Grant & Funding Opportunity

Grants & Funding Opportunities

2020 Alaska Farmers Market Association Member Funding:

 

2020 AFMA – Specialized Marketing Assistance Application – Due June 22nd, 12pm

  • Click the link above to complete the short application
  • The Alaska Farmers Market Association is pleased to announce the opening of its application for Specialized Marketing Assistance to all member markets.
  • This program is funded by a 2017 USDA FMPP Grant and will be distributed by fiscal sponsoring organization, Cook Inletkeeper.
  • We have $15,000 to distribute among markets for the 2020 Market Season.
  • Funding must be used on specialized marketing – advertising, facebook, outreach materials, or traditional marketing methods.
  • Please complete the following application by June 22nd. You will be notified by June 29th if awarded.
  • Any costs incurred since the opening of your market are eligible to be reimbursed. All receipts and reports will be due by September 7th. Reporting requirements include: how funds were used (with receipts), photos of project (demos, ads, tshirts), thank you letter/posts, etc. A more detailed package will be sent to you if selected.

GRANT OPPORTUNITY:

USDA FMPP

The purpose of the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) is to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of, domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities.

All applicants under FMPP must be domestic entities owned, operated, and located within the 50 United States, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands to be considered eligible. Entities that are eligible to apply include:

  • Agricultural businesses
  • Agricultural cooperatives
  • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) networks
  • CSA associations
  • Economic development corporations
  • Local governments
  • Nonprofit corporations
  • Producer networks
  • Producer associations
  • Public benefit corporations
  • Regional farmers’ market authorities
  • Tribal governments

RFP are usually accepted each spring, annually.  More information can be found here: USDA FMPP Program

FMC’s Free SNAP EBT Equipment Program

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) has partnered with the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) to provide eligible farmers markets and direct marketing farmers with free electronic benefit transfer (EBT) equipment necessary to process Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits.

  • FMC will cover the costs of purchasing or renting SNAP EBT equipment and services (set-up costs, monthly service fees, and wireless fees) for up to three years. After their application has been approved, eligible farmers and farmers markets will choose their own SNAP EBT service provider from a list of participating companies: MarketLink, MerchantSource, PaymentSpring and TSYS. Transaction fees (for SNAP EBT, credit, and debit payments) will not be covered.
  • NOTE: The 2017 iteration of the program closed on November 21. The USDA FNS anticipates reopening the program in 2018 at a date to be determined. Farmers markets and direct marketing farmers interested in obtaining equipment through this program once it reopens in 2018 should email FarmersMarket@fns.usda.gov to be placed onto a wait list.
  • More information can be found here: FMC SNAP EBT Equipment Program