SARASOTA EARNS $150,000 NATIONAL GRANT FOR INNOVATIVE SUSTAINABILITY PROJECT

The county and city of Sarasota, along with funding partners Gulf Coast Community Foundation and Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, have secured a $150,000 national matching grant for a project to create financial savings for area nonprofits through energy improvements at their facilities.

The innovative program aims to provide 15 nonprofits with “energy roadmaps” that outline cost-saving opportunities through investment in efficiency and renewable energy upgrades and assist 10 of them with implementing priority projects at their facilities.

“Given the high up-front cost of many efficiency improvements and the inability of nonprofits in Florida to benefit from the federal solar tax credit, local nonprofits are unlikely to prioritize energy improvements despite the clear financial return,” said Lee-Hayes Byron, Director of Sarasota County UF/IFAS Extension and Sustainability. “By targeting operational savings through energy, water, and solar improvements, our community’s human services and environmental organizations will achieve long-term financial and programmatic benefits.”

The grant was awarded by Partners for Places, a project of the Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities. The matching grant program pairs local government sustainability offices with philanthropy to support projects that promote a healthy environment, strong economy, and well-being for residents. The Sarasota grant was one of just six awarded nationally by Partners for Places in its latest round of grants, and one of the two largest awards.

More for the mission

The $150,000 grant is being matched by $75,000 each from Gulf Coast and the Barancik Foundation. Additional contributions required of participating nonprofits will raise the total investment in the project to as much as $375,000 over the two-year grant period, though the effort is designed to remain sustainable itself and assist more nonprofits beyond that.

“The collaboration of our two governments and two foundation partners recognized an opportunity to help service providers dedicate more of their limited resources to advance their core missions,” said Stevie Freeman-Montes, Sustainability Manager for the City of Sarasota, who is coordinating the program with Byron. “At the same time, this project will advance sustainability goals identified in both the city’s and the county’s long-term planning.”

The partners will use the following strategies in implementing the program:

►  Conduct energy, water, and solar audits of prioritized environmental and human-service nonprofit facilities to identify cost-saving sustainability strategies and provide agencies with “energy roadmaps” for future investments toward net-zero-energy facilities.

► Implement pilot improvement projects at three nonprofits and track cost reductions and programmatic impacts from savings.

► Establish a fund to which other nonprofits could apply for matching funds to implement improvements recommended in their audits.

► Assist nonprofits in educating their clients and visitors about energy-efficiency improvements and how they can achieve comparable results in their own homes or businesses.

Scaling for impact

“This is a coordinated approach to bringing nonprofit energy upgrades to scale,” said Teri A Hansen, President/CEO of the Barancik Foundation. “The operational savings will benefit vital mission-driven organizations in our community, increasing their ability to benefit more of our residents.” Participating nonprofits will be required to commit their savings to specific community programs with equity and environmental benefits.

Selection of nonprofits to receive energy audits and solar assessments through the program will begin early next year. Three pilot nonprofits—Children First, Harvest House, and Historic Spanish Point—will begin their improvement projects in the second half of the year. A matching fund and application process will be developed to bring the concept to scale.

Other expected benefits of the project include the use of local energy-service businesses to perform work at facilities and ongoing education of nonprofits to understand how they can reduce costs through energy upgrades. “It is time to begin a new era of energy efficiency and using alternative energy sources,” said Mark S. Pritchett, President/CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation. “We will learn a great deal from this joint venture with the nonprofits and government.”