The Outdoor Gear Exchange Charitable Grant Fund's mission is to enhance outdoor recreation opportunities in Vermont communities by partnering with qualified organizations that focus on land conservation, lowering barriers to the outdoors, and trail development.
Our Vision
At Outdoor Gear Exchange, we believe lowering barriers to and conservation of our natural landscapes is critical to the health of Vermont’s communities, many of which remain underserved and underfunded. Our Charitable Grant Fund looks to provide resources to nonprofits aligned with our own vision for greater outdoor access for all.
Through an annual grant cycle, the Charitable Grant Fund awards three to six organizations grants of up to $2,000. These grants are funded by customer donations through our consignment program. Funds are preferentially provided for specific aspects of individual local projects.
Awardees are selected through an internal juried process looking to identify projects for which the grant will make the most positive impact.
Eligibility Guidelines
If you're interested in applying for one of our grants, check that your project meets this list of guidelines:
- The awarded grant will have a substantively positive financial impact for your organization, and be significant toward bringing your project to completion.
- Your project will have a tangible, positive impact on our local (in or around the state of Vermont) recreational community.
- We prefer to support non-administrative aspects of projects that seek to improve trail access and/or conservation. Examples include the construction of composting outhouses along the Northern Forest Canoe Trail and building and maintaining bridges on Fellowship of the Wheel mountain bike trails.
- For applicants with a focus on justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion work, our goal is to fund programming that lowers barriers to the outdoors for historically excluded groups (BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and others).
How to Apply
During the grant application period, a link to a current application will be made available at the top of this page.
If you have any questions about our grants, or whether or not your organization's project meets our eligibility guidelines, you can reach out to our Charitable Grant Fund Coordinator.
Grant Cycle Timeline
The Charitable Grant Fund is currently active for one cycle each year, with applications becoming available from September 1st to October 1st.
Most Recent Awardees
Brewster River Mountain Bike Club
Brewster River Mountain Bike Club’s primary purpose is to ensure the sustainable future of mountain biking in Underhill, Cambridge, and neighboring towns in Vermont. In addition to funding from the Deb Towne Memorial Fund, OGE’s funding will support the building of a 2000 ft multi-use ADA compliant recreation path on the perimeter of the Underhill Central School play fields.
Fellowship of the Wheel
Fellowship of the Wheel’s mission is to make Chittenden County the best place to live and recreate by creating access to multi-use trails for all bodies, building and maintaining sustainable trail networks, and enhancing community vitality through outdoor recreation. In partnership with the Williston Conservation Commission, Vermont Adaptive Sports, and the Chittenden County District Wetland Ecologist, FOTW will be regrading the Mud Pond Quiet Connector Trail to make it adaptive user friendly.
Mad River Path
Mad River Path is a community-supported organization whose mission is to build, maintain, and conserve a system of continuous public pathways and trails connecting the towns of Warren, Waitsfield, Fayston, and Moretown. This network of paths and trails fosters a healthy community by connecting the people, businesses, and special places of the Mad River Valley, Vermont. Mad River Path will be utilizing funding to construct a boardwalk along the newly acquired Spaulding Greenway segment. This path is in close proximity to a park, newly conserved agricultural lands, and local neighborhoods.
Kingdom Trails
The mission of the Kingdom Trail Association is to provide recreation and education opportunities by managing, maintaining, and building trails to foster the health of our community, surrounding environment, and regional economy. We strive to accomplish this mission by offering a 100+ mile network of quality, non-motorized, multi-use trails for all levels of ability, incorporating the best of our local scenery and natural diversity. With the help of Adaptive Sports Partners, the Kelly Brush Foundation, and students from St. Johnsbury Academy, Kingdom Trails will be rebuilding bridges to be adaptive user friendly, per KASA standards.