2024 Coastal Grants

The IDNR Coastal Management Program is now accepting applications for federal pass-through grants of $1,000 to $150,000 to protect, preserve, and restore the natural and cultural resources along the Illinois Lake Michigan shoreline.

Funding will be available for projects that:

1. Improve the health of the coast and Lake Michigan 

2. Enhance coastal public access, recreation, and coastal-dependent economic development

3. Advance coastal community resilience

Total Funding Available: Dependent upon federal funding. Past grant rounds have awarded between $550,000 and $975,000 per funding year.

Grant Period: 18 months (September 1, 2024 - Spring 2026)

Grant Amounts: $1,000 to $150,000

Match: 1:1 Non-federal match required; 1:3 Non-federal match for government entities in Economically Challenged Communities (see Funding Guidelines for further details) ​​​

Eligible Applicants: Units of Local Government, Universities, and 501(c)3 Non-Profits

Application Submission Deadline: Extended to January 5, 2024 at 5 p.m.

Starting in 2023, all CMP grant applications must be submitted through the AmpliFund Grants Management System.

The State of Illinois adopted AmpliFund as the statewide online grant management system in 2021. This system is used to apply for grants, complete grant reporting, and request payments. It allows grantee organizations to manage their State of Illinois grants in one place. The AmpliFund Grant Management System uses a single log-in that is also used in the Grantee Portal. It pulls data from the Grantee Portal and the statewide Catalog of State Financial Assistance (CSFA) to reduce the need for duplicate data entry. 

The following application components must be filled out in AmpliFund:

1. Uniform Grant Application
2. Application Project Narrative
3. Programmatic Risk Assessment Questionnaire 
4. Budget
5. Timeline of Tasks/Performance Plan

To aid in preparation of the project narrative, we recommend filling out the project narrative questions in the Word document available below. Once you fill out the Word document the responses can then be copied and pasted into AmpliFund. Please do not submit the Word document – this document is provided to help you with the initial preparation of answers to questions in AmpliFund.

All applicants submitting an application must be pre-qualified on the Grant Accountability and Transparency Act (GATA) Website (https://grants.illinois.gov/portal/) to receive funding.

An informational webinar was held on November 8, 2023 at 10 a.m. Please find the materials below.