Grant Writing

1. Grant Writing

2. STEP 1 • Decide what it is you want to do. • Figure out what you need and how much it will cost. • Find a grant or foundation that will allow you to do that. FUTURES Foundation is a good choice for teachers.

3. What Do You Want To Do? Do you want to change behavior, change curriculum, add more hands-on, increase participation, increase attendance, use technology? Do you need a lot of money or will seed money do? Can you accomplish your task with $1000 or will $100 do?

4. What Do You Need? • Do you need technology? Equipment? Supplies? Mentors? Cash? Donations? • What is the minimum you can use and what is the maximum you can handle? • How much will you have to do to get what you need? Every grant has reports tied to it.

5. Finding A Source Of Money • Learning to ask is the key. • Scrounging is a teacher’s middle name. • Find the right grant for the right need. • Will the grant require in-kind,cash match, or both to receive the money? Partners matter.

6. What Will This Grant Fund? • Believe me, if it says it will not pay for technology, it won’t! • Believe me, if it says 4 pages total, they will just pull off the last 15 or 19 page entries. • 90% of grant applications fail because the applicant fails to follow simple instructions.

7. What do they want? • You must address what they are asking you for, not what you would like to talk about. • Think of a crossword puzzle and realize that everything must fit just right. Follow the guidelines. • Realize that without a track record you may not get everything you ask for. The more grants you complete the more money people will want to give you.

8. KEEP TRACK! • Keep track of the money you spend. Think spreadsheet. Also, keep copies of all receipts. • Keep track of people involved and what they are doing and how often they are doing it. • Meet your deadlines or explain why. If Florida is on fire and you can’t take 300 kids in the woods today then explain that to them.

9. Remember that nothing is free! • There are things you need to do for the grant and requirements you must meet. • There is nothing worse than accepting money, not using it or spending it the wrong way. • If you need to change your budget, report it in writing and give the reasons why. Most grants follow the 10% rule. This means you can modify up to 10% of what you spend but that is all.

10. Work With Everyone! • Wal-mart has grants. • Target has Field Trip Grants! • Spread the word for what you need. • Try it out small and then see what works. Keep what works and get rid of the rest. Try a small grant like Captain Planet for $1,000 and then go bigger.

11. Get Help When you Need It! • Ask in your county- do you have a grants specialist?- We have Bernetta Brown at extension 33233. • Ask if anyone you know has received one of these grants before. Look on the FUTURES website for winners. • Ask the granting agency for someone to mentor you . • For example, each National Service Learning Leader School is responsible for sharing their knowledge and helping others write service learning grants. Every state has these.

12. Get It Written and Review it Again! Get the English Department to proof it. Get someone out of field to read it. See if your goals are clear to them. Don’t be discouraged if at first you don’t succeed. Keep trying and call the agency and ask what you can do to improve the next time. Expect to get half the budget you ask for and plan what you can get done on that.

13. What are Matching Funds? • This means that for every $1 you receive, you will have to obtain $1 from John Smith or Mary Doe for the project. • Please Note: $ for $ match is not required to receive a FUTURES Mini-Grant.

14. What is In-kind? • In-kind means any contribution of supplies, materials, equipment etc. • For most grants, human resources fall under in-kind but FUTURES separates it out to help with record keeping.

15. What are Human Resources and how are they valued? • These are volunteer hours from scientists, mentors, business people, etc. that are valued at a set rate per hour. For example, per Bernetta Brown you can count $18.00 per hour for each volunteer you can DOCUMENT! So create a sign-in sheet with names, dates, and times and have your volunteers sign-in every time they work with you.

16. FUTURES Mini-Grant Application • Name of Applicant: This is your name along with any other teachers who are partnering with you. • School: • School Bookkeepers name: • Project Title: Keep it short, relevant, and clear.

17. Grant Name • 1. Try a name that is cute but related for FUTURES. For example, “UVB No More Sunburn for Me”. • 2. Try a name that is heavy and serious for a National Organization like NSTA or NCTM. For example, “The Effect of Ultraviolet Rays on Skin Melanin”. • 3. Try a “business” title for Target or Wal-mart. For example, “How to Purchase the Right Sunscreen”.

18. Grade level/Class designation • Names/Aide letters = just for you • Sex • GPA • Ethnicity • Race • Socio-Economic status- Is the school a Title I school? • At-risk……..Low performing status

19. Number of students involved in the project • Keep track of those directly impacted-this is your primary focus for FUTURES. • Keep track of those indirectly impacted-this is your primary focus for dissemination.

20. Needs for the grant- Remember the hidden ones!!!! These might be things like batteries to run your flashlights or printer ink to print your brochures: • 1. • 2. • 3.

21. FUTURES Grant Request Did you check the county warehouse? Did you check the county bid quotes? Did you price the local stores? Is there a large discount for teachers? Is there a clearly related activity with the purchase of this item??

22. Justification for Expenses Justification includes the rationale for each expense. Try to relate it directly to academic success and improvement. • 1. • 2. • 3.

23. Describe your project: • Who: Who will be doing it? • What: What exactly will be done? • Project Duration: New this year for FUTURES you will begin in September and you should end by late May to complete your report for June. • Where: Where will the project be done?

24. Goal of your proposal? Notice which of these has a “goal”? • Buy paper? • Have students write more often to increase _________ skill and ________ achievement?

25. How will this enhance your students or classroom? • In what ways? • Why would this be needed or important?

26. Assessment/ Quantative Data/ Academic gains • 1. pre/post///comparison of test scores///achievement levels///student portfolio using rubric/// • 2. details of activities • 3. low performing- how were they specifically impacted?

27. Continuation of last year’s grant? • In most cases this is a no. Usually this is a way to try out new ideas. Once you have some data and results, if you need to continue you might try other grants. FUTURES does repeat grant project funding if there is a demonstrated rationale. • Why would you need to continue and what is the impact of your project?

28. Partners and How to find them • Use volunteers already with you or your school. • Link to businesses already helping you. • Look around for mentors, scientists, and agencies already with you. • All around you there are partners. Ask your students, parents, administrators, fellow teachers, and anyone else you know may be able to suggest a partner to help you.

29. Partners Be sure that these are really partners not just a discount given to every teacher! 1. Who? 2. What? 3. How often?

30. Need assistance, contact: • Louise Chapman Science Resource Teacher District Science Office/Volusia County • Brewster Center • DeLand, Florida 32720 • (386) 255-6475 extension 20673 • Email – rosebayone@aol.com please note it if you are working on a FUTURES grant.

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