Grant Opportunities

The Woolman-Groet-Miller Endowment Fund

The South Bend-Elkhart Bird Alliance has a grant available for eligible participants. The following are frequently-asked questions regarding the fund.

What is the Woolman-Groet-Miller (WGM) Endowment Fund?

In 1979, the then South Bend Audubon Society established an endowment fund for the purpose of supporting and promoting environmental education and conservation projects. The fund was built with gifts and bequests from John and Myrtle Groet, John and Nell Woolman and Marguerite and Harold Miller, all long-standing members of South Bend Audubon who believed in the goals of the Society and wanted to see them fulfilled and extended. In the years since the fund’s establishment, the South Bend-Elkhart Bird Alliance has disbursed $300,000 in support of a wide variety of projects. In accord with the environmental dictum “Think globally, act locally,” most of the funds were distributed in our membership area.

Who is eligible for a WGM Grant?

The projects to be supported by the WGM fund are chosen from among possibilities suggested by our membership or externally submitted proposals. The Society is interested in learning of worthwhile environmental and conservation programs and invites proposals from the community. Listed below are some guidelines you can use during the process of submitting a grant proposal.

  1. All proposals must be submitted in writing to the WGM Committee. There is no specific format for a proposal, but it should indicate who the beneficiaries will be and how the project will further environmental or conservation goals.

  2. Proposals must be for specific projects or expenditures, explicitly described. Requests for support of an organization’s operating ex-penses or endowment will not be considered.

  3. Organizations eligible to receive grants from the WGM Fund include schools, government agencies such as state and county parks, and 501(c)3 (not-for-profit) organizations whose missions are environment-, education- or conservation-oriented. Disbursements will not be made to individuals or to for-profit businesses.

  4. The South Bend–Elkhart Bird Alliance serves St. Joseph and Elkhart Counties, and proposals for projects in these areas are particularly welcome, but proposals from further afield will also be considered.


What are some projects that have been recently supported by a WGM grant in the past and for what did they use the funds?

Schools

  • St. Monica’s School, Mishawaka

    • support for wildlife plantings area

  • Model Elementary School, Goshen

    • materials for development of outdoor environmental education areas

  • Bittersweet Elementary School, Mishawaka

    • materials for development of outdoor environmental education areas

  • North Liberty Elementary School, North Liberty

    • materials for development of outdoor environmental education areas

  • Indiana University South Bend

    • wildlife books and ornithology journals provided to Library

  • Indiana University Bloomington

    • support for research project on reproductive success of forest-nesting migrant birds


Government Agencies

  • City of South Bend

    • reforestation program

  • Elkhart County Soil and Water Conservation District

    • grants to provide environmental education to teachers

  • St. Joseph County Parks Foundation

    • wildlife viewing platform for Chamberlain Lake Park

  • St. Joseph County Parks Department

    • support for summer intern

    • Big Trees program

    • Nature Bound program

    • other programs

  • St. Joseph County Soil and Water Conservation District

    • sending teachers to conservation camps

  • Potato Creek State Park

    • prairie seeder

    • geographical information system software

    • books and materials for Nature Center

  • Woodlawn Nature Center, Elkhart

    • support for wildlife viewing station for Nature Center building

  • Rum Village Nature Center, South Bend

    • materials for education program for Nature Center building


Conservation Organizations

  • The Nature Conservancy, Indiana Chapter

    • funds for purchase of endangered habitat properties

  • Elkhart Environmental Center, Elkhart

    • support for recycling project

  • National Audubon Society

    • support for Great Lakes Water Quality Initiative

    • Indiana Healthy Habitats Campaign

    • other conservation programs

  • Friends of Hunt Hill, Sarona, WI

    • support for Audubon ecology camp

If you would like to apply for a WGM Grant, please fill out our online application.

Alternatively, if you prefer to print a copy of the application, you may mail it to:

South Bend Elkhart Bird Alliance
P.O. Box 581
Mishawaka, IN
46546