June: 4 education grants you don’t want to miss

School grants offer much-needed financial help for schools

june-grantSchool funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

Each month, eSchool News compiles a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from a focus on cultural traditions to prizes for deserving educators. You don’t want to miss out on these June school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

(Next page: June’s funding opportunities)…Read More

April: 5 education grants you don’t want to miss

School grants offer some much-needed financial help for schools

april-grantSchool funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

Each month, eSchool News editors compile a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from a focus on professional development for arts educators to funding that helps improve school leadership. You don’t want to miss out on these April school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

(Next page: April’s funding opportunities)…Read More

August: Four education grants you don’t want to miss

School funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

During the beginning of every month, the editors of eSchool News compile a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from ALAS scholarships to Google grants. You don’t want to miss out on these school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators!

[Next page: Grants for August]…Read More

July: Five education grants you don’t want to miss

School funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

During the beginning of every month, the editors of eSchool News compile a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from STEM engagement to school lunch programs. You don’t want to miss out on these school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators!

(Next page: Arts, STEM, and energy projects)…Read More

June: Five education grants you don’t want to miss

School funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

During the first week of every month, the editors of eSchool News compile a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from student fitness to iPads. You don’t want to miss out on these school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators!

(Next page: Thousands for after-school, student fitness)…Read More

Five education grants you don’t want to miss

School funding difficulties show no sign of abating, and school budgets are stretched to the limit. Many educators and administrators rely on school grants to fund important projects and opportunities for students.

The editors of eSchool News have compiled a list of the most current education grants expiring soon—from AP test assistance to environmental programs. You don’t want to miss out on these school funding opportunities for teachers, students, parents, and administrators.

(Next page: Win thousands!)…Read More

Dispelling five common grant-seeking myths

Myth: Grant deadlines are negotiable. In plain and simple terms, no, they are not!

As I’ve talked with a variety of people recently who are looking for funding for their education projects, I’ve come to realize there are a few grant-seeking “myths” that need to be dispelled. Here are the most common ones that I have heard.

  1. Grants are the answer to every financial crisis. I understand that many people are now looking at grants as a solution to their budget difficulties, such as losing staff, ending programs, and simply buying day-to-day items. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the majority of grants are intended to fund new projects, not supply new sources of dollars to cover existing expenses. There are a few funders who have made a decision within the last two years or so to change their focus and help organizations with their basic needs; however, for the most part, this is the exception rather than the rule. What’s more, receiving a grant award isn’t a quick process that occurs within a week or two. In the case of federal grants, six to nine months can pass before you receive notice of funding. Finally, grantors tend to fund grantees who have a strong record of being able to manage grants and who can show relative financial stability. Applicants who are facing a budgetary crisis are likely to find that grantors will see them as too risky an investment.
  2. Grants are easy to get. In today’s world, the competition for grants has become even more severe. Why? Because a larger number of schools and other organizations are applying for grants than ever before. (For example, a recent new grant competition in the healthcare field received 10,000 letters of intent and more than 3,000 applications.) Although some proposals are poorly written and are not very competitive in the eyes of reviewers, many of the proposals are high-quality and worthy of consideration for funding.  I would never say that getting grants is “easy,” and I’ve been pursuing them for a long time! If you have a good relationship with a funder, combined with a positive track record of carrying out projects successfully, you might find continuation funding is easier to achieve.
  3. Grant proposals take just a few hours to complete. Grant applications come in all shapes and sizes, ranging from online applications that contain three questions to 80-page proposal packages and everything in between. What I would say is that some applications do take a few hours to complete, while for other programs it might take weeks or months to put the entire proposal package together. It’s important to plan ahead and calculate how much time it will require to apply for a particular grant program, taking the following factors into consideration: How complex is the narrative? How much data do you need to support the need for the project? How many attachments are needed?
  4. Grant deadlines are negotiable. In plain and simple terms, no, they are not! If you cannot meet a funder’s deadline, your recourse is to wait until the next deadline. Contacting a funder to explain why you cannot meet the deadline is fruitless. Stop and think about it in these terms: If everyone asked for a deadline extension and it was granted, there would be no need for any funder to have set deadlines. Funders could simply state in their guidelines that potential applicants should contact them to negotiate a deadline that would be most convenient to the applicant. Yes, there are some funders who have “rolling deadlines,” meaning you can submit an application at any time—but if you see published deadlines for submission, take them seriously.
  5. There is a grant to fund everything. This one is somewhat related to myth No. 1. Although there are a plethora of grant programs and grantors, there really are not potential funders for every project—and the related expenses that accompany it. Remember, if you need equipment, nine times out of 10 it must be related to the successful execution of some type of project, rather than simply a “wish list” of what you want to buy.

Five reasons you should attend grant workshops and training calls

Send at least one person who is responsible for developing the grant-funded project.

When I started writing education grants nearly 20 years ago, many funders would hold Request for Proposals (RFP) workshops. During these workshops, they would review the RFP for a grant program and answer questions from potential applicants. (I remember a few workshops where program officers read the RFP word-for-word. As you can imagine, these were pretty hard to sit through.)

For federal grants, these workshops usually were held in three or four locations in the United States; one on the East Coast, one on the West Coast, one in the Midwest, and maybe one in the South. Rarely were questions taken from the audience during these workshops; in many cases, questions had to be submitted in advance. So, if you thought of a question while you were there—or an answer to a submitted question sparked another question in your mind—too bad!

Today, it is more common for funders to hold Technical Assistance calls that include PowerPoint presentations and chat boxes that allow attendees to type in their questions during the call. And, even better, many of these sessions are archived for a specific amount of time (usually right up until the proposal deadline) so you can listen to them several times to hear comments and answers to questions. Some funders turn the questions and answers into FAQ pages that are then posted to a website.…Read More

Six lessons learned as a grant reviewer

When I review a proposal and I can see that the applicant has done a literature review of studies, says Ward.

I recently received an eMail message from an individual who attended a workshop I led on grant writing in February. During my workshops, I often encourage attendees to serve as reviewers if they plan to write grants on a regular basis. This person eMailed me to say that she had been accepted to be a reviewer for her local United Way and that she was excited at the prospect.

Over the years, I have been fortunate to serve as a reviewer for several grant competitions at the local, state, and federal level. Each time I complete my assignment as a reviewer, I find that I have learned more information that makes me a better grant writer. Here are just a few of the things I’ve learned from serving as a reviewer:

(1) Reviewing grants helps you express projects in more clear, concise language. …Read More

Education grants made available for nine states

According to Reuters, nine states will be eligible to compete for education grants of up to $50 million through President Barack Obama’s “Race to the Top” program, the federal government said on Wednesday. The states — Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and South Carolina — were picked in the third round of grant competition after they failed to win funding in their first two tries…

Click here for the full story

…Read More

Rural schools face uphill climb for funding

Certain tips may help rural districts receive much-needed education grants and funding.

Large, low-performing, urban school districts make national headlines with their struggles and successes. But rural school districts, less frequently noticed or mentioned, also face significant challenges in helping students access resources that can give them tremendous opportunities.

As a still-shaky economy continues to worry education stakeholders, many districts are cutting costs to compensate for revenue loss and are ramping up efforts to secure education grants from companies, foundations, and the government—creating more competition for rural districts that desperately need more funding to help their students succeed.

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) indicate that $86.7 million was awarded under the Small Rural School Achievement Program, which is a Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP) initiative. REAP initiatives are designed to help rural districts that might lack the personnel and resources to compete effectively for federal competitive grants and that often receive education grant allocations in amounts that are too small to be effective in meeting their intended purposes.…Read More

New grant program seeks solutions to toughest classroom challenges

Educators are invited to share ideas for solving classroom challenges, with the chance to win grants to implement their ideas.
Educators are invited to share ideas for solving classroom challenges, with the chance to win grants to implement their ideas.

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) has partnered with the nation’s largest teachers union and its charitable foundation to launch a grant program encouraging public school educators to identify and solve K-12 education’s most pressing classroom challenges.

The new “Challenge to Innovate” (C2i) program leverages ED’s Open Innovation Portal to solicit ideas in a process known as “crowdsourcing,” in which officials tap the collective wisdom of a large group of people through the power of the internet.

“Smart innovation will help dramatically accelerate achievement and attainment,” said Education Secretary Arne Duncan. “Without it, we will surely fall short of our goals to prepare all of America’s students for success in the global economy.”…Read More