Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships

Grantee Story:

The effects of unrestricted funding on capacity building at a critical growth point

Sierra Watershed Education Partnerships (SWEP) promotes environmental stewardship among students, through hands-on, extra-curricular education programs connecting them with their communities and the nature around them. The goal is to give youth a sense of agency over the health of the environment in which they live and to encourage them to take action to sustain and protect it into the future, in partnership with their community. This not only promotes stewardship but also improves mental health, self-esteem, attention capacity, and community engagement.

After almost thirty years on a shoestring budget, SWEP had many proven and popular programs under their belt, as well as the support and respect of the school system they serve and the community organizations with which they partner to deliver the programs. There was an expanding demand, desire, and need for their work but SWEP had a limited capacity to deliver, constrained by staff numbers and other resources.

A three year, unrestricted grant from The Patchwork Collective gave them what they needed to take their experience to the next level and reach more students with enhanced programs. It also funded a strategic plan to help them set clear priorities for growing into their future. With the budget security provided by the grant, they are making the critical leap from being a vulnerable organization operating on a shoestring to a thriving and sustainable one, delivering robust programs to a larger community.

As ED Melissa Mohler puts it, “There were a lot of little funds, which meant piecemealing budgets and always worrying about funding security. So much time gets spent writing funding requests and reporting on results for myriad grants. Staff were really stretched, which is not sustainable, and we couldn’t cover all the schools that were interested in working with us. The large, unrestricted grant has been monumental in allowing us to confidently make expansion plans.”

Mohler herself has first-hand experience of what funding insecurity means to finding and retaining qualified staff. Originally hired in 2007 to diversify funding, she was laid off shortly after joining because a major grant withdrew and the difference could not be made up in such a short window of fundraising. She stayed on as a volunteer and got hired as Executive Director 6 months later, when a new grant made it possible.

This kind of funding roller coaster ride, and the work involved in prospecting for funds and reporting, takes a massive toll on resources that could otherwise be deployed in delivering the programs and building efficient administrative systems. Mohler says, “Operating on a shoestring makes you very creative in figuring out how to do more with less. We haven’t lost that skill, but now we get to apply it to a much broader scope of work so those extra funds can work really hard for us.”

Specific objectives from their 2023, three-year strategic plan include improving HR systems to attract, train, and retain qualified program delivery and admin staff, with clearly defined roles and scope for their development. This fundamental HR function was only minimally possible previously. Another key area of investment is in developing streamlined systems for fundraising and managing and reporting on contracts.

In programming, SWEP is expanding to connect with climate science, service learning, student wellness, accessibility to a diverse student body, and to the native history of the region. They’re also developing an evaluation plan that looks at the breadth and frequency of programming across grades, evaluates the efficacy and impact of current programming, and establishes a strategy for annual program evaluation.

One key success metric for SWEP is the enthusiasm of other community organizations to partner in delivering programs, establishing connections between everyone involved. Beyond the schools, SWEP has engaged with the Fire District, local airport, ability programs, Town, County, and many more, fostering a broader sense of shared responsibility and community.

But the most powerful outcomes of SWEP’s programs lie in how they’ve inspired youth to involvement and action. Many of the grade school students carry their interest with them into high school and beyond, often becoming active advocates in multiple environmental programs and clubs, also supported by SWEP. One such club, dubbed the ‘Envirolution’, has seen significant results from the efforts of its members, working with the Town of Truckee to legislate a ban on plastic water bottles, bags, and straws in their community. As a young club leader said during their Trashion Show event, “We may not be able to vote yet, but our voice matters.”

Marie Dageville, Founder of The Patchwork Collective, could not be more pleased with how this grant is being deployed. “We’re interested in doing more of what we think of as catalytic funding,” she says. “Many organizations get to a certain point, they’ve proved their capabilities, but they don’t have the means to take the next step for scaling up their activities so they can affect more positive change. When we support such groups with significant, unrestricted funding, they’re able to gear up faster and more effectively. Their increased capacity and knowledge also improves their ability to attract even more funding. In effect, they’re better able to create their own sustainability and effectiveness when we support them without getting in the way.”