Sanctuary Community Fund
The second round of Sanctuary Community Fund grantees were announced on April 2!
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation created the Sanctuary Community Fund to increase public support, long-term stewardship, and sustainable use of national marine sanctuaries. This fund invests directly in community partner engagement so that the heart of sanctuaries – the peoples, places, customs, and cultures – can help advance science and ways of knowing, stewardship, and outreach within the sanctuary community and beyond. The first two rounds of applications were limited to recently designated sites, Chumash Heritage NMS, Lake Ontario NMS, and Papahānaumokuākea NMS.
Through the Sanctuary Community Fund, the Foundation will support the discovery, testing, piloting, nurturing, capacity, and spread of the best ideas to protect our ocean and Great Lakes. Our national marine sanctuaries are ideal places to focus attention and efforts to advance the health and prosperity of communities connected to the ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes and for the whole country. As our Nation’s network of 18 unique marine environments centered in community-based, comprehensive ecosystem management, these are key opportunities to increase engagement with national marine sanctuary communities.
The Foundation aims to leverage this funding to seek complementary private investment in the Sanctuary Community Fund, to create a collaborative impact model that utilizes the power of public-private partnership to solve the biggest challenges facing our National Marine Sanctuary System and its watersheds.
Communities are the heart and soul of our national marine sanctuaries.
The objective of the Sanctuary Community Fund is to support communities in the stewardship of national marine sanctuaries and to strengthen the National Marine Sanctuary System. The Sanctuary Community Fund was established to achieve these specific outcomes:
Sanctuary Community Fund Second Round Grantees
Chumash Heritage NMS
California Habitat for Indigenous Arts
Project Name: Chumash Marine Stewardship & Science Leadership Program
The California Habitat for Indigenous Arts (CHIA) is leading a Chumash-led marine science and stewardship program in partnership with Stanford University’s Palumbi Lab and the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary. The project provides culturally grounded coastal education through eDNA kayak water sampling, field-based training, and laboratory instruction. By integrating traditional ecological knowledge with contemporary marine science, the program builds Tribal capacity, expands community access, and supports long-term Indigenous stewardship of California’s coastal and marine environments.
Creek Lands Conservation
Project Name: From Data to Stories: LiMPETS Community Science for the Chumash Heritage NMS
This project employs community science, place-based education, and storytelling to deepen student, teacher, and community connections to the CHNMS. By establishing LiMPETS intertidal and sandy beach monitoring sites, building a long-term network of regional LiMPETS teachers and community partners, developing sanctuary-specific curriculum, and leading student field trips, this project creates a scalable pathway for youth to partake in meaningful data collection and transform it into shareable stories and projects about CHNMS intertidal ecosystems.
Momoy Arts & Education Circle
Project Name: Tomol Culture Ambassadors
This project will train a Chumash and Indigenous crew to safely and skillfully navigate a traditional tomol and prepare them to serve as Tomol Culture Ambassadors. Crew members will share Chumash maritime heritage and promote ocean stewardship within the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary coastal community. At‑sea training will be paired with on‑shore instruction in marine science, climate resilience, and the vital role healthy ocean ecosystems play in sustaining community and culture.
Lake Ontario NMS
H. Lee White Maritime Museum
Project Name: Depth & Discovery: Access, Awareness, and Collaboration in the LONMS
The Depth & Discovery: Access, Awareness, and Collaboration initiative seeks to give voice to the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary through targeted initiatives that will provide greater access and increased awareness of the Sanctuary through collaborative public-facing efforts. Through new exhibits, engaging programs, and partnerships across science, history, and education, the project invites visitors to explore the Sanctuary’s shipwrecks, stories, and communities – both above and below the water’s surface.
Oswego City School District (OHS Outdoor Adventure Club)
Project Name: OAC: Aquatic Expeditions
OAC: Aquatic Expedition will establish a permanent, community asset of kayaks, paddles, lifejackets, and a trailer to foster free and direct access to the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary (NMS), and thus promote future stewardship. The OAC will lead free guided expeditions on Lake Ontario for students. The project will give students the skills to safely access the NMS, ensuring long-term community engagement and broad public awareness of the Sanctuary’s value.
Center for Instruction, Technology & Innovation (CITI BOCES)
Project Name: Sanctuary Scholars: Education & Exploration on Lake Ontario
Sanctuary Scholars: Education & Exploration on Lake Ontario will launch a new regional initiative connecting educators and students to the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. The project includes multi-day professional development for teachers, a week-long summer camp for students, and curriculum rooted in project-based learning and stewardship. Through hands-on exploration, community partner collaboration, and standards-aligned instruction, this initiative builds lasting capacity for education, access, and community connection to the sanctuary region.
Oswego City School District
Project Name: Our Great Lake, Our Sanctuary
This project seeks funding to provide 25-50 Oswego High School students with a field experience to the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. The initiative will cover all costs for a guided visit to the H. Lee White Maritime Museum and a boat tour of the Oswego West Pierhead Lighthouse. The primary goal is to build immediate awareness and appreciation of the sanctuary among local youth by removing financial barriers to these historic sites.
Weston T. Hyde Education Foundation
Project Name: Next Gen Sanctuary Underwater ROV Lab
This project engages 40 tenth-grade Oswego County P-TECH students in designing, building, and piloting remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) connected to the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. Through hands-on engineering, students explore lake science, shipwreck heritage, and conservation while learning directly from NOAA and regional marine experts. The project builds STEM skills, increases community awareness of the sanctuary, and creates a sustainable, annual learning experience that strengthens local stewardship of this nationally significant resource.
Upstate Freshwater Institute, Inc.
Project Name: Seeing Below the Surface: Real Time Science and Underwater Exploration in Lake Ontario
This project proposes to expand public engagement with the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary by installing underwater cameras at the Sodus Point buoy and the Mary Kay tugboat wreck, producing educational dive videos, and delivering community presentations in Oswego and Sodus Point. Paired with near real-time buoy data, this project will increase public access to underwater environments, support informed recreation, and strengthen community connections to the newly designated sanctuary through science-based exploration and storytelling.
Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary
Project Name: Connecting Communities to Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary Through Digital Presence
Friends of Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary (FTBNMS) is partnering with a developing local nonprofit that will serve as the Friends group for the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary. During its start-up phase, FTBNMS will be the fiscal agent and provide organizational support for the project. The funds will be used to hire a digital communications firm to create a website, digital brand, and outreach strategy that complements sanctuary efforts, and strengthen partnerships for LONMS.
Papahānaumokuākea NMS
Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, Inc.
Project Name: Papahānaumokuākea: Bringing the Place to the People – Community Talk Story Sessions Across the Paeʻāina
Papahānaumokuākea: Bringing the Place to the People – Community Talk Story Sessions Across the Paeʻāina bridges the distance between communities and Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) by fostering island to island, community-led engagement. Centering Native Hawaiian voices and cultural knowledge, the project deepens public awareness, stewardship, and trust through daytime knowledge exchanges and evening community gatherings. This initiative strengthens long-term connections between PNMS and Hawaiʻi communities while elevating Indigenous leadership in Sanctuary stewardship.
Papahānaumokuākea Marine Debris Project, Inc.
Project Name: Papahānaumokuākea: Bringing the Place to the People – 10-20-Minute Documentary Film
Papahānaumokuākea: Bringing the Place to the People is a 10-20-minute documentary that brings audiences into one of the world’s most sacred and ecologically significant marine places. Centering Native Hawaiian leadership and Indigenous knowledge systems, the film uses immersive visuals and storytelling to build emotional connection, understanding, and stewardship of Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. By making Papahānaumokuākea accessible to communities who may never visit it, the film fosters lasting relationships grounded in aloha, and shared responsibility.
Polynesian Voyaging Society
Project Name: Perpetuating the Art of Traditional Wayfinding for Future Generations
The Polynesian Voyaging Society will develop and deliver an introductory deep-sea navigation training program that strengthens Indigenous wayfinding knowledge and engagement with Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary. Led by master navigators and supported by Bishop Museum, the project will create a structured curriculum, launch a mobile planetarium, and deliver pilot training and community outreach events. This place-based approach expands access to celestial navigation education while preparing the next generation of navigators and sanctuary stewards.
University of Hawaii
Project Name: Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Sanctuary: A Year of Hoʻolauleʻa
The proposed funding will elevate awareness of the newly designated Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) through public events and a revitalized 4,000-gallon PMNS exhibit at the Waikīkī Aquarium. With the Waikīkī Aquarium’s reach of nearly 250,000 visitors annually and the scientific expertise of the Hawaiʻi Institute of Marine Biology, this project will significantly increase PNMS visibility, inspiring appreciation for its cultural and ecological value and encouraging deeper public understanding of this vital protected area.
Multiple Sanctuaries
FORCE BLUE (Chumash Heritage and Lake Ontario NMS)
Project Name: FORCE BLUE’S 2026 National Marine Sanctuaries Tour of Duty
FORCE BLUE will create community outreach through media production designed to inspire lasting support for National Marine Sanctuary designation among local and national communities.
Marine Technology Society (Lake Ontario and Papahānaumokuākea NMS)
Project Name: Building Community and Capacity for Workforce Development through Sanctuary Science and Technical Exploration
MATE ROV Competition proposes to invest in two newly designated marine sanctuary communities to support discovery, testing, piloting, nurturing, capacity-building, and contributions of community members to the protection of our shared waters. The funding opportunity represents an important step in expanding the capacity of technical training programs, like those offered by National Marine Sanctuaries, along with mentoring and supporting teachers, providing student learning experiences, and expanding workforce development opportunities for community shareholders.
Sanctuary Community Fund First Round Grantees
Chumash Heritage NMS
Northern Chumash Tribal Council
Project Name: “Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary Marine Outreach Campaign”
Funding will be used to build an equitable and collaborative partnership with the Foundation that explores shared interests between the applicant organization and the Sanctuary Community Fund. This partnership will serve to identify opportunities to align with shared priorities and build new collaborative infrastructure in the future.
SLO Climate Coalition
Project Name: “Chumash Sanctuary Climate and Culture Education”
We are seeking funding for the Chumash Sanctuary Climate and Culture Education program, aiming to educate, engage, and create sustained community support for the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary both today and for generations to come. Community outreach and engagement will focus on themes of cultural significance, marine ecology, and climate resilience.
Coastal Chumash Foundation
Project Name: “Engagement and Capacity building for Chumash Descendants”
This project focuses on capacity building and community engagement for Chumash descendants, emphasizing cultural resource training and education. This project is specifically focused on protecting national marine sanctuaries and the importance of this historic, native-led designation. We will host educational community sessions, followed by site visits and tours of beaches identified within the sanctuary boundaries.
Queer Surf
Project Name: Queer Surf Camp
Chumash Queer Surf Camp provides four 4-days/3-nights camps along the coasts in Pismo Beach and Gaviota for 144 queer/trans participants across the span of two years. These camps focus on surf instruction, coastal stewardship, and marine education. Queer Surf camps provide coastal access to marginalized queer/trans people, who have historically been pushed to urban areas away from natural resources and coastal regions.
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Project Name: Collaborative Stewardship of the Newly Designated Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary: The Role of the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians
Funding will be used to build an equitable and collaborative partnership with the Foundation that explores shared interests between the applicant organization and the Sanctuary Community Fund. This partnership will serve to identify opportunities to align with shared priorities and build new collaborative infrastructure in the future.
Lake Ontario NMS
Oswego City School District
Project Name: “From Classroom to Waterfront: A Hands-On Education Initiative”
This collaborative project will bring together the Oswego City School District, the H. Lee White Maritime Museum, and the City of Oswego. The primary goal of the proposal is to deepen students’ understanding of the Lake Ontario Watershed. Students will gain knowledge about the Lake Ontario Watershed, develop educational materials and play an active role in raising community awareness about the profound impact Lake Ontario has had on our geographic area.
FORCE BLUE
Project Name: “The FORCE BLUE Sanctuary Campaign”
Funding will be used to build an equitable and collaborative partnership with the Foundation that explores shared interests between the applicant organization and the Sanctuary Community Fund. This partnership will serve to identify opportunities to align with shared priorities and build new collaborative infrastructure in the future.
The Research Foundation for the State University of New York on Behalf of SUNY Oswego
Project Name: “Supporting public engagement: A day in the life at the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary”
The Great Lakes Institute at SUNY Oswego is seeking funding to support curricular development and to purchase program materials that will be used for school field trips and adult educational experiences in the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary aligned with the Lake Ontario National Marine Sanctuary Management Plan. Grant funds will additionally be used to support curriculum development, to train educators to deliver the programming, and to subsidize field trip expenses for schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Are there particular funding areas?
A: Grants in this round of the Sanctuary Community Fund will support community partner engagement serving sanctuaries designated by NOAA after June 1, 2024. Support will include grants to regionally and locally based organizations to advance science, stewardship, and outreach within the community. Scientific research projects will not be considered under this funding opportunity but interpreting science for the public benefit and building support with the use of tools such as surveys, polls, interviews and focus groups is allowed.
Q: What are the application deadlines?
A: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis. The deadline for community engagement grants for this cycle of the SCF will be January 9, 2026.
Q: Who is eligible to apply?
A: Eligible applicants include formal or informal education institutions, non-profits, Indigenous or Indigenous-serving organizations, and/or a non-federal government entity (tribal, state, or local government). The applicant does not have a paid staff member serving on the Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The applicant is not a federal government agency, a foreign entity/organization, or an individual. Individuals are not eligible, but organizations applying may include individuals acting as independent contractors in their budgets. Project work is conducted in the United States or territories.
Q: What kinds of expenses are allowed? Are there any types of expenses that are not allowed?
A: The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation will consider a broad range of expenses under this funding opportunity, with the intention of meeting the needs of sanctuary communities’ engagement with the designation process.
- Capital expenses for equipment are allowed, but a strong justification for the need should be included in the ‘Budget Description’ area of the application, along with the reason that the item should be purchased and not leased. (Lease of equipment is preferred.)
- Capital expenses should be limited to the proportion required for the proposed project. Please note that any funded requests for equipment will require a longer period of monitoring, typically beyond initial project completion.
- Projects that propose profit for the applying organization are not allowed.
- For example, the Foundation cannot fund ticketed events, unless the ticket cost offsets the cost of the event, and the request to the Foundation covers a gap in expected revenue.
- For programs, the Foundation cannot support costs that are otherwise covered by program fees but can cover additional materials that program fees do not cover.
- Entertainment expenses are not allowed, including alcohol purchase or service.
- The Foundation cannot support budget requests that benefit an individual, like scholarships.
- Salary and fringe benefits are allowed, but only for the time attributable to the proposed project.
- Independent contractor costs and consultant costs are allowed.
- Indirect costs are allowed. If you are using an indirect cost rate or administrative fee, please upload in optional materials on the application your organization’s policy on administrative costs, if your organization has documented that process.
- Supplies are an allowable expense. Please be as specific as possible about supplies needed to complete the project as proposed.
- Travel is an allowable expense. Please be prepared to identify in the ‘Budget Description’ area of the application how many people the travel budget is intended to cover, and what type of travel is estimated, and why travel costs are needed.
- Mileage, please use 2025 IRS business rate of 70 cents per mile. If your organization has its own mileage reimbursement rate, please use that calculation.
- Rental cars, lodging, and per diem are allowable expenses. You can use GSA per diem rates as an estimate, found at this website.
- Travel beyond regular economy rates is not allowed.
- Include group travel needs, such as bus transportation, in the travel budget line. Please distinguish between employee travel needs and participant travel needs in your budget
- Rental costs for program or event venues, or storage are allowed, but cannot extend beyond the end date of the project.
- Software costs are allowable and should be included in the Supplies budget line. Software costs may be included proportional to their use for the proposed project.
If you are unsure if an expense is allowable as part of your budget, please reach out to Gina Digiantonio, Program Operations Manager at [email protected] with the email subject line: Sanctuary Community Fund: [Name of Organization].
Q: Can new applicants apply for this funding from the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation?
A: Organizations that have never been a recipient of National Marine Sanctuary Foundation grants are strongly encouraged to apply if they meet the eligibility criteria.
Q: Can a Federal Employee or Agency apply for the grant?
A: No, federal employees or federal agencies cannot be the primary applicant or recipient but can and should be a partner in a proposal.
Q: What is the typical duration of grants? Are multi-year grants available?
A: The typical duration of grants is for a project period of 9 months. The project work must conclude by January 31, 2027.
Q: Do I need letters of commitment and/or support from partners?
A: Letters of support that demonstrate project capacity are encouraged and will help reviewers understand your ability to complete the project successfully and on time.
Letters of commitment from project partners are required. An example of a letter of commitment would be if your proposed project involves a school, then a letter of commitment should be provided from the school indicating the acknowledgement of their participation and enthusiasm for the project. This includes a letter of commitment from the superintendent of the sanctuary you are working in.
Q: Can I submit additional attachments?
A: There is a supplemental attachments section in the online application that will allow you to upload any additional documents, videos, photos, etc. that help you to illustrate your proposal.
Q: Where can I find more information?
A: More information about the Sanctuary Community Fund and the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation can be found on the Foundation website.
Q: Where can I find more information about the National Marine Sanctuary System?
A: The official web site for the National Marine Sanctuary System, including links to individual sites, can be found at https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov