About
HRCP Energy Efficiency is presenting its sixth annual $ave Green Be Green Conference. The conference aims to give attendees insights and resources on saving money and smarter facility management.
The Pitch Competition’s purposes are to motivate participants to attend, to provide real world examples of nonprofit energy efficiency projects and to fund a small number of nonprofits’ energy efficiency projects.
How It Works
- Nonprofits start by reading through the requirements.
- After reviewing the requirements, if organizations have questions, they can email their questions to the HRCP Team. Answers to these questions will be posted to the website.
- To ensure that projects are in the appropriate range of scope and allotted funds, participants are be given a list of example upgrades below. For example, with the $2,500 prize, depending on the facility, small projects like lighting, weather-stripping, or a water heater replacement could be done. A portion of space in the building could also be upgraded.
- If nonprofits are interested in participating, they should complete the application.
Eligible Organizations
This competition is aimed at nonprofits and faith-based organizations that own or manage the facilities they operate out of. Furthermore, your organization must:
- Be in Good Standing with the Colorado Secretary of State
- You must be a registered 501(c)3 organization with the Internal Revenue Service or have a legal fiscal agent
- Your organization must be Denver-based and/or serving Denver residents
- The majority of clients served must be Denver-based (60% or more)
*Note: Organizations currently receiving NEEP funding will not be eligible as they have or are in the process of receiving upgrades through funding.
Eligible Proposals
- A completed application must be submitted.
- Proposals that address the following will be considered eligible:
- Energy efficiency upgrades
- Descriptions of how the upgrades will help their organization
- Examples of proposal activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Lighting (switching all light bulbs in facility)
- Weatherization
- New boilers
- HVAC systems
- Demonstrates and explains how funding for energy efficiency upgrades will help save money that can be re-allocated to other organizational needs. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following:
- By saving money on utility bills, we will be able to…
- Have after-school programming in our meeting rooms because we can afford to keep lighting on and building operations going later in the evening. This after school programming could include…
- Have more congregational gatherings such as monthly bible study meetings and quarterly potlucks. These social events are crucial to our church’s success because…
- Use those saved dollars for marketing so our church/organization can improve its fundraising amounts. Fundraising has been a struggle for us in the past and by directing more dollars into marketing we can….
Grants Awards
There will be four grants awarded in total.
- First Place: $10,000
- Second Place: $5,000
- Third Place: $2,500
- Fan Favorite: $1,500
Award Selection Process
All proposals will be reviewed by a five-person panel consisting of government personnel and energy experts.
This panel will review proposals and will decide on four proposals to advance to the proposal presentation phase at the conference. Notice of advancement will be sent to finalists. Organizations must confirm their participation before the conference.
At the conference, the proposals that advanced will be presented to the panel during lunch. Each proposal presentation will be 10 minutes and the panel will have five minutes to ask questions, totaling 15 minutes per proposal.
The panel will convene after all presentations have been given to determine the final award amounts. The winners for each amount will be announced at the conference’s Networking Reception.
Award Selection Criteria
All applications should address the following:
- Project Proposal
- Strong explanation of what they intend to use the funds for (project proposals)
- Strong budget table and narrative
- Organization
- Thoughtful and clear explanation of how the proposed energy upgrades will help their organization
- Community Impact
- How these funds will ultimately help the communities they serve
Preference will be given to those organizations that best demonstrate how their building upgrades will further energy equity in the City and County of Denver, specifically for the communities they work with.
Submittal Process
In order to submit an application, proposers must answer all of the questions. To be considered to present at the conference, HRCP needs to receive the budget and budget narrative via email as well.