Grants

Let's face it. Budgets are tight. We need to be more imaginative about how we get the resources we need to teach. There are various ways to tackle that issue, but the one that gives educators the chance to really get their thoughts organized and tackle a significant issue is a grant.

We don't consider ourselves experts in that area, but since becoming involved in it a few years ago, we've learned a lot. We'll attempt to share what we've learned, and what we are learning, through this site.

At the beginning

Getting your head around the underlying, significant issue - the reason for your project - is probably one of the most difficult questions for a beginner. I saw this article recently by Dr. Michael Gershowitz and thought it was a terrific starting point. Check it out: http://www.earthwalk.com/TechWize/volume1/april/grants.html

Golden Tips for Getting that Grant
Plant Talk - The Bulletin for the National Tropical Botantical Garden has a quick, one-page discussion of key tips on how to get funded. It will only take you a few minutes to read it, but it will yield a lot of valuable information. Highlighting the tips, might give you a different perspective on the critical issues you need to keep in mind as you go forward with an application.
http://www.plant-talk.org/stories/12grants.html

Tips and Hints about Writing Winning Grant Proposals
This site has done a terrific job of providing you with some key tips to be successful as you launch yourself into the world of grants. Check it out!
http://www.polarisgrantscentral.net/tips.html

The Art of Grantsmanship
Aimed more at post-secondary instructors, the Art of Grantsmanship by Jacob Kraicer is an extensive "how-to" complete with suggested timelines for a successful application. Much of this will also be applicable and very useful for those just getting started who are going for more complex applications.
http://www.hfsp.org/how/ArtOfGrants.htm

How to Write a Competitive Grant Proposal - Online Slide Presentation
An online slide presentation of the steps and key issues of competitive grant proposals has been put together by Dr. Neil Reiner. This one is also aimed at more serious, research scientists, but as you look through these different slides, you'll see a lot of commonalities. In other words, all these sites are going to tell you what is essentially the same information. Some will be briefer, some will be much more elaborated. At some point, you're going to find the one that speaks to your issues.
http://www.research.vhhsc.ca/i/presentations/Reiner/sld001.htm

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Grant Writing Tutorial - Online
This is a complete tutorial for beginners who are likely to be seeking funds from the EPA, but again, the information is applicable to just about any grant situation. If you can't get to a grant training session or you can't afford one, try this. It's the right price, too - FREE!

http://www.epa.gov/seahome/grants/src/grant.htm

Finding a grant opportunity
Before you can write a grant, you have to find one! Here are some sources that might assist with that search:

Try the helpful people at School Grants - a one-stop source for information on the PreK-12 arena:  http://www.schoolgrants.org/

The US Department of Education website that shows their forecast of funding opportunities. Those for 2004 have just been posted.

http://www.ed.gov/fund/grant/find/edlite-forecast.html

Finding, Writing, and GETTING the Right Grant for YOU!

Created for the Fermilab LInC program, this page gives you a variety of resources to help you understand the range of resources there are available to assist you in your search for funding. "The following annotated listings are here to give you a start in your search for the "all mighty dollar." They are by no means all that are available. To help you out, the listings are grouped in the categories of:

• Search Engines for Grants
• Grant Sites that Cover a Lot of Areas
• Sites for a Specialized Location or Audience
• Sites with Tutorials and Information on Writing Grants
• Sites with Information on Equipment Donations"

Grantmaker Web Sites
From the Foundation Center, private, corporate, public charities and community charity grant makers are listed at this site. If you haven't checked out the Foundation Center, then you should. They have a wealth of information available there to help you understand what is involved in successfully applying for grant funds.
http://fdncenter.org/funders/grantmaker/index.html

Purpose: Arts@Work grants enable arts specialists and their partners to develop career-relevant curricula that integrate arts education standards with technology standards. Exemplary units from the developed curricula will be published and shared with educators through the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Partnership. Recipients of Arts@Work Grants and their partners will

• work together to align curriculum with national standards in arts education

• integrate technology into this arts curriculum to ensure its relevance to the world of work

• submit written descriptions of original units from the arts curriculum, together with evidence that these units are effective

• agree to allow units judged as exemplary by a national panel of experts to be published and distributed

Deadline: Grant applications must be received via email attachment by 5:00 pm eastern time on March 3, 2003.

All details are available at:
http://www.nfie.org/programs/artsatwork.htm

EDS Technology Grants
EDS is sponsoring a grant that would purchase peripherals for multimedia, training, etc. It's a modest amount, but it is aimed at teachers ($1500) and could do a lot for classroom resources. There are multiple winners possible.
This is the link for the grant info: http://www.eds.com/community_affairs/com_tech_grants_03.shtml

Teachers have to obtain the application from one of the EDS sponsors. The links to their addresses are available on this page: http://www.eds.com/community_affairs/com_tech_sponsors_03.shtml

Deadline: January 17, 2003.
Note: This seems to be a recurring competition.

Last edited: March 4th, 2004