5 ways to increase your odds of securing State Capital funding for your project

The state has released additional guidance on the capital budget process. This is an abbreviated process, and organizations should complete the following steps to apply:

• Review the Eligible Capital Projects document and the Tips for Securing Project Funding document.

• Fill out the 136th GA Capital Budget Application.

• Send the completed application to the senator and representative whose district contains the potential project with the subject line: “Capital Budget Request: *Project Name*” by March 12, 2026, at 12:00PM. For members who might have earlier deadlines, please check your legislator's website.  

• To locate state legislators, you can use the Find My District tool.

Details to include on your capital budget project application

Community projects applications should be ready to supply OBMB with:

• Project name, a general description of the overall project, and a specific description of the purposes or specific portion(s) of the overall project for which state capital dollars would be used.

• Physical location and address of the project (city/village/township and county).

• Legal Entity Name and any alternative Doing Business As (DBA) trade names on file with the Ohio Secretary of State and the organization sponsoring the project.

• Identification of the facility or asset owner during construction and after work is completed.

• Estimated total project cost, including an itemized breakout of those costs over the next three capital biennia

• Amount of state funding requested for the FY capital biennium.

• Amount and source of non-state funding, including private, not-for-profit, local, and federal funds supporting the project.

• The amount and source of state funding the project or asset has received in the past, and whether the project will be requesting additional state funding in future capital biennia.

• Identification and a description of any use by or involvement of private for-profit businesses or not-for-profit entities.

• Identification and description of any use or involvement by the federal government.

• Identification of the annual amount of and source(s) of funding for ongoing operational costs.

• Any additional relevant information that the requesting organization believes would be of assistance in evaluating the project’s value and eligibility to receive state capital funding; and

• Description of how the project’s support will benefit the public and how often the public will be able to gain access to the facilities or services provided by the community project funds.  

Legislators use these same questions for their own questionnaire that they ask capital budget requesters to complete. That is because legislators will be required to submit a spreadsheet and memo with answers to these questions to the Finance Committee leadership for each project that they support.

5 ways to increase your odds of securing State Capital funding for your project

Successfully seeking state support for a community project through the capital budget requires a well thought out advocacy strategy and plan.  

Get senior staff and board leadership committed to the cause

Obtaining state capital funds requires the senior leadership of an organization and its board to be fully committed to helping personally make the case. The CEO and the board chair can expect to spend lots of time with legislators and others, giving tours, attending events, and otherwise looking for opportunities to spend time with legislators so they can make their case once, twice, and maybe three times. Spend the time mapping out connections between board members and staff with state policymakers. If you have board members and staff who are politically active, all the better. Just know you are going to be spending some time on Interstate 71.  

Decide whether you need outside help to make your case

Most, but not all, successfully funded capital projects retain outside lobbying assistance. But this assistance usually comes at a price. Organizations can typically end up paying between $3,000 and $10,000 a month in retainer fees for a single lobbyist or a firm. You may have to sign a contract for a full 12-month period. If your overall project cost is $100,000; it might not make sense to retain a lobbyist. It might be better to invest those funds in the project itself or in developing government relations capacity on your own staff and using them to lead your state capital project effort. If you do decide to hire a lobbyist, ask if they are representing other organizations with a capital request. You can also ask about their success in prior capital budgets and their relationships with key legislators.

Clearly make your case

Draft a one to two-page document that includes a project name, a general description of the project, the overall budget, funds committed by other sources, and a description of how state capital dollars would be used, note if the project has received state capital funds in the past, and finally, a describe how the project will benefit the public and how the public will be able to access the facility or services supported by state funds. If the project has been endorsed by key community leaders, you might include that as well.  

Tell everyone about your project

Share your two-pager capital project summary with everyone. A good capital budget lobbying effort includes a strong communications component. This can include thanking your legislative champions in your publications and on social media. You will want to assemble a list of everyone who needs to be reached and make sure that staff and/or board members are linked with those people with whom they have a relationship with. If you end up having to testify about your project consult a how-to-guide written by my colleague Hope Lane. This may be obvious, but some capital projects flounder because proponents never talked to the legislators who represent the area where the project is located. This typically happens when a group is solely focused on legislative leadership. Do not make that mistake.

If your project benefits people living outside of the location where it is being constructed, reach out to legislators who represent those areas as well.

Get on every list

Most state legislators, as well as local community organizations like chambers of commerce, maintain a list of state capital requests that they are supporting. As the capital budget gets underway, legislators and others will share their lists with the Governor’s office, the state budget office, legislative caucus staff (particularly their finance staff), the offices of the Senate President and the Speaker, and of course chairs of the Ohio Senate and Ohio House Finance Committee. If your project benefits people living outside of the location where it is being constructed, reach out to legislators who represent those areas as well. If they are a member of the Finance Committee in the House or Senate, ask them to speak to the Chair to advocate for your project.