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Submit a Project Proposal

The TGIF Main Grant offers up to $20,000 for students, staff, and faculty to pursue project ideas, sustainable research, or event, all of which can leave a lasting impact at UC Davis!

The TGIF committee cannot wait to see all your brilliant ideas!

Who Can Write A Proposal?

Any UC Davis student, staff, or faculty member can submit a project proposal to the TGIF Committee. The proposal needs to improve sustainability and benefit undergraduates. 

The proposal review panel is the TGIF Committee, which is comprised of undergraduate, graduate, staff, and faculty representatives as well as ex-officio non-voting members. For more information about the Committee, see About TGIF.

Interested in applying for a TGIF Grant? Read on!

Begin the Proposal Process 

Explore the Developing Your Proposal sub-page for in-depth information and a full breakdown of the grant application form. 

Take the following steps:

  • STEP 1: Develop Your Idea.
  • Review the TGIF mission and application criteria to assist your idea development. We encourage you to attend Grant Advising Office Hours to get support developing your project idea. Please visit our website to view our office hour schedule. If you have questions and are unable to attend office hours, please email tgif@ucdavis.edu.
  • STEP 2: Decide Type of Grant and When to Apply.
  • Decide if your project is a Mini Grant or Regular Grant. Mini Grants are under $1,000 and must be completed by May 25th in the academic year applied. Main Grants are $200 to $20,000 and have more reporting requirements. Learn more about the differences between the grants below.

    Is your idea a project, event, or undergraduate research? If your applying for a Main Grant, is your idea better suited for a fall, winter or spring application cycle?
  • STEP 3: Begin Your Application Process.
  • Download and complete the appropriate application form and the budget spreadsheet. The Main Grant Application Form can be found here. Mini Grant Application Form can be found here. Contact the TGIF Grant Manager (tgif@ucdavis.edu) with any questions about your application, or attend our Grant Advising Office Hours.
  • STEP 4: Identify your Account Manager

  • The TGIF proposal application requires that you name and acquire a signature from a UC Davis account manager. This individual will be the entity that administers financial transactions, facilitates invoices & reimbursements, who can manage UC Davis chart string transactions. This individual must be a UC Davis Staff; not a faculty member. We recommend sharing your budget and our Account Manager Responsibilities PDF with your account manager prior to submitting your proposal.

    The best place to start looking for an account manager is the department or major that you are currently affiliated with. Different majors and departments have different titles for account managers. However, some common titles include "Financial Services Analyst" or "Business Operations Manager". Please attend Grant Advising Office Hours if you need additional support.

  • STEP 5: Review Your Application.
  • Did you fill out all the required proposal components of the application form? Did you follow all of the application directions?
  • STEP 6: Submit Your Application.
  • Please submit your proposal package by email to tgif@ucdavis.edu with the subject line “TGIF Grant Application - 2 word title [Quarter] [Year]” (Example: TGIF Grant Application - Cool Name Fall 2025). Include proposal application, budget, and optional supplemental materials as separate file attachments. 

 

 

Application Criteria

What are the requirements for a TGIF grant application?

Eligibility 

  1. All UC Davis students, staff, and faculty are eligible to submit project proposals, as long as they are under the umbrella of a campus department or center. Individuals and organizations outside the University are not eligible to submit project proposals.
  2. All projects must have student involvement, and must benefit undergraduate students.
  3. Projects must directly address any of the UN Sustainable Development Goals on the UC Davis campus, or in the capacity that on-campus activities positively influence sustainability off campus.
  4. Applicants must submit a proposal application and budget spreadsheet and follow the directions for submitting application materials.
  5. Proposed projects must have a clearly defined, measurable outcome. (Consult the UC Sustainable Practices Policy and the Office of Sustainability for more information).
  6. TGIF funding will not support projects that are already mandated by law or UC Davis policy/directive, other than the UC Sustainable Practices Policy. TGIF will only fund projects that are not currently paid for by the University or through existing rebate programs.

Budget

  1. Main Grant Project funding requests must be between $1000-$20,000. The TGIF Committee encourages projects with additional funding such as other grants, donations, or allocated budget funds to apply.
  2. Mini Grant Project funding requests up to $1000.
  3. Any requests for stipend/wage funding must meet the following requirements must not fund faculty salaries or stipends. Stipends/wages will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, with particular attention to how the requested funds contribute to the success and impact of the project in fulfilling TGIF’s objectives.

Reporting 

  1.  Projects must have clearly defined data and/or measurements in the midpoint and final reports. Examples: (1) Number of attendees at an event or social media engagement, (2) quantity of nitrate absorption in the arboretum waterway, (3) survey response results, etc.
  2. All awarded proposals must submit an intermediary progress report at the half-way point of their project timeline and a final report, detailing the results of the project. The final report must include a final budget that clearly identifies all spent funds, any unspent funds, and all other sources of funding for the project. Any unspent funds from TGIF grants must be returned once the project is completed.
  3. Projects must have publicity, education, and outreach components to further connect students with the projects they are funding. Projects must clearly identify The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) at UC Davis as a funding source on any semi-permanent or permanent campus infrastructure purchased with TGIF funds, and all awarded proposals must acknowledge The Green Initiative Fund (TGIF) at UC Davis as a funding source on all literature, posters, or publicity related to the project, event, or research.
  4. Project organizers/leaders must prepare a final poster, video, or audio presentation to the campus community, and in a format that can be shared on the TGIF website.

Campus Approval  

  1. Your proposal must document consultation of all relevant departments to ensure they are aware of and support your concept. Feel free to add additional stakeholder signature boxes in your proposal, if needed. If you are not sure if this applies to your project, contact the TGIF Grant Manager or attend our Grant Advising Office Hours. Please note the following:
    1. The signatures demonstrate that those stakeholders are aware of any commitments expected of them as part of undertaking the project you are proposing.
    2. If there could be any expectations of financial support, contributions of labor or material resources, physical building or planting planned as part of the project, or environmental or sustainability impacts, it is critical that the grant proposal provides the explicit agreement of the stakeholders to agree to and/or fulfill those expectations.
    3. For projects that impact campus facilities, final approval will be given by the Committee, the TGIF Grant Manager, and relevant campus stakeholders.
    4. If you wish to submit written endorsements or support statements of your project, please include those letters of reference or endorsements as separate from these consultation signatures on your proposal.

Ready to begin? Review the Developing Your Proposal sub-page for in-depth information and a full breakdown of the grant application form.