Minnesota’s Community Grant Program

A new Community Grant Program, funded through the state Environment and Natural Resource Trust Fund (ENRTF) and administered through the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR), will release a request for proposals for the first time in the fall of 2026. As mentioned above, all grant programs funded through ENRTF are intended to support projects “that protect, conserve, preserve, and enhance the state’s air, water, land, fish, wildlife, and other natural resources.”

What sets this new Community Grant Program apart in the ENRTF portfolio is its purpose: it was created specifically to expand the number and diversity of the organizations benefitting from ENRTF funding, especially communities adversely affected by pollution and environmental degradation.

The Community Grant Program has designed a more accessible granting process relative to, for example, the ENRTF’s Legislative Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources (LCCMR) granting process, which is complex, resource-intensive, and takes approximately 18 months to get from proposal to funding.

The diverse group of advocates who organized for this new grant program hope this new process will create more equitable opportunities for capacity-constrained and historically infrequent LCCMR grant recipients – such as Tribes, smaller nonprofits, and organizations led by Black, Indigenous, and people of color – to receive ENRTF funding. Learn more about the history of the effort to create the grant program on the Environmental Initiative website. 

The Community Grant Program will fund projects in five activity areas: 

• Projects that address environmental degradation and related health concerns in communities adversely affected by pollution or other environmental harm
• Projects that manage aquatic invasive species.
• Projects that preserve or enhance Minnesota's air, water, land, fish, wildlife or other natural resources.
• Projects that increase environmental and natural resource education and awareness.
• Projects that maintain or improve existing state, regional or local trails. New trails and new trail segments are not eligible under this activity area.

The activity areas are described in more detail on the Community Grant Program webpage. Projects can meet more than one activity type in a proposal.

The program will be administered in a two-stage granting process. In Stage 1, applicants will need to submit a brief ‘Concept Note,’ a short document that shares the main idea, objectives, and methods that will be used to accomplish the project. The DNR will review all Concept Notes and invite selected applicants to move on to Stage 2, when they will submit a full proposal. 

Both stages are competitive, and an invitation to Stage 2 does not guarantee funding.

The Community Grants Program was allocated $28 million for fiscal year 2026, which the DNR will administer to projects submitted through two separate upcoming requests for proposals (RFPs):

• The first RFP will be a smaller grant ($5,000 to $50,000) expected to open before the end of 2026. 
• The second RFP will be a larger grant pool with awards up to $750,000 for most project types (up to $2 million for trail maintenance projects). 

Please note that these figures are projected and will be confirmed once RFPs are released.

We encourage future applicants to begin the process of gathering ideas from your community about needs and opportunities related to environmental and natural resources in your area. To receive communications and notice when the RFPs are published, sign up for news and updates at the bottom of the DNR’s Community Grant Program webpage. 

Source: MN Department of Natural Resources

Since this is the first time many entities may be applying for state-level funding, the Minnesota Technical Assistance Collaborative (MN TA Collaborative), an initiative of CERTs, has developed several resources to help support and guide applicants through the state granting process, including:

• Stories about community projects

• Publicly available data and maps

• A directory of TA providers who can provide 1-1 support on your application

• And, a Minnesota Public Grants Toolkit, which includes step-by-step modules, guides, and templates to help applicants prepare, apply, and comply with public funding.

"The MN TA Collaborative is a statewide network of TA providers to help groups develop climate and clean energy project ideas, submit applications, and prepare to meet state grant requirements,” says Stacey Grant, Coordinator of the program. “We really hope people will reach out for support. In partnership with the Minnesota Environmental Partnership, we invite interested applicants to fill out a quick Project Interest Form to help us match you with a TA provider in your area."