SEEDS Service-Learning Funding Program

Funding and Eligibility

Funding

The District anticipates providing approximately $1.5 million to $2.5 million in service-learning funding over four years. Funding may support annual work planning and project scoping, event planning and administration, participant leadership and supervision, environmental education, partner-provided biological monitoring, participant recruitment and administration when applicable, and other eligible costs of approved programming. 

The District expects to award funding to one or more qualified organizations. Organizations may focus on selected projects or geographic areas and are not expected to support every available project. 

Eligibility

This Call for Partners is open to private nonprofit organizations and public agencies that can receive District funding under Public Resources Code section 5546 and carry out the service-learning activities described in this document. 

Participants may be unpaid volunteers or may receive wages, stipends, educational awards, internship compensation, or other financial support from an organization or service program. Paid interns, conservation corps members, and participants in paid service-learning programs may qualify when their primary role is hands-on stewardship and associated learning. 

How to Apply

The District will use a two-step process to qualify partners and award grants through the SEEDS Funding Program. 

Step 1. Call for Partners

The District will review qualification submissions to determine whether eligible organizations have the experience, service-learning approach, staffing, and capacity to participate in the program. Organizations that meet all minimum qualifications and achieve the required evaluation score will be added to the pool of qualified partners and invited to participate in Step 2.

Step 2. Funding Application

The District will invite qualified partners to apply for funding supporting specific programing. The District will identify the available four-year funding amount for each opportunity. Organizations may apply for one or more project sites and propose the programming they can provide within the available funding. 

Applications must address: 

• Projects or geographic areas the organization proposes to support. 
• Proposed service-learning activities and educational content. 
• A four-year budget and annual funding allocations. 
• Anticipated number of events, participant numbers and groups, and participant service hours. 
• Expected resource management accomplishments. 
• Approach to annual work planning and project scoping. 
• Staffing and biological monitoring. 
• Participant recruitment and administration, as applicable. 
• Overall contribution and value to the District.

Where to Submit

Questions

Submit questions about this Call for Partners by email to the contact below by October 23, 2026: 

Sherilyn Reinhart 
sreinhart@openspace.org 

Para obtener ayuda con el RFP puede contactarnos en Español a: sreinhart@openspace.org o por teléfono: (650) 772-3648. The District will distribute answers to substantive questions to interested organizations. 

Qualification Submission

Submit qualification materials electronically to sreinhart@openspace.org by November 20, 2026. No hard copies are required.