeowner or landlord consent. For trees in the public right of way we get city permits. For green spaces we sign a written agreement with the landowner that covers use, care, liability and what happens if the owner needs the land back.
4. Planting. Trained crews, Youth Green Corps members and volunteers plant on spring and fall weekends and on weekdays. Every tree gets stakes only where needed, mulch, a watering bag and a numbered tag.
5. Three years of care. A care crew visits every tree on a schedule: watering through the first two summers, mulch refreshed each spring, structural pruning in years two and three by trained crew members under the arborist, and a yearly health check. A dead tree is replaced once at no charge.
6. Green spaces. We build 3 small green spaces a year, with seating, shade trees, rain gardens or planting beds, and simple signs. Neighbors help design each one and a named neighbor serves as site steward.
7. Youth Green Corps. Each 12-week cohort of 10 young people ages 16 to 24 works about 10 hours a week, mostly outdoors, learning tree planting, mulching, watering systems, safe tool use, plant identification and basic job skills such as showing up on time, working on a crew and taking direction. Members are paid $15 an hour through our payroll. We follow work permit and hour rules for workers under 18, and we do not allow any member to use a chainsaw or work aloft. Graduates leave with a reference letter, a safety card and help applying for the next step, such as a landscaping job, a city or utility crew, or a program at a technical school.
8. Counting. We keep a map-based tree inventory with a record of each tree's species, planting date, care visits and health. We report survival at one and three years, and we publish the results.

What the grant will pay for. Part of one Community Greening Coordinator's salary, trees and planting materials for 400 of our 800 Year 1 trees, and wages for half of the Youth Green Corps. The rest of the budget comes from city contracts, other grants, tree care contracts and sponsors.

Honesty. We tell residents that a young tree is fragile, that a few will die even with good care and that shade comes slowly. We do not plant what we cannot water, and we do not promise results we cannot count.

Market Analysis

Who benefits: residents of five city neighborhoods with low tree cover, the young people who earn their first paid work with us, and the city, which gains shade, rainwater control and cleaner lots without new staff.

Our primary group is the households who live in our five neighborhoods, which are mostly lower income, have a high share of renters and older adults and are among the hottest parts of the city on summer days. We will use the most recent numbers from the Census Bureau, the city's canopy study and a national tree equity map in our final application and will not overstate them. Our own experience shows demand: in our first two years of volunteer planting, about 300 households asked for a tree, and we could only serve about one in five.

Our secondary group is young people ages 16 to 24 who live in these neighborhoods and want paid work and a first reference. We expect to recruit from local high schools, the summer youth employment program, community colleges and neighborhood organizations. We plan for 20 members in Year 1, 20 in Year 2, 30 in Years 3 and 4 and 40 in Year 5.

Our third group is institutions that need green space or tree care: schools, churches, community centers and small property owners, who may buy tree care contracts, and the city's stormwater program, which pays for green infrastructure that keeps rain out of the sewer system.

Scale. We plan to plant about 800 trees in Year 1, 950 in Year 2, 1,100 in Year 3, 1,250 in Year 4 and 1,400 in Year 5, or about 5,500 in five years, and to build 3 green spaces in Years 1 and 2, 4 in Years 3 and 4, and 5 in Year 5, or 19 in all. We do not plan to reach every block in the city. We plan to do the work well in the five neighborhoods we know.

We do not guarantee a tree to every household that asks. When requests exceed our capacity, we keep a public waiting list, tell neighbors how long the wait is and prioritize blocks with the least shade and the most heat-vulnerable residents.

Competitive Landscape

Other choices residents and young people have in our area, and what makes us different.

- The city's urban forestry office. It plants and maintains street trees across the city and is a close partner. We refer residents to it and coordinate planting permits. Its waiting lists are long and its crews cannot give each tree three years of watering.
- A regional horticultural society and national tree-planting nonprofits. Some give away trees, provide training and run large plantings. We learn from them and borrow their materials. They serve the whole region and are not built around neighborhood-level follow-up care in a small number of blocks.
- Free yard-tree giveaway programs. These help households who can plant and water the tree themselves. We serve renters, older residents and households who cannot, and we do the planting and watering.
- The city's stormwater program and landscape contractors. Some pay for or build green infrastructure. We work with them, and we do not compete for large construction contracts. We offer neighborhood-scale work with resident design and paid youth crews.
- Summer youth employment programs. They give many young people a first job. We offer a specialized outdoor skills track and a longer follow-up.

What makes us different.
- Three years of follow-up care, with a replacement for any tree that dies.
- Residents choose where trees and green spaces go, and a neighbor is named as a steward of every green space.
- Paid youth crews doing skilled outdoor work, supervised by a certified arborist.
- A public tree inventory and honest survival reporting.
- A small focus: five neighborhoods, done well.

What we do not claim. We are young. Our record is small and was built mostly by volunteers, and the city's forestry office has decades of experience. We plan to share our results openly and ask our partners for advice.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How we will reach the residents, partners and supporters we need once the project is funded.

Residents. We will meet people where they are: neighborhood association meetings, block parties, churches, schools, libraries, recreation centers, barber shops and laundromats. We will knock on doors on blocks where we plan to plant, leave door hangers in English and Spanish and keep a text line and a printed card with a simple request form. Neighbors who adopt a tree are our best messengers.

Young people. We will recruit through high schools, the summer youth employment program, community colleges, libraries, churches, recreation centers and word of mouth from graduates. We hold open work days so young people can try the work before they apply.

City and partners. We will meet quarterly with the urban forestry office and the stormwater program, share planting and survival data and coordinate permits. We will invite the fire department and public works to our planting days. We do not ask the city to give up control of public trees.

Property owners and institutions. We will offer tree care contracts to churches, schools, small landlords and businesses, priced at cost plus a small margin. Income from these contracts is tracked separately and supports our work.

Funders. We will report results as totals, never with a resident's name, to funders and the city twice a year and in a short annual report. We will invite funders to a planting day and a Youth Green Corps graduation.

Donors and community. We will invite individuals, businesses, banks, faith communities and civic clubs to sponsor a tree, a block or a green space. Gifts are tracked separately and acknowledged with thanks.

How we talk about trees. We use plain, realistic words. We do not claim that a tree will lower anyone's energy bill by a specific amount or raise anyone's home value, and we do not use stories or photographs of residents or youth without clear, written permission.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 to 2: Attorney review of the homeowner consent form, site-use agreements and youth worker policies, sign the yard lease, hire the Urban Forestry Program Director, the second Community Greening Coordinator and the Youth Green Corps Coordinator, order the first trees from nursery vendors, choose a tree inventory data system and set up the yard.
- Month 3: Staff training in tree planting, tool safety, working with youth, trauma-informed practice, de-escalation and data. Recruit the first Youth Green Corps cohort and neighborhood volunteers. Begin block meetings and site reviews.
- Months 4 to 6: First spring or fall planting season, first Youth Green Corps cohort of 10, first green space built, and the first round of watering and mulching.
- Months 7 to 9: Summer care season, watering routes, second green space and a mid-year survival check.
- Months 10 to 12: Fall planting, second Youth Green Corps cohort, third green space, first graduation, year-end tree count and report to funders and planning for Year 2.

Trees. We budget about $85 per tree for nursery stock, stakes, mulch, a watering bag, a tag and a tree guard where needed, for 800 trees in Year 1 ($68,000). The mix includes container trees and some larger balled-and-burlapped trees. Establishment care, including water truck rental, mulch refreshes and replacement of trees that die, is about $12,000 a year. An arborist services contract, about $14,000 in Year 1, pays for site reviews, species selection and structural pruning of young trees.

Green spaces. Each green space costs about $8,000 for soil, plants, a rain garden or planting beds, benches, simple signs and fencing where the landowner requires it, or $24,000 for 3 spaces. Each is built under a written agreement with the landowner, with a named neighbor steward and a care plan.

Equipment. We buy about $16,500 of equipment once at the start: planting tools, tree carts, loppers, shovels, safety gear and crew protective equipment ($6,500), a water tank, pump and hoses ($5,500) and a utility trailer ($4,500). After Year 1, we set aside about $3,000 to $4,000 a year to replace and add equipment. Large equipment such as chippers, chainsaws and aerial lifts is not owned by us. A licensed, insured tree service company does that work under a written contract.

Youth Green Corps rules and controls. Members are employees paid $15 an hour for about 10 hours a week for 12 weeks, or about $1,800 in wages each, plus about $200 in employer payroll taxes and workers' compensation, for $2,000 in all. Two cohorts of 10 in Year 1 total $40,000. Members complete the required hiring paperwork, and members under 18 have work permits and hours that follow state rules. Members work in crews of five or fewer under a trained adult, receive safety training before they use any tool, and do not use chainsaws, climb trees or work near traffic without a protected work zone. Hours are recorded and approved each week by the Youth Green Corps Coordinator, and the Executive Director reviews payroll.

Staffing. In Year 1: an Executive Director, an Urban Forestry Program Director, two Community Greening Coordinators, a Youth Green Corps Coordinator and a part-time Program Coordinator. A third Community Greening Coordinator joins in Year 2, an Urban Forestry Technician in Year 4 and a Green Space Maintenance Crew Lead in Year 5.

Safety. Every crew carries a first aid kit and water, and every staff member holds current first aid and CPR training. We cancel field work in extreme heat, lightning and unsafe air quality. Crews wear gloves, eye protection, closed-toe boots and high-visibility vests, and we do not work in the street without city-approved traffic control.

Privacy. We keep requests, addresses and youth records in a secure, password-protected system, share them only with the person's written permission, except where the law or our funders require it, and report results to funders only as totals. Neighbors can choose not to appear on the public tree map.

Fairness. We follow federal, state and local anti-discrimination laws and make reasonable accommodations for disability. We do not choose among residents or youth based on a protected characteristic.

Insurance and records. We carry general liability, property, workers' compensation, commercial auto and volunteer accident insurance, about $11,000 a year in Year 1. Grant money is tracked separately so we can show each funder how their money was spent, and an outside accountant reviews our books every year.

Management & Organization

The people who will carry out the project.

Gloria Santiago, Executive Director. A landscape designer and former city forestry crew leader who grew up on one of the blocks we serve. She leads fundraising, partnerships, finance and hiring, reports to the board and is the main contact for funders and the city. (Replace this paragraph with your own director's background.)

Urban Forestry Program Director (full time, hired in Months 1 to 2). Runs planting and care, selects species, supervises crews and the arborist contract and owns the tree inventory. We will seek an ISA Certified Arborist with at least five years of urban forestry experience.

Community Greening Coordinators (two in Year 1 and three from Year 2 on). Each coordinator works with neighborhood associations and block groups, collects requests and consents, schedules planting days and volunteers and leads green space design meetings. We will hire from the neighborhoods where we work.

Youth Green Corps Coordinator (full time). Recruits and supervises each cohort, teaches the curriculum, approves hours and payroll, and keeps in touch with graduates for six months.

Program Coordinator (part time). Keeps records, maintains the data system, tracks survival and prepares reports.

Board of directors. Nine volunteers who meet every quarter: two neighborhood residents, a certified arborist, a landscape architect, a stormwater engineer, a public health nurse, a school principal, an attorney and a certified public accountant. The board approves the budget and policies, reviews results and youth payroll summaries each quarter and does not receive pay.

Resident advisory group. Neighbors, site stewards and Youth Green Corps graduates meet twice a year and tell us what is working and what is not. Their advice shapes where we plant and how we care for trees.

Outside professionals. An attorney reviews our consent forms, agreements and youth worker policies. An outside accountant reviews our books every year. A licensed tree service company, under contract, handles any work on large trees.

Staff screening and training. Every staff member and volunteer who works with youth passes a criminal background check and child abuse clearances as required by Pennsylvania law.

Staff pay in this plan includes payroll taxes and workers' compensation. Salaries are Executive Director $64,000, Urban Forestry Program Director $56,000, Community Greening Coordinator $46,000 each, Youth Green Corps Coordinator $46,000 and part-time Program Coordinator $24,000. Replace them with the pay you can offer where you live.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals for each year and how we will measure them.

- Year 1: Plant about 800 trees, build 3 green spaces, employ 20 young people in two Youth Green Corps cohorts, and see at least 85% of trees alive after one year. A balanced budget of about $534,000, with a small surplus of about $13,480. 6 paid staff.
- Year 2: Plant about 950 trees, build 3 green spaces, employ 20 young people and begin three-year survival counts for Year 1 trees. Add a third Community Greening Coordinator. A balanced budget of about $610,000, with a small surplus of about $14,560. 7 paid staff.
- Year 3: Plant about 1,100 trees, build 4 green spaces and employ 30 young people. City stormwater and tree care contracts cover more of our budget, and at least 80% of Year 1 trees are alive after three years. A balanced budget of about $643,000, with a small surplus of about $14,534. 7 paid staff.
- Year 4: Plant about 1,250 trees, build 4 green spaces, employ 30 young people and add an Urban Forestry Technician. A balanced budget of about $726,000, with a small surplus of about $15,738. 8 paid staff.
- Year 5: Plant about 1,400 trees, build 5 green spaces, employ 40 young people and add a Green Space Maintenance Crew Lead. Cumulative planting reaches about 5,500 trees and 19 green spaces. A balanced budget of about $812,000, with a small surplus of about $16,396. 9 paid staff.

What we measure:
- Trees planted, by neighborhood and species, and requests received and served.
- Survival at one and three years, and the number of replacements.
- Green spaces built, and neighbors involved in design and care.
- Youth Green Corps applicants, members, completion, hours and pay, and what graduates are doing at six months, with the graduate's permission.
- Estimated benefits from the free i-Tree tools, clearly labeled as estimates.
- Cost per tree planted and per tree alive at three years, and cost per youth member.
- Resident feedback, collected anonymously.

How we review results. The Program Director and coordinators review the tree inventory every month and watering routes every week. Each season, staff, the resident advisory group and our partners review results together and we change what is not working. Twice a year the board reviews results and we share them with funders and the city as totals. Every number in this plan is a goal, and we will report what really happens, including when we fall short.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $100,000 from the Urban Canopy Resilience Fund for one Community Greening Coordinator, trees and planting materials, and wages for half of the Youth Green Corps, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Community Greening Coordinator salary, $46,000 (other funds add $46,000 for the second coordinator).
- Personnel: Youth Green Corps crew member wages, paid through payroll, $20,000 (other funds add $20,000). This covers 10 of the 20 members at $2,000 each.
- Supplies: Trees and planting materials, purchased from nursery vendors, $34,000 (other funds add $34,000). This covers 400 of the 800 trees at $85 each.

Other money in the program. City contracts, other grants, tree care contracts and sponsors pay the other $423,320 of Year 1 costs, including the matching amounts above, plus the Executive Director ($64,000), the Urban Forestry Program Director ($56,000), the Youth Green Corps Coordinator ($46,000), the part-time Program Coordinator ($24,000), the arborist services contract ($14,000), green space construction ($24,000), establishment care and replacement trees ($12,000), yard rent and utilities ($18,000), vehicle operations ($9,000), technology and the tree inventory ($5,000), insurance ($11,000), outreach and planting days ($8,000), staff credentials and training ($5,000), canopy monitoring and reporting ($6,000) and administration and accounting ($10,000).

Year 1 budget: about $534,000, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $13,480 after spreading startup and equipment costs over five years). Year 1 money coming in: grants $401,000 (this request plus other grants we are applying for), city stormwater and urban forestry contracts $72,000, tree care contracts and plant sales $28,000 and sponsorships and donations $33,000. Year 1 costs: Executive Director $64,000; Urban Forestry Program Director $56,000; two Community Greening Coordinators $92,000; Youth Green Corps Coordinator $46,000; part-time Program Coordinator $24,000; trees and planting materials about $68,000; arborist services about $14,000; green space construction about $24,000; Youth Green Corps wages and payroll costs about $40,000; establishment care and replacement trees about $12,000; yard rent and utilities about $18,000; vehicle operations about $9,000; technology and tree inventory about $5,000; insurance about $11,000; outreach and planting days about $8,000; staff credentials and training about $5,000; canopy monitoring and reporting about $6,000; administration and accounting about $10,000; and about $11,320 a year for spreading startup and equipment costs over five years. These add up to $523,320.

How we planned trees. We budget $85 for each of 800 trees in Year 1 ($68,000), which covers nursery stock, stakes where needed, mulch, a watering bag, a tag and a tree guard. We will price each order from at least two nurseries. Larger trees cost more and small container trees cost less, and we will change the mix, not the promise of three years of care, if prices move.

How we planned Youth Green Corps wages. Each member earns $15 an hour for about 10 hours a week for 12 weeks (about $1,800) plus about $200 in employer payroll taxes and workers' compensation, or $2,000. Two cohorts of 10 total $40,000.

About city contracts. City stormwater programs, urban forestry offices and state conservation and forestry agencies fund tree planting and green infrastructure. Federal urban forestry programs, including grants from the U.S. Forest Service, are competitive and change from year to year. These funds are awarded for set periods and have strict rules about eligibility, documentation and reporting. We plan to apply once we have a track record. The amounts in this plan are our planning estimates, not promises, and agencies can change their budgets, rules and awards. We plan for grants and sponsors to cover the gap if they do.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $42,600 are paid once from startup money: $16,500 for equipment, $7,000 for the nursery and storage yard setup, $3,000 for a deposit, $4,500 for opening nursery stock, $600 for permits, $5,000 for legal and professional help, $2,800 for signs and a website and $3,200 for background checks, safety training and first insurance.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($42,600), the cash the budget uses before it levels out (about $15,380) and a cash cushion of about $128,000, which is three months of Year 1 operating costs. That comes to about $185,980, rounded up to the nearest $500: $186,000. We start with $20,000 of our own savings and $170,000 in startup support from a community foundation, a stormwater program's startup gift and our board, $190,000 in all, which covers that amount.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $534,000 in Year 1 to about $812,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $401,000, $430,000, $412,000, $443,000, $476,000 in Years 1 to 5. City contracts grow from $72,000 to $182,000, tree care contracts and plant sales grow from $28,000 to $90,000, and sponsorships and donations grow from $33,000 to $64,000. We add a third Community Greening Coordinator in Year 2, an Urban Forestry Technician in Year 4 and a Green Space Maintenance Crew Lead in Year 5. Grants fall from about 75% of our income in Year 1 to about 59% in Year 5.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $132,000, at the end of Year 1. City and grant payments often arrive after we bill or after we submit documents, so we plan for about $37,380 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

After the grant. Our plan is to grow city stormwater and forestry contracts as agencies see our survival results, to sell tree care contracts to institutions and property owners, to invite businesses, banks and civic groups to sponsor trees and green spaces and to grow individual donors. Because a tree that survives keeps giving shade for decades, success strengthens our case for public funding.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- Trees die from drought, storms or neglect. We plant only where we can water, keep a watering route, replace each failed tree once and publish our survival rates, including the bad years.
- A tree damages a sidewalk, a line or a car. An arborist chooses each species and site, we call 811 before digging, and we carry liability insurance and respond to complaints.
- A landowner reclaims a green space. Every agreement spells out notice, and we design spaces so trees and plants can be moved.
- A young worker is hurt. We train every member in tool safety, keep crews small, ban chainsaws and climbing and carry workers' compensation.
- City contracts are delayed or not awarded. We plan with a cash cushion, stage hiring so costs follow funding and apply to other funders.
- A grant ends. We keep savings, grow tree care contracts and sponsors and keep our cost per tree low.

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: one block, 50 trees, a water tank and a volunteer watering schedule, tracked carefully for two summers. Strong survival numbers from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and Urban Forestry Program Director (with the arborist certification number), and job descriptions for the Community Greening Coordinators and Youth Green Corps Coordinator.
- Letters of support from the city's urban forestry office, neighborhood associations, a school and a stormwater program.
- Your tree planting standards, species list and three-year care schedule.
- Your homeowner consent form, landowner site-use agreement and tree inventory sample.
- Your Youth Green Corps curriculum, safety rules and hiring and payroll procedures.
- Your plan for measuring results, including one-year and three-year survival counts.
- Survival and planting results from your volunteer pilot, shown as totals.
- Proof of liability, workers' compensation and volunteer accident insurance, or a quote.
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: $401,000 in Year 1, City Stormwater and Urban Forestry Contracts: $72,000 in Year 1, Tree Care Contracts and Plant Sales: $28,000 in Year 1, Sponsorships and Donations: $33,000 in Year 1. Grants then $430,000, $412,000, $443,000, $476,000 in Years 2 to 5. City contracts grow to $182,000, tree care contracts and plant sales to $90,000 and sponsorships and donations to $64,000 by Year 5.
- Trees planted: about 800 in Year 1, then 950, 1,100, 1,250 and 1,400. Cost per tree: $85 including planting materials.
- Green spaces: 3 in Years 1 and 2, 4 in Years 3 and 4 and 5 in Year 5, at about $8,000 each.
- Youth Green Corps: 20 members in Years 1 and 2, 30 in Years 3 and 4 and 40 in Year 5, at $2,000 each ($15 an hour for 10 hours a week for 12 weeks, plus employer taxes and workers' compensation).
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): Executive Director $64,000, Urban Forestry Program Director $56,000, Community Greening Coordinator $46,000 (two in Year 1, three from Year 2), Youth Green Corps Coordinator $46,000, Program Coordinator (part-time) $24,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: Arborist Services $14,000, Green Space Construction $24,000, Establishment Care and Replacement Trees $12,000, Yard, nursery and storage rent and utilities $18,000, Vehicle operations and maintenance $9,000, Technology and tree inventory data system $5,000, Insurance $11,000, Outreach, community planting days and events $8,000, Staff credentials and training $5,000, Canopy monitoring, evaluation and reporting $6,000, Administration and accounting $10,000. The other costs grow between 4% and 20% a year, with trees and tree care growing fastest as we plant more.
- Equipment: $16,500 at the start (part of the startup costs), then $3,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $42,600, paid once from $190,000 in startup money and spread evenly over five years in the plan's books.
- About 7% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs