Grant
Writing
Kim Gregory
[email protected]
2nd Grade Teacher
Monarch Elementary School
Greenville County Public Schools
Workshop Session III 1-2pm
Writing Winning Grants and Awards
Moderator: SCPTA Board Member
Facilitator: Kimberly Gregory, Monarch Elementary
Description: Parents, teachers, and administrators will
learn the best websites for educational-related grants,
how to research whether your need is fundable, how
to write the grant, and how to report the effectiveness
of the grant. Ms. Gregory has a tremendous track
record of finding and securing grant-funding for her
classroom projects. She will share her insights as to
how to be an effective grant researcher and grant
writer whether you are at a Title 1 school or not.
About Me
2nd Grade Teacher at a public school in Greenville County.
This school IS NOT a Title 1 School and on the opposite end of the
spectrum.
Wife and Mother of 4 young children
Love making school so much fun that children do not realize they are
learning.
Have limited money to spend on my classroom/school
Love to win prizes and receive freebies
Enjoy researching on the computer
Which makes me the perfect grant seeker!
My Grant Story
2009-2012
It all began with the PTA!
Yes- My first experience at grant writing was through my
school’s PTA mini-grant application.
Each year, teachers could submit a mini-grant application to
receive a set amount of money (typically around $100) to
purchase materials for their classroom.
If you have the availability in your funds, please consider doing
this for your teachers. This allows teachers to get their feet wet
with grant writing, as well as provides the children with extra
resources.
2010-2011
$1,000 total
2010-11 Target Field Trip Grant ($800)Battle of Aiken in Aiken, SC
2010-11 Pets in the Classroom Grant ($200)
2011-2012
$850 total
2011-12 Target Field Trip Grant ($800)Cherokee, NC
2011-12 Pets in the Classroom Grant Renewal ($50)
2012 -2013
$4,000 total
2012-13 Target Reading Grant ($2,000) - Family
Reading Night "The Magic of Nutrition"
2012-13 Target Arts/Culture Grant ($2,000) - 3 in
school culture assemblies
So, if you are wondering where my Target Field Trip
Grant is- my best friend and co-worker in the 5th grade
won it this year.  Game on!
2013-2014
$9,600 + 1 mini-ipad for the classroom
2013-14 Target Field Trip Grant ($700)- Children’s Mus.
2013-14 Wal-Mart Foundation ($700) - Reading
Activities
2013-14 Target Reading Grant ($2,000) - Book Bingo
Family Reading Night
2013-14 Target Arts/Culture Grant ($2,000) - 3 in school
culture assemblies
2013-14 Office Depot Grant ($800) - Student Council
Service Project for the Greenville Children's Hospital
2013-14 Spartanburg Regional Foundation Grant
($3,400) - School wide pedometers and year long
morning exercise program.
So, Where Do I find Grants?
That’s the easy part!
And then join grant email lists
Now let’s discuss the
“Pieces and Parts” of grants
• Every grant has 2
major parts:
• A narrative: where
you tell your story
• A budget: where you
detail the purchases
made with the funds
The Narrative of a Grant
• Project Summary
• Need Statement
or Justification
• Goal/Objectives
• Evaluation
• Procedures and
Activities
• Timeline
• Dissemination
Plan
Project Summary
• Sometimes called
Overview, Summary,
Description
• Introduce a catchy
title
• Give the who, what,
when, where, how,
why of the proposal
Tips for the 1st Section“Paint a Picture”
•
•
•
•
•
Avoid educational jargon
Be specific and yet lively
Start with a startling quote, statistic, or description of a situation
Set the reader up for the next sections
Bold-face the catchy title
Now Let’s Convince Them to Give
You Money
• Justify Your Need
• With a mini case study
• With hard numbers
• With quotes from
research
• With expert support
• With testimonials
Be careful with need....
• Don’t beg or whine
• Don’t say that children
“have the right to”
• Do say “children will
be able to”
• Don’t sound pitiful
• Do sound like you
have a plan
Goals and ObjectivesWe are in the business of student
achievement. How is student
learning impacted?
• Select goal and
objective statements
from “validated
sources”, such as state
or national standards
• Keep them brief and
measurable
Exacting Evaluation Criteria
• Match ‘em 1 to 1 with
objectives
• Set criteria
• Include assessment
tools allowed
• Feel free to make up
your own evaluation
tools
Procedures and Activities
• Use bullets instead of
text
• Insert a “Timeline”
for implementing the
grant
• BOLD-FACE Items
from the budget and
how they are used
• Emphasize action
and skills acquisition
• With procedures:
outline what the
teacher/PTA does
• With activities:
outline what the
students do
Dissemination Plan
• How will you share
your ideas with other
teachers or parents?
• How will you give
credit to your funding
source?
How will your
grant recognize
your grant
donor?
Now for the Specifics
• Be direct
• Be specific
• Be meaningful
Start With Smaller Grants
• Many “Big Grants” require a history of smaller
grants
• Start with mini grants from a Community
Foundation
501-c-3?
IRS Status for your organization
or institution
•
EIN Number Required for Most
Grants
Non-Profit
Tax Exempt
Grants have a Protocol
• Always inform
administrators of your
intent to pursue a
grant
• With larger grants,
school board
permission is needed
How do I access Federal Grants?
• The best place: The Web
• www.ed.gov
• Click on : Grants and
Contracts
• Be sure to print out and
keep the document: What
should I know about Ed
Grants
Target Grants
https://corporate.target.com/corporateresponsibility/grants/field-trip-grants
•
•
•
•
Field trip grants
Early Childhood Reading Grants
Target Foundation Grants
Arts, Culture & Design in Schools Grants
Give With Target
• What is Give With Target and how can my school get
involved?
• During the back-to-school season, Give With Target allows
guests to help allocate up to a $5 million donation to schools
across the U.S. to help them get more of the things they need.
Beginning Aug. 14, 2013, guests can visit Target’s Facebook
page to access an app and vote for a school of their choice
once a week. Once a school has received 25 votes, Target will
donate $1 per vote, with a maximum donation of $10,000 per
school. The campaign runs through Sept. 21, 2013 or until up
to $5 million has been allocated.
How about making a banner and have a volunteer walk the line
during car line for these few weeks? It is worth $10K!
Pets in the Classroom
http://www.petsintheclassroom.org/
Foundations, Foundations,
Foundations
• Walmart Foundation
• Office Depot Foundation
• SAMS Club Foundation
• Dollar General Literacy Foundation
http://www2.dollargeneral.com/dgliteracy/Pages/family_literacy.
aspx
You can search just about any organization and add the word
“foundation” to the end to find numerous grants.
The School Funding Center (SFC)
• http://www.schoolfundingcenter.info/federal-grants-bystate.aspx?
Donors Choose
http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/search.html?matchingId=-1
Other Grants
Youth Service America – service/leadership related grants (all ages of studentsparticularly teens. http://www.ysa.org/
Grants for Teachers
http://www.grants4teachers.com/
Public Education Partners – Greenville Co. Grant
http://publicedpartnersgc.org/
Dollar General Youth Literacy Grants
Deadline: May 22
Youth Literacy Grants provide funding to schools, public libraries, and nonprofit
organizations to help students who are below grade level or experiencing difficulty
reading. Grant funding is provided to assist in the following areas: implementing
new or expanding existing literacy programs; purchasing new technology or
equipment to support literacy initiatives; and purchasing books, materials or
software for literacy programs. Maximum grant award is $4,000.
http://bit.ly/1i0oLDc
Other Grants
H&R Block Grants - Teachers of grades 4-12 are eligible
to compete for grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 in
the “How Big is a Billion?” contest. Applicants must
create a math assignment that effectively illustrates the
concept of $1 billion. To access the application, “like”
the H&R Block Dollars & Sense Facebook page. For
more information, click HERE. Deadline: April 14, 2014.
Saucony Run for Good Foundation - The Saucony Run
for Good Foundation provides grants of up to $10,000
to prevent and reduce childhood obesity through
running and healthy lifestyle programs. Application
criteria and the application are available by clicking
HERE. Deadline: June 13, 2014.
Other Grants
Captain Planet Foundation - Grants of up to $2,500 are available
to support projects that motivate children through science,
technology, engineering, and math. Projects should use
innovation, nature-based design to technology to address
environmental problems in the community. Priority given to
schools that have matching funds or in-kind contributions
secured. Click HERE to review criteria for submission. Deadline:
May 31, 2014.
Get Creative
Fun idea- How about asking Dell to donate x number of
computers to the school. Wrap all of the computers in gift wrap,
call the local media and let the children open the computers
(without knowing what is inside). This is a powerful
marketing/publicity tool for the donor and benefits the children.
Win-Win!
You could do the same with a shoe store (running club), fitness
equipment, ipads, even school supplies for those in need.
You can do this!!!!!
If you want to walk on water,
you have to get out of the boat.