Teach Me How to Get the Money

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Teach Me How to Get the Money

• A Practical Approach to Grant Writing
• By
• Cynthia Falardeau
• Executive Director
• Education Foundation of Indian River County, Inc.

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Grant Writing is Fundraising Fundraising is
about building relationships. Know Your Funder!
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Our Mission The mission of the Education
Foundation is to enrich and enhance educational
opportunities for all students and teachers, in
both public and private schools, through
effective fundraising and the efficient
allocation of resources Our Programs The
Sneaker Exchange Program, the School Supply Fund,
the Great Ideas! Grants, the Indian River
Regional Science and Engineering Fair Program and
teacher development initiatives
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• The Great Ideas! Grant Program Goals
• The goal of this project is to impact student
  literacy in the following ways
• Increase the level of literacy in classrooms
  through the use of technology.
• Provide necessary funding to projects that will
  impact literacy scores.
• Selected grants will provide evaluation tools
  that will demonstrate measurable outcomes.
• Projects will be aligned with the districts
  policies and objectives of increasing literacy
  scores.
• The program introduces teachers to the process of
  grant writing in a user-friendly format.
• Emphasize the importance of evaluation in
  determining the achievement of goals.

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• The Great Ideas! Grant Program
• Additional Program Points
• The Ultimate Purpose of this program is to fund
  original and innovative teaching concepts.
• We publish examples of grants that have been
  funded to demonstrate well thought out ideas.
• Our goal for this program is to make your
  creative, innovate and original ideas a reality
  in your school.
• We want you, the teacher, to come up with the
  Great Idea! The Foundation can not tell you what
  to write.

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Todays Agenda

• Types of Grants
• What Gets Funded
• What Does Not Get Funded
• Best Practices of Grant Writing
• How to Get Started
• Tips from Teachers
• Questions and Comments
• Coaching Opportunities

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• We seek to fund innovative ideas that have the
  potential to become part of the established
  curriculum.
• We do not fund line item requests. A grant is
  not a wish list.
• Grant proposals need to have a comprehensive plan
  that details a strategy to deliver academic gains.

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• Where We Get Our Funding
• Private Individual
• Private Foundations - Grants
• State Dollars through the Florida Consortium of
  Education Foundations
• (This is less than 10 of our operating budget)

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A Few Points Regarding our Funding
Sources1. The funding for grants is contingent
upon the dollars we raise year-to-year.2. We
are not an endowed foundation. This means we
are not sitting on a pile of money!3. Our grant
opportunities are donor driven.4. We publish the
opportunities as quickly as we secure the
funding.5. The donor directs how the funds will
be spent.
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Previous Grant Programs

• Quick Response Grants up to 500
• Reach Grants up to 2,500
• The Greatest Idea Grants up to 30,000
• The Bank of America Opportunity Grants
• The Clint S. Malone Memorial Grants
• The Syngenta Green Classroom Initiative
• Liberty Medical Uniform Grants
• State of Florida Matching Grants

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Current Grant Offering as of 10/16/09 Quick
Response Grants Public and private schools may
apply throughout the year for small grants up to
500. One page summaries may be submitted by the
first of each month. A response to each request
will be given by the 15th of each month. These
grants are to fund smaller classroom projects
focused on improving literacy. Up to 500
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• What We Fund
• Innovative Ideas!
• The following are examples of grant materials we
  have funded. The funding source determines what
  we are able to approve
• Computers and Technology Equipment
• Computer Software
• Classroom Supplies
• Books
• Academic Games
• Science Materials
• School Uniforms

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• What We Typically Do Not Fund
• Again this depends on the funding source
• Food
• Babysitters
• Salaries
• Playground Equipment
• Transportation
• (Presently we are looking into a resource for
  transportation)

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• We award grants to
• Primary and Secondary Schools in Indian River
  County
• The SDIRC
• We do not fund grants to
• Individuals
• Other Non-Profit Organizations

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• Grant materials become the property of the school
  that receives the funding.
• If a teacher transfers to another school, the
  materials remain at the school that received the
  grant.

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Grant Writing Very Simply Involves Writing a
concise, persuasive business proposal. You are
asking someone to invest in your idea.
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• Best Practices of Grant Writing
• It Begins with an Innovative Idea.
• Do Your Research.
• Create a Budget How Much Do You Need?
• Create a Plan.
• Determine the Measureable Steps to Track Progress
  and Academic Success.
• Plan and Explain How the Project Will Become
  Part of the Curriculum.

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• Additional Pointers My List
• Read the Directions.
• The first paragraph should contain the purpose
  of the grant and the amount of funding that is
  being requested.
• 3. Have a hook to engage the reader.
• 4. Be persuasive and concise.
• 5. Use short sentences.
• Avoid FCAT jargon.
• Choose a title that relates to the project.
• Include a detailed budget.
• Honor the relationship turn in your report and
  receipts on time!
• Recognize the Foundation in your school
  newsletter, school zone submissions and website.

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• Pointers from the Association of Fundraising
  Professionals
• Have What it Takes
• Clear Communications No need for fancy or big
  words.
• Organization Take and make time for research.
• Honesty Be straightforward. Tell the honest
  story. Only promise what you can deliver.
• Vision Enable the reader to visualize the
  program. Dont just describe the program from
  point A to point B. Paint a picture of what you
  will do with the dollars. Let the reader, see
  the program.
• Tell a Good Story The proposal should inform
  and engage the reader. Include why the program
  is needed, what you want to accomplish.

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Have What it Takes continued 5. The Good Story
Continued Many grant writers feel that the a
proposal has to be technical and boring.
However, if you are bored writing it, just
imagine what the person who reads it will
feel. The proposal should be fun, positive,
and enjoyable for the reader. 6. Resiliency
Tenacity is an essential quality for any grant
seeker. You are building a relationship with
your funder. Do not get discouraged if you are
asked for additional information. If you are not
selected, dont take it personally. Contact the
grant maker and find out why your proposal was
not selected.
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Teacher Tips Rhonda Drum Sebastian Elementary
School I think its important to start with a
vision of your most desired learning outcome. I
think of what I want to teach through the project
I am proposing, then I see how the technology
best fits into my plan. If you start with a
laundry list of new technology and a narrative of
what it will do for your class, it creates a
shallow, ineffective proposal. The project must
drive the technology, not the other way around.
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• Teacher Tips Continued
• Rhonda Drum
• I try to create projects that serve many
  students in many grade levels with the full
  buy-in of their teachers.
• I like to create environments where students
  learn, master, then teach the new learning of
  others. Its a powerful experience!
• Barbara Preziosi Sebastian Elementary
• My best advice is as followsthis is what I did
• Give yourself enough time to write the grant. It
  is not a quick process. It takes thought and
  support.
• After looking over the questions for the grant,
  try gathering some sources that you will be able
  to reference. Make some notes under each
  section. Dont try to immediately answer the
  questions in depth.

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• Teacher Tips Continued
• By Barbara Preziosi
• Break the grant into different sections. Some
  questions are easier to answer since they dont
  require supportive documentation of any kind.
• Take the other sections one by one. Dont try to
  complete them all at once. You dont have to do
  them in order either. Pick one to work on,
  gather the information, write it up and then look
  it over later when you finish the entire grant.
• As you work on sections, you may find that some
  information may be used in more than one area or
  that the information needs to be moved since it
  answers another question better. Feel free to
  copy, move, edit and revise.

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• Teacher Tips Continued
• By Barbara Preziosi
• It does help to have more than one person
  involved, especially if it is a big grant. They
  can help with brainstorming and writing sections
  of the grant. Make sure you have someone else to
  read and review the final grant. Too many people
  can hinder the process. I suggest 4-5 people.
• Think positive! Mark the due date on your
  calendar and turn it in on time!
• Dont be afraid to contact Cynthia and ask her
  questions.
• Dont give up if you dont get the grant. This
  of it as practice for the next one. It took us
  three times to get the BIG one ?

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Grant Deadlines Quick Response Grants The first
of every month. Please check our website on
November 16th for additional grant opportunities
and deadlines.
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• Additional Resources
• Public Education Network www.publiceducation.org
  
• Kids in Need Foundation
• www.kidsinneed.net/grants
• Target
• www.target.com

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Questions? Comments? For More Information Visit
www.edfoundationirc.org director_at_edfoundationirc.
org [phone]