How to submit an Initiative Proposal to the Siuslaw Vision
Thank you for your interest in partnering with Siuslaw Vision! The Vision is a grassroots, community-led effort to enhance opportunities in the Siuslaw region. We collaborate with Siuslaw residents and groups to help them achieve their dreams. The Vision includes a broad list of interests: jobs and economic development, health and human services, education, infrastructure and public services, arts and culture, and recreation and the environment. We look forward to learning more about your community building idea! Please read through the following information and then download the IPA Form (PDF).
The Siuslaw Vision has six different areas for our community visioning work that emerged from a community survey, forums and focus groups beginning in 2014. For more information on each area, click on Projects at the top of the website. If you want to partner with the Vision, but aren’t working on a specific initiative or project, visit our Partnership page.
A volunteer Vision Team keeps this community-led effort moving forward. They are supported by two part-time staff coordinators. Our primary role is to increase communication throughout the region, and to connect people and groups with each other and with the information, skills, and resources they need to reach their goals. We prioritize capacity building support to empower Siuslaw residents to develop their own abilities, and to develop independent, sustainable organizations. (By capacity building, we generally mean increasing knowledge, skills, and resources.) We offer help on a sliding scale of actual costs for services, with consideration for our partner’s resources. We ask that our partners contribute to the work of Siuslaw Vision, either financially, or through in-kind donations of materials, services, or volunteer time. Siuslaw Vision is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; your donation may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.
We can offer support* in areas such as:
- Connections
- building community connections
- developing community engagement
- referrals to existing resources
- marketing and publicity
- meeting facilitation
- Catalyst funding for momentum or pilot projects (very limited)
- Capacity Building Training, Help, or Referral
- Diversity/equity/inclusion
- Evaluation & data collection
- Assistance in securing a fiscal sponsor (to accept grants for your project)
- Grant writing
- Strategic planning
- Volunteer coordination
*Please note that we rely on shared energy and resources to continue this important community building work. As partners in this effort, both parties contribute to achieve success. We may request in-kind support, partnership trades, or a fee for some services. We will discuss this with you during the IPA process.
A few tips for a successful IPA
First, be sure your proposal fits under one of the six focus areas, listed above.
Identify a project champion who is willing to take the lead on this effort and enter into an agreement with Siuslaw Vision. Even better? At least two champions or support from an organization or business.
Siuslaw Vision was developed by the community and remains community led. As we review your proposal we’ll be looking to see what community support you have for your idea. We can help with community engagement as a first step if you need assistance.
Submit your form
Next, email your completed form to the Vision Coordinator or mail it to PO Box 694, Florence, OR 97439. The coordinator will confirm its receipt and a likely next step is that we will contact you to learn more about your project. From there, the Vision Team will review your proposal to see if we can provide the connections and resources you are requesting. If so, we’ll assign you a Vision Team liaison who will work with you to develop an Initiative Partnership Agreement.
The agreement will include:
- start and end date for the support (usually an initial 90-day period, with a renewal option)
- resources requested
- responsibilities and contributions of the Vision
- responsibilities and contributions of the project partners
- estimated value of each partner’s contributions