Conze Grants

Conze Grant Program

Conze (pronounced “Con-zee”) grants are administered by the South Coast Chapter of the CNPS.  Application is via a simple form, linked below.

The South Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society received a bequest of about $400,000 from the Vincent Conze Living Trust on March 5, 2009.  The Trust document states simply that the bequest is for “Native Plant Garden Projects” and the Board of Directors discussed preliminary ideas to honor this intent at special retreats on June 19 and August 24, 2009. Over the next year, the Board developed a Conze grant program with detailed criteria for evaluating funding requests, and a related grant application form that can be downloaded using the link below.

On November 1, 2010 the Board awarded the first Conze grant to Friends of the Parks, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Hermosa Beach, for the purpose of renovating the historic Theodore Payne Native Flora Area of Valley Park in Hermosa Beach.  We’ve typically awarded multiple Conze grants every year since, most frequently to applicants within our Chapter area.  Conze Grant recipients usually use the award money for plant materials, but in one out-of-the-box funding request, we funded part of a mural featuring native plants.

We are grateful to Elaine Conze and her family for their generosity!

Download a copy of the Conze Grant application: Conze Bequest application (pdf) or Conze Bequest application (Word).

Supplemental Information

We welcome supplemental information provided in your own format to support your application.  Suggestions for items that you may want to include are:

• • extended responses to the Grant questionnaire
  • garden plan, sketches or annotated photos
  • drawings
  • cost documentation
  • letters of support
  • landowner permission letter
  • commitment to use nursery best management practices for disease or to purchase nursery stock from nurseries that use BMPs (see https://restoration.sf.ucdavis.edu/)
  • planned signage (we may have signs you can use or adapt)
  • planned acknowledgment of the Conze grant
    • For example, in written correspondence and or signage, “Funding provided by a Conze Grant from the South Coast Chapter of the California Native Plant Society” (or “…funding also provided…” in the case where you have multiple funding streams.
  • ongoing maintenance plans
  • maintenance training plans

Electronic submission of the grant application by email is acceptable. For submissions, comments or questions, please use SouthCoastCNPS@gmail.com or contact any Board member with whom you have prior correspondence on this request.

Timeline

Once your grant application is submitted, we form a review committee.  Usually, the review committee will meet with the applicant and visit the planned installation site.  There will be dialog about the plans, perhaps a refinement of the plans, and then a recommendation will be made to the larger SCCNPS board who will vote it up or down.  The board meets monthly, so if you submit right after a board meeting, then it could be a minimum of 3 months to have a decision since we would discuss it the following meeting and decide the meeting after that.  For fall plant installations, please take this timing into account!  Sometimes we can expedite parts of this process because we are already familiar with the applicant’s project, or due to the clarity or simplicity of the submission.  We are an all-volunteer organization and appreciate your interest in native plants!

Notes

• NOTE 1: We are unable to consider retroactive funding requests; if you are considering a native plant project then please contact us early in your process.  Engaging in the Conze Grant process may usefully shape and inform your project and the easiest time to incorporate those changes is at the beginning.
• NOTE 2: To set expectations for grant amounts: Our grants tend to be modest – typically hundreds to thousands of dollars. Grantees tend to leverage volunteer labor, often the most costly part of a project.
• NOTE 3: Our geographic preference is to fund individuals or organizations within our chapter area.  There are exceptions to this guideline, so inquire first if you have a doubt.

Conze Grant Recipients

• Willow Springs Park mural 2022
• Theodore Payne Native Flora Area at Hermosa Beach Valley Park / Friends of the Parks
• CSUDH/Schoolyard Native Habitats in a Box
• Alondra Park Island/El Camino College
• West High School
• Los Cerritos Wetlands Trust
• Friends of Colorado Lagoon
• Friends of Gardena Willows
• Los Cerritos Wetlands Trust(II)/Seal Beach
• Friends of Banning Museum/Barn
• West Basin MWD/OFG – Hermosa Community Center
• Marymount Calif. Univ.
• Earth Science Club, CSUDH
• Friends of the Parks, Hermosa Valley School
• CNPS Statewide office
• PVP Land Conservancy – Apprentice Program at White Point
• Alondra Park Island/El Camino College
• Elizabeth Learning Center Habitat Garden
• Los Cerritos Wetlands Trust
• Intellectual Virtues Academy/Schoolyard Habitat Project
• Horticulture Program – CNPS
• Calflora
• Lunada Bay Homeowners Association
• Long Beach Education Foundation/Prisk Elementary School
• Hermosa Valley School sand dune 2015 $1,500; 2018 $1000
• Marineland Community Association, Inc
• Prisk School native plant garden Creek project / Prisk PTA
• Palos Verdes Peninsula HS
• Seed LA coordinator / Seed LA

Background of the Conze Grant Program

Elaine Conze was one of the 22 charter members who founded the South Coast Chapter in 1982. She was active with the Chapter through the late 1990s and passed away January 12, 2008 at the age of 97.

Andy, Elaine and Vince Conze formed the Conze Machine Shop just after World War II and provided innovative products for the auto racing industry.

Conze teams had raced at the dry lakes of Southern California in the 1930s, then became known for their oval track cars, and their attempts to win at the Indy 500 and Pikes Peak Hill climbs. Vince preferred to build and maintain the cars, while Andy managed the teams and Elaine handled the day-to-day business of the shop.

Vince never married, and Andy and Elaine never had any children of their own, though they always made their employees feel like family. Andy and Elaine created some memorable trips together. They loved primitive camping. They explored Mexican jungles to see the ancient ruins and stayed with the native Indians in their villages. They visited the Pribaloff Islands to live with Aleut Eskimos and watch the seals, walruses and exotic birdlife. They hiked, backpacked and camped in every state in the USA and all of the Provinces of Canada, except one.

The Conze Machine Shop closed in 1993 and Vince Conze passed away May 6, 2005.

Andy predeceased Elaine.