For Non-Reef Ball Foundation Funding Sources Click Here
For Reef Balls Without Coral Plantings Click Here
Finding funding for your project is always a challenge. Before you start anywhere else, the first place is to look at your local community resources. Few funders will provide assistance unless there is a strong community matching component. Even if your community does not have strong financial resources, components like volunteer labor, donations if boat use, scuba tank and equipment rentals, hotel space for trainers and volunteers and even meals for volunteers can all help. Find places in your community to build your reefs...perhaps donated space in a local concrete yard. And speaking of concrete....maybe that same concrete company has some left over waste concrete on rainy days or when someone ordered a bit more than they needed? Plan your project using our Step by step guide to Reef Rehabilition for Grassroot Organizations and have a well written project proposal before you approach potential funders. Coral Rehabilitation projects with Reef Balls involve two steps that must be closely timed....deploying your Reef Balls must take place at most a few months before coral plantings and ideally right after placement in the water. Your first step will be to apply for our Reefs Around The World matching grant program to fund the production and deployment of Reef Balls. When you apply for that program, tell them you are going to apply for the Coral Reefs Around The World program too.
Qualifying for a Coral matching grant is simple and easy. Just add information about how you will meet these requirements to your Reefs Around The World grant application email. The requirements are:
- Propagated Hard Corals can only be planted by Coral Teams supervised by a certifiedLevel IV or higher Coral Team Progagation / Planting specialist.
- Propagated Soft Corals can only be planted by Coral Teams supervised by a certified Level III or higher Coral Team Propagation / Planting Specialist
- Non-propagated corals can only be planted on Reef Balls by a certified Level IV or higher certified Coral Team Rescue Specialist
- A monitoring plan must be in place to include 24-72 coral fragment monitoring, a 90 day coral fragment monitoring and a minimum of two underwater digital photographings of your Reef Balls per year for a minimum of three years
- Proof of permit to handle corals may be required
- A publicity plan should be in place
- Qualifying grantees may purchase coral progation tool kits and coral tables at our cost (40% off retail)
- Most coral rehabilitation projects activate a Coral Team to complete the work , but if your project prefers on site training to certify your team as Coral Team specialists the grantee's will enjoy a 1/3 discount on training fees from our trainers & if salaried foundation trainers are used there will be no training fees charged. :
- There are no matching discounts for shipping charges, tools, admixtures, coral putty or coral disk cement not included in regular Coral Took kits..
- Grantee must show enough detail for us to reasonably assume the project can be accomplished and that the project will STRICTLY adhere to Reef Ball Coral Team Coral Planting Ethics & Rules.
- This program cannot be used for mitigation projects under this grant unless a VERY significant public gain can be demonstrated beyond that which is mandated by the court or authorities.
If you elect to have our professional Coral Team do your propagation, rescue and planting work, you are entitled to 10% off retail pricing.
CORAL Team Activations
Reef Ball Foundation Coral Propagation and Coral Rescue Teams
the Reef Ball Foundation Coral Team Division, over the last 10 years, has developed a pool of worldwide talent willing to volunteer time and other resources for specific project needs. Whenever a reef restoration project presents itself to the Foundation, we can a trained and seasoned Reef Ball Coral Team leader and then we can alert hundreds, even thousands, of potential expert or trained volunteers that can generate the talent pool required to tackle even the most challenging of reef restoration projects.
Volunteers for each project are chosen by invitation of the Coral Team leader based on talents, experience, availability, and specific project requirements. Volunteers are organized and managed by Foundation professionals to insure each team achieves the goals of the specific project. Project sponsors provide additional local volunteers, and pay for the expenses of the team usually in the form of a tax deductible donation to the Reef Ball Foundation designated for support of a particular project.
If the host organization can provide attractive volunteer packages such as lodging, meals, and extra excursions such as diving, then often these teams can be self-supporting by charging non-expert volunteers a fee to participate then using those fees to cover coral planting expenses and team leader expenses/stipends. Our Coral Team division can provide you with a custom proposal to fit the specific needs/opportunities of your project. And of course, if you just need our Coral Team professionals to do the job for you we can take care of any coral rehabilitation effort for you.
Reef Ball Foundation expert led, volunteer based teams, have a variety of expertise and here are a few examples:
- Hard or Soft Coral Propagation Poster (creating new coral colonies from imperiled corals) (2nd Page of Poster )
- Hard or Soft Coral Rescue & stabilization of loose live rock to prevent future hurricane damages
- Growing of Mangrove propagules (from seed) and planting them in Reef Ball planters to create mangrove ecosystems
- Custom snorkeling trail creation with signage and snorkeling resting stations.
- If you want to learn more about these exciting projects, our project database contains thousands of pictures of this work. The largest projects are in Antigua, Cayman Islands, Curocao, Mexico, Thailand, Turks & Caicos, United Arab Emirates,
Reef Ball Foundation teams are designed to be activated in emergency situations. With Reef Ball Foundation volunteer teams, we can repair the damage within a few months from the time of a disaster...not years. If a hurricane hits your community...don't watch the economic benefits of your reef go away for years....repair it quickly after the storm while the broken up coral fragments can still be saved (typically 1-6 months after a storm perhaps longer in low wave climate areas). If there are other treats to your reefs (impending dredge work, beach fills, new pollution sources, etc.) don't wait until the damage occurs, call us and proactively save your valuable reef resources and help us achieve our goals of saving our world's oceanic ecosystems.
Additional RBF Funding
We offer various special deals based on our funding levels and what we can reasonably offer to support worthy projects. Don't be afraid to tell us what you need so we can do our best to help! To aid our clients further, we have developed a project / sponsor matching database. This will help potential sponsors to find your project for funding.
This is a semi- automated website to allows us to track and present these projects. In order for your project to be listed send us an email detailing exactly what your project is, what you are looking for funding wise, possible time frames, status of permits, etc. The more information you can give us the better a chance you will have of attracting funding. Along with your email, please send several representative photos as an attachment (at a minimum your project or organization logo). When we get the email, we will organize the wording and photos in our new funding database. It will be your responsibility to notify us of any changes in project status.Non Reef Ball Foundation Funding Sources For Artificial Reef Projects
NOAA
The NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program announces the availability of
funding for General Coral Reef Conservation Grants (GCRCGP) for FY08.
Applications must be submitted by midnight, November 1, 2007. This
program provides $15,000- $50,000 federal funding for 12-18 month
projects to institutions of higher education, non-profit organizations,
commercial organizations, Freely Associated State government agencies,
and local and Indian tribal governments to support coral reef
conservation projects in the United States, US territories and
commonwealths, and the US Freely Associated States. Projects funded
through the GCRCGP must support on-the ground efforts that: (1) help
preserve, sustain and restore the condition of coral reef ecosystems,
(2) promote the wise management and sustainable use of coral reef
resources, (3) increase public knowledge and awareness of coral reef
ecosystems and issues regarding their conservation and (4) develop sound
scientific information on the condiOctober 15, 2007to such ecosystems. Projects can include (a) Monitoring and
assessment of coral reefs or reef resources; (b) Socio-economic
assessments and resource valuation; (c) Marine protected areas and
associated management activities; (d) Coral reef fisheries management
and enforcement; (e) Coral reef restoration; (f) Public education and
outreach activities; and (g) Local action strategy projects. Research
activities are eligible only if they directly contribute to improved
management and demonstrate effective and prompt mechanisms to
disseminate information to resource managers.
The full funding announcement and federal forms can be found at
grants.gov. Applications should be submitted via www.grants.gov and must
be received by grants.gov no later than 11:59 PM EST on November 1,
2007. If grants.gov cannot be reasonably used, applications can be sent
by mail, but they must postmarked by November 1, 2007, and they must
include original signed copies of the federal forms. Send to: Andrew
Bruckner, NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, NOAA Fisheries, Office
of Habitat Conservation (F/HC), 1315 East West Highway, Silver Spring,
MD 20910. ATTN: CRCGP Project Applications.
Note: This program tends to be done every year so if you missed this deadline consider them next year.
PADI
The Project AWARE Foundation, established in 1992, is the dive industry's leading non-profit organization committed to conserving the underwater environments through education, advocacy and action. Grant program funding is made possible by direct contributions from divers and water enthusiasts and operates on a quarterly funding cycle.
Project AWARE Foundation provides grants to a variety of nonprofit organizations, institutions and individuals involved in activities directly related to the conservation of underwater environments - both marine and freshwater.
See PADI Grant Program Guidelines
Sea Grant Programs
Every coastal state has Sea Grant programs. Typically research oriented, they occasionally fund artificial reef projects especially when research related.
Google search for Sea Grant programs in your state.