Writing a grant is another popular way to raise funds for a school. Grant writing involves some preparation, research and writing, but can enable you to raise significant money for school programs.
Read the Tool Kit introduction to get started in the fundraising process. Consider the grant writing guidelines below to determine if you should write a grant and how to go about the process.
A grant for a school or school group should be considered when
· You are looking to raise significant funding for one specific and measurable program or project
· The principal has agreed that the request is a priority and is willing to sign off on the final proposal
· You have one or a few very dedicated people with strong research and writing skills
· You have at least six months to raise money
· You are looking for $5000 or more
Please note: The Fund for Public Schools cannot write a grant for you and cannot research, edit, or review your grant. We currently do not have the resources to support the fundraising objectives of 1,200 separate schools. Please read the guide below for help on grant writing and consider using the online resources listed at the bottom.
Many foundations will only make grants to a 501(c)3 organization. If your school does not have a 501(c)3, the Department of Education has set up the Fund for Public Schools, a 501(c)3 which will act as the fiscal agent for any school grant. The Fund will set up an account for your school and act as conduit to accept the money and allocate it to the school to use. The Fund does not control the money, it simply facilitates the donation. If you need to use the Fund as the 501(c)3 for your grant, you will need some basic information from the Fund about its status and financial history to send to the donor with your proposal. Each grant requires different information; please read the grant guidelines carefully and then email the Fund for Public Schools at fundforpublicschools@schools.nyc.gov with a request for documents. If you do not have access to email, you can call 212-374-2874 and ask for Deborah McGinn.
Step 1: Clearly understand the initiative for which you want to fundraise
It is crucial to know the initiative for which you want to fundraise and have thought through the process of developing, maintaining and evaluating the project. It is wonderful to say that you want to build a new library, but you have to know how you are going to manage the process of building the library. If you want to start an after school program, understand who is going to run that program and what it is going to accomplish. Speak with the school community – the principal, parents, teachers and students – to develop an idea that is going to be strongly supported and utilized. The clearer you are when you are thinking about the grant, the better your chances of finding the right funder and writing a solid proposal.
Note on Writing a Joint Proposal
A consideration before writing a proposal is whether or not you want to partner with a nonprofit organization to write a joint proposal. If, for example, a nonprofit group is running an after school program at your school, you may want to write a joint proposal to expand the program to serve more of your student population. This would allow you to work in collaboration with the nonprofit’s development and grant writing resources, and create a more solid proposal. Some foundations like to see collaboration between organizations, and often welcome a joint proposal.
Step 2: Decide what type of grant you want to write
The next step in proposal writing is to identify an organization whose funding guidelines match your proposed project. Finding this organization involves doing some research. Helpful information can be found online or at the Foundation Center library. Grants can be broken down into government grants and private grants.
Government grants – Government grants can be from the state or federal level. These programs are designed for a specific purpose and usually have many requirements and regulations. New York City public schools already receive considerable government funding from such grants. However, additional grants are available. The guidelines for who is eligible and for the programs supported can be found at the websites below.
Federal grants can be researched at www.ed.gov/funding.html.
New York State grants can be researched at http://usny.nysed.gov/grants/
Coming soon: the Online Government Grants guidelines
Private grants – Private grants come from foundations, corporations or individuals. Private sources tend to be more flexible in terms of regulations, and will often get involved in a discussion with the fundraiser to determine how they can best help the school. Many of these organizations want to be involved locally in the community, and so donate to nearby schools. Foundations and corporations often have their own specific guidelines for proposals. These guidelines can often be found on their website or with a phone call to the foundation. NOTE: before you contact a foundation or corporation directly, research is very important. See the next step on researching your grant.
Step 3: Research to determine who to ask and how much to ask for
What to Research
As you are researching private grants, you need to determine how the purpose and goal of the donor matches with the school’s needs. You do not want to approach a foundation that funds health and fitness programs and ask them for money for a reading program. You need to make sure your request fits with what they like to fund. There are several items that need to be considered:
· What is the purpose of the grant/foundation/corporation? Do they fund education programs? What kind of programs? Do they fund public schools?
· How much money do they usually give per grant? (This information is often available on their website). You do not want to ask a donor for $25,000 when their usual grant size is $5,000 or vice versa.
· How often do they make grants? What is the due date for the grant proposal? How long do they support projects?
· What information needs to be included in the grant proposal?
· Do they accept the Common Application?
Appropriate foundation and corporate donors can be found at the following sites:
Foundation Center Online
www.fdncenter.org
Foundation Center Online gives links to hundreds of foundations and provides a "User-Friendly Guide" for grant seekers. Some searches and portions of the website are password protected, but much of the site is not. The Foundation Center, located in Manhattan, also offers pay and free courses in grant writing to help all levels of fundraisers. There are also online tutorials for new grant writers, as well as an online funding library and additional resources.
Foundation Finder
http://lnp.fdncenter.org/finder.html
Part of the Foundation Center website, the Foundation Finder searches information about thousands of foundations in the U.S.
Fundsnet Online Services
www.fundsnetservices.com
Fundsnet Online Services main page provides links to hundreds of funding sources as well as grant writing and fund-raising tips. This link provides names of foundations and corporations interested in funding educational programs.
Foundation Center Library
79 Fifth Avenue
Manhattan
212-620-4230
Or please consult our list of foundations and corporations that have historically given money to the New York City public schools. There is no guarantee that these organizations will fund your school’s requests, but this list is a good starting point.
Step 4: Write the Proposal
Contents of a Grant Proposal
Although each foundation or corporation may have its own requirements in their “requests for proposals” (RFP), they generally contain the same components. Check the donor’s website for their specific guidelines. If you have searched the website and cannot find this information, then contact the foundation.
Note: Be sure to check if the foundation or corporation accepts the Common Application. This application will save you time and effort if you can use it for a few different grants.
In general, fundraisers will need to address the following issues:
Statement of Need – Often called “Needs Assessment,” this section asks “What is the problem?” Why are you asking for this grant? A description of the problem and why it is exists needs to be included here. If student reading levels are low and you are writing a grant for more books, you could state current levels of student reading achievement versus desired levels of student reading achievement. Then explain what the problem is that is preventing the school from closing this gap (lack of books). Be detailed in the description (specify what types and how many books the school is lacking).
Goals/Program Objectives – How does your school propose to overcome the problem? At the end of your program or project, where do you want the students to be? If your students are one year below grade level in math and you are writing a grant for a supplemental math activities or programs, where do you want them to be at the end of the program? On grade level? 6 months behind grade level? Setting a specific goal is very important, but they do not have to be test score based. Your goal could be to teach students healthy eating habits, or to be able to design a chemistry experiment. The goal must be clear and measurable. Also be sure to articulate which students you are targeting (4th graders behind grade level? Gifted 10th graders?) and in what timeframe this will take place (over the next school year? After 10 weeks?) Be sure to review the donor’s guidelines for any additional information they want in this section.
Project/Program Description - This is your plan of action, and the place to address the “who, what, when, where and how” questions. What is your project or program? How are you going to help your students meet the goals set above to overcome the problem? Make sure you have reviewed all possible solutions to solving the problem, and determined that your program is the best one. Tell the donor why it is the best alternative. Additionally, when describing your program, stress the aspects that best match up with the donor’s priorities. If a donor is interested in volunteering, and you have a program that brings parent volunteers into the school to read to children, stress the volunteering portion of your program.
Evaluation - How are you going to evaluate the project? How will you know if this grant improved the school and/or student achievement? Funding organizations need to know whether or not the program was successful in meeting its goals, and if not, then why didn’t it work out. Those who run the program should also know if it was successful, so they know if changes need to be made, or if the program should be continued. Simplicity is key. It is best to describe how you will use specific, objective data to show the results of the program or project. Evaluation methods should not be complicated and should directly relate to the program goal. Comparison of “before and after” data is a simple and popular way to evaluate a program. Be sure to review the donor’s evaluation requirements when designing your evaluation method.
Budget – How much is this project going to cost? This section usually requires an itemized list of the cost of the program. Make sure that your costs match with the amount of funding a donor is able to provide. If the donor cannot provide the funding that you need, do not try to cut your budget. Find another donor that is more appropriate for your program, or have more than one donor fund the program. You do not want to receive funding for a program and then be unable to start the program because it is not enough money. Your budget does not need to be overly detailed, but every item that is explained in your project description above MUST be accounted for in the budget. It is best to explain costs as cost per participant instead of just stating the total. For example, if you put books in your budget, do not just write you need $400 for books. Instead, it is best to say you have 20 students x 2 books per student x $10 per book = $400. Donors will often ask to see additional sources of funding if you have more than one donor for a particular process. The school counts as another donor; if the school is paying for half of the program that must be noted in your grant proposal. As in all other sections of the grant, refer to the donor’s guidelines on the budget to be sure you include the information they want.
Info on your school – It is a good idea to send the foundation one page of information on your school. If you have an existing brochure, you can use that. You should include your school’s mission statement, a little background about its location, type of students, achievement levels, programs and accomplishments. This “one-pager” can be used for every proposal written to give the foundation(s) background on your school and school community.
Step Five: Follow up
· After the proposal is sent, make a follow up call to the foundation to ensure that it has been received and to see if there are any questions that you can answer. Also consider inviting the foundation person to see the school/program for which you have requested funding.
· Be patient. Most foundations make funding decision at board meetings, which may only occur one or two times a year. Do not call a foundation every week looking for an answer.
Step Six: Reporting After Receiving the Grant
· If your school receives the grant for which you have applied, the first thing to do is thank the foundation. Write a letter and make a phone call thanking them for the funding they have provided to your school.
· Next, the foundation will most likely require that you report back on how the money was spent and the outcome achieved from the program they funded.
· Appoint one person to complete the report with the information requested in a timely manner. Be honest in your report. A foundation cannot take back the money it has given if the goals of the program are not reached. It pays to be honest and indicate what happened and how you could improve on it, especially if you hope to have continued funding from the foundation.
· Keep the foundation in the loop on school events that relate to their funding. Invite them to events and ask them if they want to tour the school. This will help maintain good relationships, and make it easier if you choose to apply for funding again.
Common Mistakes
· Selecting the wrong funding agency: It cannot be stressed enough that research must be done to ensure that school needs and the program focus match with the interests of the funding organization. Picking the right donor is extremely important – research the donor online and talk to them to make sure that your program is something in which they are interested.
· Not effectively articulating your case for support: It’s important to pick the correct person to write the grant. The proposal writer should have excellent writing skills and be able to construct a convincing argument as to why the donor should give money to your program, as well as be willing to donate the time necessary to write a good proposal. The writer should also be able to write in a clear and simple format, so that someone completely unfamiliar with your school and program will have a thorough understanding of the need and opportunity by the time they’ve finished reading. Do not try to use a lot of educational “buzz words,” or make the proposal overly complicated. Have multiple people read the proposal before sending it; typos and grammatical errors will hurt your chance of receiving funding.
· Being vague and/or inconsistent: The program goals and objectives must be clearly stated in the proposal. Do not ask for money just because the school needs money and the donor has money. Ask an appropriate, interested donor for money for a well defined school need and you will be much more likely to receive the grant. Be clear and consistent throughout the entire proposal.
· Not following the donor’s request for proposal (RFP) outline/application and grant guidelines: One of the most common reasons to be turned down by a donor is failure to follow their guidelines. Read the grant guidelines and the RFP carefully several times and follow the criteria stated. Address each point listed in the RFP as completely as possible. Do not skip sections, or add unnecessary information. Meet the donor’s deadline. Follow instructions as to how to submit the proposal; do not email it if the donor specifically asks for a mailed copy.
· Not saying thank you: Always thank a donor for any funding or gift they provide to your school.
Additional Grant Writing Resources
How to Get Grants and Gifts for the Public Schools – A book by Stanley Levenson, a school fundraising consultant, How to Get Grants and Gifts for the Public Schools contains tips, ideas and instructions to secure grants for your school. Tackling both government and private grants, Levenson addresses how to find a donor, writing techniques and online resources.
Online Tutorial and Free Classes
http://fdncenter.org/learn/shortcourse/prop1.html
Part of the Foundation Center website, the online tutorial is ideal for grant writing beginners. The Foundation Center, located in Manhattan, also offers pay and free courses in grant writing to help all levels of fundraisers.