Funding Sources and Opportunities

Hiring an R3 Grant Manager

R3 can be expensive. Not every organization has the funds to market and implement the R3 efforts necessary to meet its goals. Luckily, funds are available from public and private sources to implement R3 efforts. An R3 grant writer can make it possible for even the smallest organization to fund large, successful R3 efforts.

Job Description: The R3 Grant Writer will be responsible for identifying funding opportunities and drafting compelling grant proposals to support recruitment, retention, and reactivation initiatives in hunting and shooting sports.

Key Responsibilities:

• Research potential grant opportunities from federal, state, private, and non-profit sources.
• Write and submit compelling grant proposals in line with R3 objectives.
• Collaborate with the R3 team to gather required information and data for proposals.
• Maintain a calendar of grant application deadlines and track submitted proposals.
• Manage post-award grant reporting and compliance.
• Build and maintain relationships with funders to understand their priorities and feedback.
• Assist in developing R3 project budgets and financial forecasts related to grant funding.

Sample Interview Questions: 

The following sample questions aim to provide insights into the candidate’s communication skills, social skills, personal attributes, and technical skills in relation to the specified competencies. It’s essential to note the content of their answers and how they communicate and reflect on their experiences. Use this material as a starting point and adjust it to fit your organization, objectives, and circumstances.

• Can you describe a successful grant proposal you’ve written in the past and the impact it had on the organization or project?
• What challenges have you encountered in grant writing, and how did you overcome them?
• Share an example of a project where you had to work collaboratively across multiple disciplines. How did you ensure smooth communication and integration of ideas?
• Tell me about a time when you took the initiative to learn a new skill or tool that wasn’t required but benefited your work.
• How do you motivate yourself when faced with a task that doesn’t particularly excite you?
• Describe a project you managed from inception to completion. How did you address all aspects, from the high-level objectives to the finer details?
• How do you keep track of and manage the varied needs and priorities of different stakeholders in a project?
• How do you handle risks or unforeseen challenges in a project? Can you provide a specific example?
• Tell me about a time when a project didn’t go as planned. How did you adjust, and what did you learn from that experience?

Federal Matching

Most federal grant programs require matching funds. State agencies often have difficulty allocating enough funds to take full advantage of the available grant money. Fortunately, federal guidelines allow many kinds of goods and services to be applied as in-kind match for these grants.

Matching volunteer hours

In many situations, volunteer hours can be used as in-kind match for federal grant funds. Sometimes these may be underutilized. Time spent driving, mentoring, teaching, hosting, or other volunteer activities often qualify but are not always used. In some cases, volunteer hours from non-government partner organizations can also be used by states for federal match.

Organizations sometimes have difficulty maintaining records of volunteer hours. Here are a few methods for recording volunteer hours.

• Organization formatted timecards established specifically for your use and records.
• Share workbooks online through spreadsheet vendors.
• 3rd party volunteer time management software.
• Clock-in/Clock-out systems used alongside state employee database.
• Integration with state Volunteer Management Systems.
• Other R3 community resources.

According to the Code of Federal Regulations, listed here as a resource, “Rates for third-party volunteer services must be consistent with those paid for similar work by the non-Federal entity. In those instances in which the required skills are not found in the non-Federal entity, rates must be consistent with those paid for similar work in the labor market in which the non-Federal entity competes for the kind of services involved.”¹ This means that a volunteer rate must match or be similar to the rate that a full-time employee would receive for the same task. In situations where the state does not have a similar position doing similar work that the volunteer is performing, the rate must be similar to the current labor market rate for that task. This highlights the importance of and opportunities for capitalizing on volunteer time matching.

Note that you can track more than just volunteer hours from R3 efforts. Any type of volunteer effort can be tracked and used as matching funds.

Matching partner donations

Some federal programs will allow third-party donations of equipment, staff time, or goods and services to be used as match. Your organization saves money with the donation and receives federal matching dollars as well. Requesting assistance is never a bad idea, especially when you have a special event, class, or course you would like to implement.

Shared Staffing With Partners

One method of maximizing funding is to utilize shared staffing opportunities with a partner organization. The nature of these relationships varies among organizations, but the core concept is that two organizations will pool resources to hire one full-time employee to share between them.

Your organization may partner with another to hire one person on both organizations’ payrolls. In this case, each organization pays half (or some other agreement) and develops a plan to share the employee’s time. In other cases, one organization pays the employee’s salary, and the other provides office space and/or other equipment. This can be very useful in cases where a state/tribal agency is not allowed to add staff (salary), but they have space and other resources to offer.

Following is an example position summary from the National Wild Turkey Federation and the State of Oklahoma (the complete listing exists in the Clearinghouse and can be found in the table of resources):

The National Wild Turkey Federation (NWTF) is seeking qualified candidates for a term limited (3-yr minimum), full-time position coordinating hunting recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) efforts in the state of Oklahoma. This position is a cooperative effort between the NWTF and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) and will be responsible for coordinating and collaborating with various partner organizations to assess gaps in current hunting R3 efforts. The position will be based out of the ODWC office in Jenks, OK office. The position will be responsible for implementing efforts to develop clear and measurable pathways for hunting R3 in Oklahoma.²

The exact format, agreements, organizations involved, and goals of these positions vary widely depending on many factors. Identifying your organization’s needs for staffing is the first step towards efficiently spending resources on shared staffing opportunities.

Other benefits of shared staffing positions include:

• Financial supplementation. NGOs can readily hire people for fixed periods, while states must follow full-time employee laws and regulations. The importance of the flexible “at will” hiring process available to NGOs cannot be overstated. That, along with being able to leverage federal money on a matching basis, is the most significant advantage for cost-shared positions.
• Presenting a unified front. State and NGO partnerships convey shared goals and values. They develop buy-in from multiple stakeholders.
• Grant funding. NGOs may be able to apply for and utilize grant funding for these partnerships, whereas a state may not.
• Expands potential pool of applicants for job positions.
• It broadens the scope of work because R3 efforts can often be more flexible outside of state/tribal agency.

While there are many benefits, you should also know the potential challenges that may come with shared staffing positions: 

• The position has many “bosses,” and workplace directives may become confusing.
• Agreeing on work direction between all partners can be challenging.
• Credit for the activities of shared staffers can be unclear, given the mix of branding and voice requirements among organizations.
• Standard operating procedures may be different between organizations and locations.
• How and when the role is funded can become a point of contention unless clear expectations are established.
• The positions often lack long-term benefits (retirement, health insurance, etc.).
• The positions aren’t as stable as governmental employment (subject to budget constraints, mission shifts, and opinion changes).

Remember that communication between organizations and the shared staffer is paramount to a successful relationship. Clear and thorough communication will ensure that your staff members benefit from the best all the partners have to offer.

Range Grants

Providing safe, accessible, and public shooting opportunities requires significant funding. The Office of Conservation Investment (CI) provides funding for shooting range activities through excise taxes collected from the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act. This act requires the firearms, archery, and ammunition industries to pay excise taxes on specific equipment. CI then disburses the funds through grants to state fish and wildlife agencies to restore, conserve, manage and enhance wild birds and mammals and their habitats. States and territories can also use these funds to support access for wildlife-related recreation, hunter education and development, and the construction and operations of target ranges. Recent amendments to the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act have made it easier to use these funds for range-related efforts. In particular, the non-federal match requirement for these funds was reduced to 10% (formerly 25%) for range construction and maintenance. In addition, the requirement that Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act funding, used for acquiring or constructing public target ranges, be obligated within two years was amended to five years. This extension allows individual projects to be funded over multiple budget cycles and significantly enhances the ability of state fish and wildlife agencies to acquire and build target shooting ranges.

Some states also have specific grant programs for shooting range development. Iowa’s Shooting Sports Program Grants is one example listed in the Table of Resources below.