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Watershed Funding Workshop Notes
August 23, 2007
I. Welcome and Introduction
lII. Introduction to Plan2Fund Objective Prioritization Tool
III. Using Objective Prioritization Tool in a Meeting
IV. Plan2Fund Objective Prioritization Tool Lab Session
V. Introduction to the Watershed Plan Builder Tool
VI. Creating a Fundraising Plan: Watershed Academy Module
VII. Creating a Fundraising Plan: OWOW Funding Website
I. Welcome and Introduction (Suzanne Schwartz, Deputy Director, EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans, and Watersheds)
- Watershed groups play a critical role in protecting and restoring ecosystems around the country. EPA’s Office of Wetlands, Oceans and Watersheds is sponsoring this event to share finance and planning tools that can strengthen watershed organizations.
- The need to develop sustainable funding sources has never been greater. Watershed needs are enormous and government actions, although necessary, are generally not sufficient alone. We need to work together to get the biggest “bang for the buck.”
- The tools presented at the workshop are designed to help your group think strategically so that you may increase your impact. These tools will help your group develop clear priorities and build your capacity to continue to do the good work you do for many years to come.
- think creatively and strategically today about mechanisms and approaches you may not have previously considered
- use these tools in developing innovative funding strategies
- work with local communities and partners in your watersheds
- develop funding mechanisms that are realistic and can be applied in the near term
- adapt these funding mechanisms as more is learned about watershed challenges and opportunities.
- Please give us your input and feedback regarding what EPA is doing right and where we could improve by doing something different or better.
II. Introduction to Plan2Fund OPT (Bill Jarocki, Director, Director of the Environmental Finance Center at Boise State University, EPA Region 10)
Plan2Fund Objective Prioritization Tool 
- During the planning process, a watershed organization will break down their mission into goals, goals into objectives, and objectives into tasks. Once the tasks have been enumerated, the transition to implementation can be very difficult due to the sheer number of competing objectives most groups face. All objectives cannot be implemented simultaneously. What are the highest priority objectives?
- Implementation finance (resource allocation) should focus on the highest ranked priorities, but how do you rank priorities?
- The traditional method groups have dealt with these competing objectives is the “red dot method” where stakeholders members assign importance -- usually round red stickers -- to objectives -- listed on flip chart pages -- they individually think are most important. This process doesn’t always allow for the sharing of information about the importance of competing priorities, but becomes a more subjective popularity contest.
- The Plan2Fund Objective Prioritization Tool (OPT) allows for a more transparent, collaborative process, that encourages group consensus. Plan2Fund OPT is designed to help stakeholder groups save time and energy when moving toward implementation of their strategic plans. It is a web-based decision model that helps you build consensus on the rules you will use in evaluating competing objectives.
- Once a group comes to agreement on the decision rules they will use in evaluating their strategic objectives, they can determine the scoring system that will be used to rank the objectives against their rules.
- The Plan2Fund OPT consensus process is as follows:
1) Identify and enter strategic plan objectives.
2) Identify and gain consensus on decision rules.
3) Achieve consensus on how decision rules will be scored.
4) By consensus, assign weighting to decision rules.
5) Compare results.
6) Share information.
- The output of this model (printable sheets of your ranked objectives) can be shared with your stakeholders or board of directors. The process of creating the rankings also allows for a transparent process that can be easily adjusted and revisited year after year.
*Contact Bill Jarocki for more information (208) 426-1567.
III. Using OPT in a Meeting (Bill Jarocki)
- Bill walked the group through building a model on Plan2Fund OPT, detailing how to create and edit objectives and decision rules, and also how to rank the objectives based on your decision rules. He used the Chehalis Watershed Partnership (who had developed a similar ranking) as an example.
*For full instructions on the use of the model, please visit http://efc.boisestate.edu/opt. To access the materials for the Chehalis Watershed Partnership example, please contact Bill Jarocki (208-426-1567)
(After a break for lunch, the workshop participants split into two groups. Each group spent 45 minutes in an interactive lab session with Bill Jarocki and 45 minutes watching a demonstration of the Watershed Plan Builder Tool with Stuart Lehman)
IV. Plan2Fund OPT Lab Session (Bill Jarocki)
- This session took place in a computer lab. Each of the participants was given the opportunity to register on the Boise State Environmental Finance Center website and log onto Plan2Fund OPT to create their own prioritization model. Participants had been asked to bring a list of sample objectives to the workshop. Some tested the model using objectives for their watershed groups, while others used personal workplans. There were also examples available so that participants could see sample objectives and rules.
- Bill pointed out some of the features of the tool and its various uses, as well as demonstrated ways in which the output could be used.
*For full instructions on the use of the model, please visit http://efc.boisestate.edu/opt or contact Bill Jarocki (208-426-1567)
V. Introduction to the Watershed Plan Builder Tool (Stuart Lehman, team leader of the EPA Watershed Planning Team)
*link to the Watershed Plan Builder Tool
- Funding is an integral part of your watershed plan. By having a strong watershed plan, you will be able to most effectively target funding sources or create funding mechanisms to ensure the goals of your organization are met.
- The Watershed Plan Builder Tool provides a customized outline for a watershed plan from user input. A user can save or download the outline and begin preparing a watershed plan.
- The Tool provides links to local, state, and federal water quality management agencies and information, including interactive maps with potential pollution sources.
- There are funding resources, program descriptions, and other information related to the watershed management process built into the web page for Plan Builder that we think will help groups create more comprehensive and effective plans.
- The Plan Builder website provides chapter- by-chapter links to EPA's Handbook for Developing Watershed Plans to Restore and Protect Our Waters and example pages from actual watershed plans to serve as guides for users.
- Stuart demonstrated the tool and the outline output to participants.
*Contact Stuart Lehman for more information at (202) 566-1205.
VI. Creating a Fundraising Plan: Watershed Academy Module entitled “Developing a Sustainable Finance Plan (Rakhi Kasat, ORISE fellow for the OWOW finance team)
*This module is under the final stages of production, but will eventually reside in the Watershed Academy.
- The Watershed Academy is a set of self-paced training modules that represents a basic but broad introduction to watershed management. It provides useful information to local and state/tribal efforts aimed at improving the health of our Nation's waters by protecting and managing their watersheds. The advantages of the academy are that it is free, available anywhere, self-paced, and flexible. Also, you can get a certificate if you complete a core set of modules.
- The finance module was developed because we saw a need for a basic introduction to creating a funding plan for watershed organizations. We hoped to cover a broad range of common funding mechanisms and provide real case studies of groups that have used these mechanisms on the ground. These funding mechanisms can be used to build the capacity of the watershed organization and ensure that it is sustained for many years to come.
- The module was developed through collaboration with watershed organizations such as River Network groups to get on-the-ground case studies, check the accuracy of the information provided, and ensure the accessibility of the module.
- The module can be used to:
1) Gain new funding strategies for your group
2) Learn lessons from the case studies,
3) Train new staff and board members
4) Use the exercises in planning meetings
5) Point partner organizations to useful resources (there is an extensive “References and Resources” page)
- The six major steps to creating a funding plan are:
Step 1. Establish your organization's priority activities
Step 2. Assess fundraising capacity
Step 3. Set realistic fundraising goal
Step 4. Identify and evaluate funding options
Step 5. Choose a funding track
Step 6. Write and implement your sustainable fundraising plan
- Rakhi walked through the module on-line, pointing out features in each steps and materials you are able to download
* Contact Rakhi Kasat for more information at (202) 566-1644
VII. Creating a Fundraising Plan: OWOW Funding Website (Tim Jones, team leader of OWOW finance team)
OWOW Funding Website
- The OWOW funding website is a central portal to a variety of watershed finance tools, websites, databases, and funding opportunities. It is a free resource intended for all public and private watershed organizations and their funders.
- Tim demonstrated the components and features of the website.
* For more information, Please contact Tim Jones at (202) 566-1245.
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