2023-2024 Grant Proposals

About the Neighborhood Enhancement Program

The Neighborhood Enhancement Program (NEP) supports neighborhoods by providing grants for projects or programs that provide a community benefit.

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Grant Criteria (subject to change)

1. Provide a public benefit to the Lake Oswego community. Projects providing neighborhood benefit and applied for by City-recognized neighborhood associations will receive funding priority over homeowner associations and other groups.

2. Have neighborhood/community support. This support must be documented in your application submittal through a letter of support from the neighborhood association where the project is located.

3. Identify and provide detail on who will be responsible for completing the work. This must include the project coordinator(s) and the role of any consultants or vendors, for each element of the proposal.

4. For physical improvements, be located on public land within the boundaries of a City-recognized Neighborhood Association. Physical improvements located on private land in a publicly-prominent location may be eligible on a case-by-case basis. 

5. Be designed for either no maintenance or low maintenance if maintained by volunteers. Projects that require ongoing maintenance are generally not eligible for NEP grant funding.

6. Not fund ongoing or annual expenses of the organization. Grant funds may be used to initiate an ongoing program or fill a temporary funding gap, but should not be used to support ongoing or annual expenses.

7. Demonstrate coordination with City staff. All NEP grant applicants must include email correspondence in their application materials to confirm that they have reviewed their project with the NEP grant program coordinator. Applicants must also include email correspondence to confirm that they have coordinated with other relevant contacts based on project type, as identified in the "Potential Projects" section of the Grant Guide.

8. For neighborhood parties, picnics and other social events, funding is generally limited to $500. This funding is intended to cover refreshments and other expenses for community-building events. Though invasive species removal projects are generally not eligible for NEP grant funding, applicants are encouraged to apply for funding to support neighborhood cleanups, ivy pulls, or similar volunteer events to remove invasive species.

9. Be completed and expenses incurred through June 30, 2024, the end of the grant cycle. Submit all requests for reimbursement (with itemized legible receipts) to the City no later than July 5, 2024. Provide the City with a project report, due by August 23, 2024. Include pictures if applicable. We like to brag about our neighborhoods!

Qualifying projects in neighborhoods that have not previously received a grant may receive priority over neighborhoods that have received past NEP awards. Projects that leverage matching funds or in-kind contributions may also be prioritized.

Be aware that, in order to ensure accountability for public funds granted through the NEP process, grantees are expected to have the organizational capacity (capital or credit) to make their own purchases, follow the grant requirements, and request reimbursement from the City.

Application Timeline

Budget

The City’s proposed funding for the Neighborhood Enhancement Program is projected at $60,000 for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.  Eligible grant recipients are City-recognized neighborhood associations, homeowner associations and Lake Oswego-based community groups with neighborhood association sponsorship.  Grant awards will generally be limited to $10,000 per neighborhood, however, larger project amounts will be considered.

Potential Projects

Applicants must demonstrate that their project meets the grant criteria outlined on page one, with the goal of providing a benefit to the community. Within these parameters, the City welcomes creative project ideas that will implement neighborhood and community goals, build community pride, leverage volunteer efforts, and create partnerships. Groups that are interested in applying for a grant are required to review their project with the grant program coordinator prior to application submittal, and are strongly encouraged to contact the coordinator early in the process to discuss initial ideas.

Groups that are interested in applying for a grant are required to review their project with the grant program coordinator prior to application submittal, and are strongly encouraged to contact the coordinator early in the process to discuss initial ideas. The grant program coordinator will serve as the primary staff point of contact for applicants, and other important staff contacts are identified in the NEP Program Grant Guide based on project type.

Following is a partial list of project ideas that have been implemented in past years and/or support the community benefit criteria. Applicants are not limited to these projects, but are encouraged to review the list for inspiration.   Please refer to the NEP Program Grant Guide for additional information on project ideas and criteria.

• Small Capital Projects, such as playground improvements, park kiosks, outdoor benches, and similar projects that are not part of the City’s Capital Improvement Plan.
• Public Art, such as purchase/installation of an existing sculpture (not commissioning new works) for a prominent location in a neighborhood, as part of the City’s permanent art collection.
• Neighborhood Signs, up to two per neighborhood, to strengthen neighborhood identity.
• Emergency Preparedness, such as creating a neighborhood directory, or training neighborhood block representatives in emergency response. Emergency preparedness projects should generally be designed for neighborhood or community-wide benefit, and applicants must develop a plan for sharing the information needed for residents to access the supplies purchased with grant funding.  If a permanent storage location for any materials requested through the grant cannot be secured prior to submitting an application, a temporary storage location must be identified.  Some individual items may be considered if paired with training or as an event tie-in.
• Neighborhood Communication, such as creating a website for your neighborhood association.
• Neighborhood Sustainability, projects such as holding a recycling event for electronics, furniture, appliances, oversized plastic, etc.; or creating a ”library of things” (for example, a tool library).
• Community Building, projects such as events to build relationships, get more people involved in the neighborhood, help build partnerships between neighborhood organizations, or help underserved populations.

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The application and other documents for the current grant cycle as well as awards and proposals from previous years, are available in the Public Records Folder.