Grant Opportunities Notes

• Foundations are looking to fund programs that (from Donna Rhodes, National Partnership for Excellence and Accountability in Teaching):
  • Create vision and capacity for achieving learning goals.
  • Demonstrate how technology will impact school achievement.
  • Look at how you get the staff to understand how it fits together.
  • Build on what is known about teaching and learning (connecting pedagogy to technology)
  • Budget reconfiguration and staffing issues.
  • Address equity, including teacher professional development in low income communities.
  • Have an educational impact, not just proclaim that teaching is more exciting and motivational with technology.
• Prospect Research (from Rebecca Flowers, eSchool News):
  • Target organizations whose priorities meet your needs.
  • Take the time to get to know funders
  • Four steps:
    • Narrow the list of funders
    • Get information about funders (beyond just program guidelines)
    • Cultivate new funders
    • Make current funders happy
  • Assess your needs:
    • How much are you looking for?
    • What is it for?
    • Why should someone give you money? What will they get out of giving your money?
    • Where can you find funders?
    • Where can you find out more about those leads?
  • Possible Answers:
    • Why should people give you money?
      • You have a good track record
      • They want to demonstrate national leadership (good model programs)
      • Local corporations want to train the work force
      • Innovative projects show that the company is innovative
      • Forms relationships
    • Where can you find prospects?
      • Colleagues
      • Local foundations
      • Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, etc.
      • Teacher organizations
      • Parents
      • Chronicle of Philanthropy
      • The Internet
      • CD-ROM databases of funders
      • College Grants Offices
      • Federal Register
    • Where can you find out more about funders?
      • Call the funders (be sure you have good questions)
      • Call previously funded organizations
      • Read other grants
      • Look on the web
  • Vision
    • Always ask yourself why you want to do what you want to do.
    • Create a shared vision with others in the community
    • Include student outcomes/learner goals
• Writing Grants (from Deb Ward, Independent Grants Consultant and President of Pennsylvania Grant Development Network, Debor21727@aol.com)
  • Before you write a grant, you need a creative idea/project.
    • "The best way to get a good idea is to get a lot of ideas." --Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize Winning Chemist
  • Collaboration is a key
  • There are limited funds available for hardware and software. Far more funding is available for projects that improve education and use technology to accomplish the goals and objective.
  • Be proactive, not reactive in seeking grants.
  • Scoring grants
    • Grant readers read too many proposals. Your grant must stand out.
    • Ask for reader comments.
  • Use the RFP
    • Read and highlight critical information
    • Look for funding priorities
    • Prioritize and evaluate your probability of success
    • Make note of deadlines and filing requirements
    • Make a list of what you need to submit
      • Do you need a technology plan?
      • Do you need letters of commitment from others?
      • Do you need documentation of what partners will do?
    • Develop a timeline and list of individual responsibilities
    • Section headings are important! Use them exactly as they appear in the RFP and/or checklist.
    • Pay attention to numbers of points awarded to various sections
    • Use the scoring checklist to review your grant
    • Pay attention to format
  • Read other people's (funded) proposals
  • Common sections of the proposal
    • Executive Summary
      • Brief and Concise (usually less than a page)
      • Get the attention of the reader
      • Used for PR purposes
      • Write it first or write it last
    • Needs Statement
      • Most important (often the most important part of the proposal)
      • Must be compelling
      • Connect the needs to federal, state, and local problems you are solving
      • Document the need with local data, service providers who service the need, surveys or reports, opinions of experts, Internet data (if it is current), research findings, task force reports (including community task forces, such as the United Way), public comments, comments from teachers, students, parents (whom you should routinely survey)
    • Goals/Objectives/Evaluation
      • Measurable
      • Internal vs. external evaluation
      • Timeline
      • Combine these sections if allowed in the RFP
      • Do more than just an end-of-project evaluation
    • Personnel
      • Job descriptions (run these by Human Resources)
      • Use a common a resume format
      • Only included pertinent information
    • Budget
      • Realistic numbers
      • Realistic timeline
      • If you include administrative and indirect costs, be sure they are allowed
      • Be sure the numbers and items match what was discussed in the budget narrative
  • Before Submitting a Proposal
    • Outside review
    • Check budget
    • Compare with RFP
    • Score
    • Proofread twice
    • Spellcheck twice
    • Read and review as though you are an evaluator
  • Keys to Success
    • Use proactive grant-seeking
    • Identify a compelling need
    • Write succinctly
    • Get readers comments
    • Persevere

This page was prepared by Dr. David M. Marcovitz.

Last Updated: March 16, 1999