Grants of 30,000 USD for Projects Concerning Wildlife Provided by National Geographic 2019

National Geographic is calling for proposals from visual artists, photographers, and videographers from around the world in the subject of conserving wildlife by creating and using images or videos to overcome apathy towards species. The goal of this RFP is to determine effective ways to market wildlife to inspire positive action to save species by applying principles of science communication. The contest seeks proposals from around the world that advance the science of nature communication by systematically testing visual and marketing methods; visualizing complex data; or developing and evaluating new techniques directed to motivate action to conserve wildlife.

Details

Priority will be given to projects that aim to do one or more of the following:

1. Identify the specific visual and narrative communication mechanisms that will elicit action for wildlife conservation from target audiences. Multidisciplinary collaborations between scientists (e.g., neuroscientists, psychologists) and visual artists (e.g., photographers, videographers, painters, technologists) are strongly encouraged  
2. Measure differences in attitudes and/or behaviors across diverse audiences (e.g., ages, geographic regions, backgrounds) based on how information about wildlife is presented; proposals that use creative approaches to overcome sample size issues are encouraged
3. Apply and test social marketing principles to determine best practices when communicating about wildlife conservation to inspire action and increase or maintain engagement from target audiences

1. Typical proposal requests should be less than $30,000, but applicants may request up to $50,000.
2.  Successful applicants may use awarded funds over one or two years. Up to 100 percent of the total can be used as a stipend for the applicant and/or team members (e.g., consultants, field assistants, data analysts, lab assistants). 
3. However, a solid justification must be presented if more than 50 percent of the budget will be used for stipends. Requesting funds to “buy out” salaries for full-time employees from their institutions is not allowed.
4. All applications should include a clear review of the state of knowledge about the topic and a plan for evaluating the outcomes of the proposed work.

Sample Applications

Click below to view and download a sample application for each primary project focus supported by the Making the Case for Nature RFP.

1. Conservation
   
2. Education
3. Research
4. Storytelling
   
5. Technology