Five for Friday: July 25, 2025

Five for Friday: Grant Opportunities and More!

Curated by: The Western Nevada Development District
This edition of Five for Friday features resources to strengthen rural communities, boost nonprofit sustainability, and enhance local infrastructure. Highlights include WNDD Office Hours, USDA’s Rural Community Development Initiative, habitat restoration funding through the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, energy-efficiency grants for Nevada nonprofits from NV Energy, and a USDA webinar focused on rural infrastructure planning support.
Grant Opportunities & More

Office Hours

WNDD Office Hours are on July 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.. Stop by at 111 W Telegraph St, Suite 204, Carson City, NV, email or Zoom to receive expert guidance and practical solutions you can apply directly to your community or organization. Take advantage of free strategic planning, technical assistance, get the inside track to competitive grant success, and learn how to gain community and Congressional support for your projects. Open to all WNDD members, schedule below!

We offer insights on:

  • Get the inside track to competitive grant success
  • Access to free strategic planning and technical assistance
  • Learn how to gain community and Congressional support for your projects

Schedule with the link below a time to stop by or set up a virtual meeting, ask questions, and get the support you need to move your projects forward.

Schedule Your Time

Building Stronger Rural Communities   

USDA Rural Development invites applications for grants to provide strong rural communities the leadership and technical know-how to keep growing.

This funding is being made available through the Rural Community Development Initiative RCDI program for fiscal year (FY) 2025. This program awards grants to qualified intermediary organizations to deliver financial and technical assistance that helps recipients build capacity to carry out projects related to housing, community facilities, and community and economic development.

Eligible entities include:

  • Public bodies
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Qualified Private (for-profit) Organizations
  • Federally recognized Tribes

Examples of grant uses include:

  • Training sub-grantees to conduct homeownership or business entrepreneur education
  • Providing technical assistance to sub-grantees on things such as: Strategic plan development and Finding alternative funding sources
  • Board training: Creating training tools (videos, workbooks, reference guides)

The minimum grant award is $50,000, and the maximum award is $500,000. Awards require a 1:1 match.

The deadline to submit electronic applications via Grants.gov is no later than 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on August 7, 2025.

Paper applications must be received by 4:00 p.m. local time on August 12, 2025.

Application Information

Partners for Fish and Wildlife FY25 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provides free technical and financial assistance to landowners, managers, tribes, corporations, schools and nonprofits interested in improving wildlife habitat on their land. Project work may include restoring forests, prairies, wetlands and stream habitats for wildlife.

Staff provide free technical and financial assistance to plan, design, supervise and monitor customized habitat restoration projects. These projects range in size from a wetland of a few acres to a grassland restoration covering several hundred thousand acres.

Application deadline: 9/30/2025 subject to fund availability. Awards are up to $750,000. 

More Information
NOFO

NV Energy: Nonprofit Agency Grants 

Nevada’s nonprofit organizations can employ energy-efficient technology to improve their facilities and reduce energy costs.

Qualifying equipment includes lighting retrofits and installation of lighting controls or other measures that reduce energy consumption. Light-emitting diode (LED) bulbs have been the most popular measure thanks to their significant energy-saving capability.

Individual projects up to $5,000 may be eligible for 100% funding. Project costs ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 may be funded at 50% with a potential maximum grant of $7,500 for the nonprofit organization. NV Energy evaluates all applications and award grants based on individual project electric energy savings and cost effectiveness.

More Information

Webinar: Rural Community Infrastructure Planning 

Wednesday, August 13, 2025 | 10am-11am PST 

USDA Rural Development offers the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH) Grant and Predevelopment Planning Grants (PPG) programs to provide financial assistance to very small eligible communities to pay for feasibility studies, design assistance and technical assistance planning for drinking water systems, wastewater systems, storm water systems, and solid waste systems. This webinar will go over the programs, eligibility, and answer basic questions.

Most state and local governmental entities, nonprofits, and federally recognized tribes may apply for this program. If you represent organizations such as these in Nevada or support a Nevada community that has fewer than 10,000 people and meets area and median household income eligibility,

Register Here