RainWise outreach grants

Conduct effective outreach and customer support (in-person and/or virtual) to interested residential property owners in all eligible King County basins resulting in installations of RainWise rain gardens and cisterns. 

The overall goal of this program area is to identify, encourage, and empower eligible property owners to participate in RainWise by implementing a variety of marketing, outreach, and customer support efforts. Activities can be in-person, virtual, or both. Examples of activities and tactics that may be utilized include:

• Develop a strategy to encourage and support residential property owners to become RainWise by conducting creative outreach and involvement campaigns. Plan, promote, implement, and evaluate these efforts.
• Plan and implement in-person and/or virtual RainWise events, including but not limited to workshops, webinars, virtual tours, etc. 
• Participate in relevant opportunities offered by other community groups or campaigns (i.e. participation in Green Home Tour, Seattle Night Out, Tilth Alliance Edible Plant Sale, etc.).
• Prepare and update communication pieces including mailings, case studies, promotional materials, contractor lists, etc. 
• Assist in generating content for digital media. This may involve creating case studies, virtual tours, self-guided walking tours, or educational aspects of RainWise. 
• Maintain RainWise info box network.
• Recruit and manage RainWise Ambassadors.
• Conduct maintenance checkups with previous RainWise customers and provide a report-out summarizing findings
• Provide customer support when needed to help property owners navigate the RainWise process. 
• Conduct surveys and other evaluation strategies and report back on RainWise customer experience, barriers, and potential solutions to increase program participation.
• Explore new platforms and opportunities to keep RainWise’s virtual presence fresh.
• Assist content creation and maintenance of outreach pages on the seattlerainwise.org website.
• Assist with social media content creation and campaign development – evaluate areas of improvement or suggest new approaches.
• Provide analytical/strategic communication support.

New Opportunities

This grant program encourages applicants to propose new ideas for effective outreach, marketing, and customer support other than those listed above.

Lead and/or coordinate outreach and engagement activities that build program presence and engagement in high-priority King County basins. High-priority basins to be defined annually by King County. 

The overall goal of this effort is to, through a variety of outreach efforts, recruit, encourage and engage eligible property owners in high-priority WTD basins that recently reopened as a part of strategic WTD efforts. Activities could be in-person, virtual or both. Specific areas of emphasis may include: 

• Create public involvement plan for King County basins that are new to the RainWise program or are reopening to meet compliance metrics 

• Conduct on-the-ground outreach and customer support (i.e. pop-up tabling throughout the community, living room presentations, strategic alignment with key community partners within target geographies etc.) to encourage and support residential property owners to become RainWise by conducting creative outreach and engagement campaigns. Plan, promote, implement, and evaluate these efforts. 

• Recommend adjustments to outreach strategies to support meeting performance targets within these basins 

• Plan and coordinate RainWise events – in-person and/or virtual 

• Represent RainWise at events hosted by community members and/or groups 

• Recruit and manage ambassadors as champions within their neighborhoods 

• Propose and develop new ideas and opportunities 

New Opportunities 

 This grant program encourages applicants to propose new ideas for effective outreach, marketing, and customer support other than those listed above. 

Lead and/or coordinate equitable outreach and engagement activities that actively work to reduce program barriers for historically underserved individuals and communities. 

This program area focuses on ensuring that outreach, education, and program delivery for RainWise is accessible, inclusive, and socially just. Funded activities should reduce barriers to participation and empower property owners within eligible RainWise basins to understand, engage with, and benefit from the program. Applicants may propose strategies that build relationships, strengthen trust, increase awareness, support community programs, and ensure that RainWise resources and information reach communities that have historically been underserved. 

Multicultural Outreach, Marketing, and Customer Support for RainWise

• Recruit and engage eligible property owners in King County RainWise basins through a variety of means. This may include but is not limited to: 

  • Webinars and virtual opportunities for education and outreach 

  • Canvassing and other on-the-ground outreach activities 

  • Social and earned media 

  • Host and participate in events happening within the community 

  • Identify communication pieces and languages needed (flyers, brochures, articles, signage, etc.), and help develop these communication pieces  

  • Provide customer support throughout the RainWise process including meeting with a contractor, rebate paperwork assistance, and system maintenance 

  • Recruit neighborhood “champions” or “ambassadors” (individuals or groups) Place and maintain Info boxes near successful installations and community gathering places. 

  • Recruit multicultural “big roofs” such as places of worship, multi-family residences, community spaces, and businesses 

  • Cultivate and maintain relationships with multicultural demonstration projects 

  • Leverage existing projects by writing articles and blog posts for the organizations newsletters and social media, creating signage, hosting volunteer work parties and events to promote RainWise to constituents 

  • Track contracts and interactions for program records 

  • Provide communications and analytical/strategic support 

• Collect input from multicultural property owners and contractors related to program delivery; work with program staff to implement changes based on past and present input 

• Work to maximize equity and social justice opportunities. This may include: 

  • Provide advice and outreach on best ethnic media campaigns. Provide translation review of ads and participate in interviews and programs 

  • Provide information to site property owners, business owners and employees in their primary languages 

  • Provide coaching and translation support, if needed 

  • Promote tools that allow low-income clients to participate in the RainWise program such as the RainWise Access Grant and translated materials 

  • Suggest tools that help eliminate barriers to participation identified presently and in the past; work with RainWise staff on the development of these tools 

Diverse RainWise Contractor Outreach and Recruitment 

The overall goal of this effort will be to increase the social and ethnic diversity and language capacity of the trained pool of RainWise contractors, while also creating an equitable program that contractors can find success in.   

Proposals could include activities that, in close coordination with utility staff, support outreach, recruitment, communications, training, business development skill-building and follow-up coaching to a diverse pool of local landscapers and contractors.  

We seek organization(s) with diverse networks and relationships, and multi-lingual and culturally appropriate skills to: 

• Promote being a RainWise contractor as a viable business strategy and specifically promote the contractor training required to participate in this program. 

• Connect participating contractors with skill-building and business development workshops and other resources and assistance for helping them to become part of the trained RainWise contractor pool. 

• Provide pre-training in the form of support and coaching for diverse contractors interested in completing the RainWise contractor training. 

• Provide coaching and translation support, if needed, for one or two client meetings per contractor after they have completed the required RainWise contractor training and met the requirements to be listed on the website. 

• Work with program staff to implement changes for more equitable program delivery based on past and new input 

• In coordination with the utilities, support design and facilitation of RainWise contractor affinity spaces to advance professional development of existing and new contractors in the program 

New Opportunities 

This grant program encourages applicants to propose new approaches to make RainWise a more equitable and accessible program other than those listed above.  

Develop and execute new and innovative outreach strategies and strengthen customer support to potential RainWise Big Roof property owners, including community centers, faith-based centers, schools, businesses, multi-family residences and apartment buildings resulting in higher participation of big roof facilities.   

The overall goal of this effort is to recruit, encourage and support eligible non-residential private property owners to participate in RainWise. The King County RainWise Big Roof Campaign defines Big Roofs as non-SFR (single family residential) roofs generally over 2,000 square feet and often much larger. Specific areas of emphasis may include: 

• Conduct analysis, outreach, and recruitment of Big Roof opportunities through efforts such as GIS analysis, email, phone calls, site visits, presentations, events, and other creative means. 

• Provide coordination and customer support with Big Roof property owners and other related responsible parties such as Facilities Director, Green Teams, Landscaping staff, and facility advocates. 

• Cultivate and maintain relationships with partners with multiple properties including community centers, faith-based centers, schools, multi-family residences and apartment buildings 

• In coordination with utility staff, communicate with contractors on Big Roof opportunities and maintain a Big Roof roster and assist in connecting interested property owners and contractor pool. 

• Leverage and maximize the outreach potential of these projects by promoting RainWise through the institution’s affiliations, newsletters, social media, on-site interpretive signage and RainWise information signs; holding celebratory events such as groundbreakings and ribbon-cuttings, hosting volunteer maintenance parties, conducting walking tours, and more. 

• Work with King County staff to develop interpretive signage, case studies or other media to promote the demonstration sites. 

New Opportunities 

 This grant program encourages applicants to propose new ideas for effective outreach, marketing, and customer support other than those listed above. 

Develop resources and provide support for Green Stormwater Infrastructure education and job training. 

Contractor capacity can be a significant limiting factor for RainWise. The overall goal of this effort is to provide resources and support for GSI job training and skills to potential and existing RainWise contractors using RainWise and other GSI installations as learning opportunities. Areas of emphasis may include: 

• Provide training in the design, construction, and maintenance of RainWise and other GSI installations using actual projects in the pipeline.  

• Function as a maintenance resource for teaching about and fixing RainWise installations needing maintenance and repairs.  

• Create videos and other virtual tools to create educational modules and an advanced skill-building library to help ALL RainWise contractors build up their skills (i.e. cistern installation, piping, plant selection modules). 

• Inform and invite RainWise contractors to participate in specific opportunities and advanced skill-building sessions. 

• Coordinate with the RainWise program staff to offer skill-building sessions for new contractors  

• Develop a program providing mentoring assistance for interested RainWise contractors with specific skill development. 

• In coordination with the utilities, support design and facilitation of RainWise contractor affinity spaces to advance professional development of existing and new contractors in the program 

New Opportunities 

This grant program encourages applicants to propose new ideas to increase available GSI training and provide RainWise repairs and maintenance. 

RainWise is a partnership program of King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) and Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) that provides rebates for rain gardens and cisterns built on eligible private properties in Seattle. The program uses rain gardens and cisterns to decrease the amount of stormwater going into Seattle’s combined sewer system. When too much stormwater enters that sewer system, it can cause overflows of contaminated water into local bodies of water including Puget Sound, the Duwamish River, and other lakes and bays. 

To be eligible for the RainWise rebate:  

• Your property must be in a RainWise eligible area. 

• The stormwater from the property’s roof must flow through downspouts into the combined sewer system. 

RainWise participants follow these program steps:  

1. Check eligibility -  

   1. Go to seattlerainwise.org and enter property address in the eligibility map 

   2. If the property is in a RainWise eligible area, individuals will be prompted to submit a RainWise Eligibility Form to determine if the property’s stormwater contributes to the combined sewer system. 

2. Connect with a contractor – participants will hire their preferred RainWise-trained contractor after exploring rain garden or cistern design options for the property. Even if a property is in an eligible area, a RainWise rain garden or cistern might not work due to property specific constraints.  

3. Build the project – Contractors build the contract and will walk through the pre-inspection, construction, and post-inspection process with participants.  

4. Rebate application – Participants complete the rebate paperwork with their contractors, and a rebate check will be sent within 4-8 weeks after all forms are received by the program.  

5. Maintaining the RainWise project – Rain gardens and cisterns need regular care to work well. To keep them functioning and looking good, folks should keep up with basic maintenance.  

A RainWise rain garden or cistern has special design specifications and needs to be built by a RainWise trained contractor. It’s easy for a business to become RainWise trained contractors—visit the contractor resources page on our website and click on “Become a RainWise Contractor”. Our team helps promote the program to communities throughout the city to help create demand for contractors’ services. Property owners who want a RainWise project may also hire contractors for maintenance and additional services.  

It’s not only residential properties that are eligible for RainWise. Larger buildings, known affectionately by the RainWise program as “Big Roofs” are typically buildings that have roof areas between 2,000 and 5,000 sqft. Big Roof properties are a great way to make RainWise known throughout neighborhoods! Those community relationships are invaluable to the program. 

A city full of hardscapes like roads, buildings, sidewalks, patios, and parking lots creates a lot of stormwater runoff. Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) is an engineered outdoor space that imitates the characteristics of natural spaces like forests and wetlands that were here before us. Rain gardens and cisterns are just two types of GSI. 

A rain garden is a bowl-shaped garden that uses plants and layers of soil, sand, and mulch to retain rainwater. Rain gardens can reduce the amount of stormwater that reaches storm drains and local waterways. A cistern is a tank used to collect and store stormwater. 

Rain gardens filter runoff and reduce pollutants entering local water bodies. Cisterns can support water conservation. Stored water can be used to water lawns and gardens. Maintenance of rain gardens and cisterns is important to their proper function.