Our goal is to address barriers Tribes and local partners have in acquiring funding, creating a more efficient and equitable system that increases funding for salmon and ecosystem recovery work.

Overview

Since September of 2020, the Leadership Council and Ecosystem Coordination Board have hosted local forums to provide Local Integrating Organizations (LIOs), Lead Entities (LEs), and other partners the opportunity to identify and help troubleshoot barriers that local partners are facing in implementing recovery plans and priorities. From 2022 to 2024, barriers related to grant funding have featured prominently in recent local forums with the Leadership Council and Ecosystem Coordination Board.

Please find a 12-minute video that summarizes this work below:

What is a funding barrier?

We define a funding barrier as a roadblock that prevents someone from accessing and acquiring funding needed to support projects and initiatives. These barriers can include things like complicated application processes or not enough capacity to look for available funds. This does not include a general lack of funds, which we consider funding needs or funding gaps and are being tackled separately by the Strategic Funding Team.

Methods and next steps

To identify and organize funding barriers faced by Tribes and local partners, the Strategic Funding Team conducted an analysis of over 400 documents, including those from the local forums, leading to the creation of a funding barriers framework. The framework is organized into four primary funding barriers and the conditions that not only contribute to each of these barriers but also occur because of them. Below is an image of how we understand these issues to be interacting with one another. This information will be summarized in our Funding Barriers Framework Document (expected for release Fall 2024).

Over the next few years, the Strategic Funding Team will begin addressing these barriers, starting at the enabling condition level.

After a selection process, the Strategic Funding Team will begin by addressing 1) match requirements and 2) multiple application demands. Our team is dedicated to leading the implementation of strategies to address these enabling conditions, which we hope will create a more efficient and equitable funding application process.

Partner engagement and Request for input

We invite partners to engage in this work and share experiences with various funding barriers, which is needed to tackle these huge issues together.

FOR TRIBES AND LOCAL PARTNERS

The Strategic Funding Team wants to continue to learn if you have experienced or are experiencing barriers to accessing, receiving, and implementing funding. Please let us know by filling out this quick formhere.

FOR INTERNAL PSP STAFF, FUNDERS, AND OTHER INTERESTED PARTIES

If you hear of funding barriers that our partners are facing, please let us know by filling out this quick formhere.

FOR FUNDERS

If you would like a summary of funding barriers identified through our previous work and encountered by partners as they specifically relate to your funding program, please submit a requesthere.

Last updated: 8/5/24