Science for Nature and People Partnership (SNAPP)
2024 Request for Proposals to fund expert teams to deliver rapid solutions to the most critical challenges facing humans and our planet.
*No longer accepting proposals for 2024*
Website: https://snappartnership.net/
Email: snapp@snappartnership.net
Overview and Criteria
SNAPP, a first-of-its-kind scientific joint venture between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), is a tool for developing sustainable solutions to global conservation challenges. Since inception, SNAPP, through its working groups, has provided science and user-friendly tools backed by hard data to identify and quantify nature's role and value in preventing and solving some of the most complex challenges the world faces around food and water security, climate change, and energy.
Each year, SNAPP provides up to US $1 million total across 4-6 approved working groups, led by academic, governmental agency, multilateral, or nonprofit institutions. SNAPP funds teams of 12-15 people from diverse organizations to gather for 3-4 collaborative sessions over the course of 12-24 months. Between sessions, members collaborate remotely; work with long-term implementation partners; identify emerging opportunities for tangible, lasting change; develop and test tools and products; and publish research. Please see the "What we fund" tab for more details.
Concept Note Instructions
Before developing a full proposal for the 2024 SNAPP RFP, applicants should submit a "concept note" through our online portal for review. To start a concept note, log into the system or create an account the link to the right. Then navigate to the "My Dashboard" menu within the system.
All submitted concept notes will receive written feedback within 10 business days on which aspects of your ideas could be the best fit for SNAPP's scope and what would need to be strengthened to make your proposal competitive. Be sure to review the What We Fund tab before crafting your concept note. Only concept notes submitted through this portal will receive feedback.
If you have questions about SNAPP or encounter any technical issues while using this portal, please reach out to snapp@snapppartnership.net and allow 5 business days for a response. Please note that concept notes or proposals sent to this email will not be reviewed, and the applicant will be directed to kindly submit through our online portal.
Full SNAPP proposals are evaluated on the following criteria:
Research Question The question(s) that the proposal will address are clearly at the intersection of nature conservation and sustainable development, are critically important, and the proposed work will add value to the current state of knowledge.
Methods: The proposal clearly incorporates both biophysical and socioeconomic methods and analysis. The choice of methods is appropriate for the question(s).
Data: The data and information sources are interdisciplinary and include both biophysical and socioeconomic sciences. Datasets or sources of information the applicant anticipates using for this project are comprehensive and appropriate for addressing the question using methods described.
Implementation: The proposal specifically outlines which organizations are eager for the scientific results from this group, and it is reasonably clear how they will be used to improve conservation and sustainable development policy and practice. Detailed letters of support are included from these organizations.
Inclusion: The group composition includes confirmed members representing diversity in sectors and disciplines. This is a collaborative effort with no one or two organizations dominating. Group demographics and worldviews are varied and inclusive of the Global South and other groups less dominant in academic literature.
Research Fellows: The proposal budget includes at least one full-time research fellow with a well-thought-out mentorship plan.
Submitting a Full Proposal
Once you have submitted and received feedback on your concept note (see Welcome tab), you may proceed to submitting a full proposal in the same portal. Only full proposals submitted through this portal will be reviewed. Proposals will be accepted until 11:59pm Hawai'i Standard Time, 3 December 2024. Late or incomplete submissions will not be reviewed.
Applicants should plan to begin their proposed work no earlier than 1 July 2025 and conclude no later than 30 June 2027. Please review information about ongoing and completed SNAPP teams https://snappartnership.net/our-work/teams/ as well as the What We Fund tab prior to starting your application. Please note that a completed proposal requires at least one letter of support from an organization eager to use the results of your working group’s research; you will need to plan to secure these letters in advance of the deadline.
Please email snapp@snappartnership.net with any questions about the proposal process or technical issues with the portal and allow 5 business days for a response.
What We Can and Cannot Fund
SNAPP welcomes all proposals! Here is a list of what we can and cannot fund to help you determine which part of your proposal is a good fit for SNAPP.
We fund:
- Convening groups of interdisciplinary experts from different sectors who would not otherwise come together in retreat-like settings to tackle a problem at the intersection of people and nature that can be solved by rapidly synthesizing existing data, information and worldviews. These are SNAPP working groups.
- Salary, benefits and other direct costs of Research Fellows, who may be postdoctoral associates, graduate students and, in some cases, research assistants. (SNAPP maintains a 0% Indirect Cost Policy for all agreements. For more information, please review the "Indirect Costs" tab above)
- Independent contractors or the actual time of technical employees conducting analysis, graphic design, webpage development, and similar activities for the working group.
- Virtual and in-person meetings, including third-party neutral facilitators, meeting planners, hotel, catering, meeting venue and technology, as well as individual attendee travel expenses. Please note that SNAPP will require 60 days advance notice of a confirmed meeting in order for SNAPP funds to be used.
We do not fund:
- Salary for Principal Investigators/Leaders
- Primary data collection or fieldwork
- Equipment, vehicles, building infrastructure
- Lobbying
- Research without a direct link to implementation
- Conservation planning or projects without a direct link to advancing science
- Overhead or indirect costs
Indirect Costs
Since its inception, SNAPP has maintained a published Indirect Cost Policy that funds awarded by the program are subject to a 0% indirect cost rate. This guidance is a contingency of SNAPP funding and applies to both the primary recipient and any sub-awardees. SNAPP funds may be applied to fringe benefits for Research Fellows and other direct costs associated with conducting the work.
Use of Information in SNAPP Proposals
SNAPP is a partnership between The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). All information submitted through the SNAPP proposal portal may be viewed by staff at the partner organizations supporting the SNAPP RFP, Board of Directors, Science Advisory Council, and affiliates for the express purpose of consideration for SNAPP funding. The information submitted is kept confidential and will not be shared outside this group. As an exception, SNAPP may occasionally share a proposal confidentially with an interested co-funder. Applicants may opt out of having their application shared with other funders by so indicating at the end of the “Consent” tab in the application. Contact information is not shared outside the SNAPP review and administration process.
SNAPP Records, including proposals and other records mentioned above, are stored on TNC systems. More information about TNC’s privacy practices can be found here.
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