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Chapter 2

Identifying School Projects and Finding Award Money

BECOMING A GRANT SEARCHING DETECTIVE makes you the de facto captain of your district’s grant game team. A good grant detective collects a list of colleagues’ needs and/or his or her own needs and identifies potential funding opportunities for the school. The “gumshoe” is always alert to notice trends and shifts in funding priorities. The economy and political agendas affect what types of grant programs are available. Some programs have been around for decades but others come and go as quickly as a year after they are introduced. You will need to know what types of programs are currently being funded and be ready to adapt your project goals and objectives, if necessary, so they conform to funding priorities.

IDENTIFY NEEDS

In order to determine your grant funding needs, you must first identify your own needs, the needs of your colleagues, and finally, your district’s needs. You can do this quickly by sending out an e-mail asking for a list of needed supplies, equipment, materials, and programs. A form will not be necessary; using e-mail will reduce your response and information review time. Once you have a stack of replies, sort them based on common response areas (categories): mathematics, reading, social studies, arts, consumer science, technology, physical fitness, and so forth. The largest department or academic area will not necessarily always have the largest stack of grant funding needs. Often the largest academic area is quite proficient at getting competitive grants and may even have a larger earmarking of Title 1 (entitlement) funds. Often the smallest department will have the greatest grant funding needs because they are overlooked as “essential” by administration; they have no cadre of educators looking for funding opportunities and writing grant proposals. Sometimes, numbers can outweigh need. Handle inequities by addressing each of the academic departments over a given period of time. For example: English Language Arts (ELA) may have the greatest need due to the No Child Left Behind mandates. However, only write a grant project for ELA once or twice per school year. ELA will have to cycle in and out of your priorities so that you can address other department’s needs—treating each area equally. Technology needs will always have the largest cost factor because technology usually requires new physical infrastructure work, tons of new equipment, more professional development training, and is often outdated soon after installation.

SEARCH FOR COMPATIBLE FUNDING PARTNERS

A fundamental rule of the grant game is to approach only those funders interested in awarding grants in the same area as your need. Start your search for a compatible funding partner by first finding funders that make grants in the area of your project. Here is a list of the project areas that are of interest to grant funders:

• Building or renovation funds (for nothing major)

• Conferences and seminars (for educational purposes, such as learning new mathematics pedagogy or reviewing a new character education curriculum)

• Consultation services (for experts providing staff development workshops, including those on grant writing)

• Curriculum development (for all framework areas)

• Challenge or matching funds (for leveraging monies to win additional grant awards)

• Equipment (for technology and other tools)

• Program development (for creating new or expanded programs)

• Program evaluation (for tracking short- and long-term program impact)

• Publications (for distributing information to constituents such as the school newspaper, bulletins for parents, and program printing for school events)

Of course, you will need to search further after finding funders that share your general area of interest. Most funders also are interested in specific subject areas, such as technology, after-school programs, extended-school-year programs, and parenting training.

IDENTIFY CORPORATIONS THAT WANT TO HELP

Corporate funding is the easiest to obtain. How do you identify corporations that have financial assets to give your school cash or donated equipment or supplies? Here are some great sources for information on corporations and businesses in your local area:

• Local chamber of commerce membership lists contain contact information and classify businesses by category. Purchase a directory and use the information to develop mailing labels for selected businesses that have the potential to donate needed items or to write a check for your project needs.

• Regional economic development authority reports document top businesses and industries in your community and usually include key contact names, addresses, most recent profit or annual payroll, and number of employees. Such lists should be carefully examined, and might translate into corporate funding potential for the grant searching detective. You can contact your local or regional economic development agency to request statistical reports.

• Local newspapers are full of information on local and regional corporations. Most newspapers have a business section where they list corporations in the state that are publicly traded. They might refer to these as the “Minnesota 100” or the “California 100” or the “Arkansas 10.” This type of list will give you the names of major corporations in your state.

• State commerce and economic development Web sites are jackpots for finding new and existing corporations in your state.

Use the Internet in Your Research

Once you know the names of major corporations doing business in your locale or state, you can use the Internet to research their products, services, and their community involvement statement. Any corporation with a Web site link for “Community Involvement” or “Social Responsibility” is one that plans to give back monies to the areas where they do business and where their employees live.

You can retrieve more detailed information on corporations in your area or state by searching one of the several online subscription services—for example, Hoovers Online (www.hooversonline.com/free/). Also, remember to check with your public library for print directories, such as the Thomas Register™ or Harris InfoSource®.

SEEK OUT FOUNDATIONS

By nature, foundations are established to carry out the charitable missions of their donors. Many foundations are especially receptive to supporting all levels of education, from early childhood education through graduate study.

The Foundation Center

According to Foundation Giving Trends, published by the Foundation Center in 2003, education ranked first by share of foundation grant dollars. Foundations award billions of dollars annually for education programs—this includes K–12 schools! The Foundation Center is the premier source of nonprofit funding information. It collects data from corporate and foundation funders around the world and publishes profiles on them in books (The Foundation Directory and other specialized directories) and on the Internet (www.fdncenter.org). Some states have their own foundation directory, so check with your local public library to see if your state has one. Most states have at least one Foundation Center Cooperating Collection, which will be at a state university, community foundation, nonprofit resource center, or large public library. At these sites, you can use the Foundation Center publications, online subscription-based directory, and FCSearch CD-ROMs at no charge. Together, these information access tools contain more than 600,000 entries related to finding foundation grants.

STATE AND FEDERAL FUNDING AGENCIES FOR SCHOOLS

Grant announcements from federal agencies are published daily in the Federal Register. This document can be viewed at local libraries designated as Federal Depositories or can be found online at the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) Access Website (http://www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html). The Federal Register lists all government business transactions, including grant funding or grant availability announcements.

FEDERAL FUNDING PROGRAMS

Can your school apply directly for federal grant monies? Yes, provided you use your school district as the grant applicant. Is this money different than the pass-through monies available through your state education agency? Yes, federal grant awards are viewed as a direct agreement between your school district and the federal agency doling out the grant money—usually the U.S. Department of Education. Recipients of “pass-through” grants are the state departments of education, even though the grant monies are subsequently distributed to local school districts in the form of formula allocations and competitive grant awards. The department provides more than $30 billion annually through formula-based grant programs and through direct competitive grant programs to improve elementary and secondary schools. The home Web page for this federal agency is www.ed.gov. When you view the site, remember to click on the “Grants & Contracts” link.

The Department of Education makes grant opportunities available to public and charter schools in academic and other areas, including:

• Carol M. White Physical Education Program

• Early Reading First Program

• Emergency response plans for school safety initiative

• Gifted and Talented Students Education Program

• Improving Literacy Through School Libraries Program

• Migrant Education Even Start Program

• Parental information resource centers

• School improvement foreign language assistance

• Teaching American history

The Department of Education also earmarks numerous grants for native Alaskans and Hawaiians and for federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations. Check your state’s department of education Web site frequently for competitive federal and state grant announcements (see page 6 for further details). The sooner you are aware of a grant funding opportunity, the sooner you or your school’s grant writing team can start work on the grant application.

WINNING GOVERNMENT GRANTS

What are some of the things that give your school the edge for achieving government grants? If your school or school district is located in a specially designated federal zone, then your application will score more peer review points and knock out some of your competitors who lack the designation. When you submit your grant application package to a state or federal funding agency, federal legislation requires that your peers (other educators) participate in the decision-making process to fund or deny funding your grant request. Peer reviewers are oriented to the agency’s grantmaking guidelines and give a copy of forms, titled Peer Review Forms. Each section in the narrative of your grant application as well as the budget section is assigned points. Most applications are assigned 100 points; some will have more points. Often you will see these points next to each section of the narrative in the grant application guidelines. For example, the need statement may be worth 20 points; the program design, 30 points. Peer reviewers are trained to look for specific guideline criteria in each section. If your application narrative adheres strictly to the guidelines, from formatting to competitive responses, then your application will score higher review points than other applications. Only applications with the highest review points are recommended for state or federal funding (this is covered in more detail on pages 26 and 27).

Empowerment Zone (EZ) and Enterprise Communities (EC). The Community Empowerment Program was enacted into law in August 1993. To be eligible, communities had to have high rates of poverty and submit an extensive application to the federal government. Urban and rural areas across the United States were selected to be federally designated Empowerment and Enterprise Zones. Each designation gives local communities special tax advantages to fuel economic development. In addition, every federal agency that bestows grants also gives extra technical review points to grant applicants located in an Empowerment or Enterprise Zone. If you are unsure of your community’s status, call the local economic development agency and inquire—it is to your advantage to find out and use this “label” to attract government grant monies. You can also find a list of zone designations at this Web site: http://www.ed.gov/pubs/fixschools/zones.html. The site lists states, counties, and cities that qualify for special grant funding consideration.

Federal Colonias Zones. Colonias encompass communities of all types and sizes—both incorporated and unincorporated—that meet the federal definition of lacking sewer, wastewater, or decent housing. A “Colonia,” Spanish for neighborhood or community, is a geographic area located within 150 miles of the U.S.-Mexico border that has a majority population composed of individuals and families of low and very low income. If your school is located near the U.S.-Mexico border, call your local U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Renewal (HUD) office to check your Colonias Zone status. Many government agencies add additional technical review points to your total grant application score if your school is located in one of these impoverished areas. This Web site provides links to regional U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development offices: http://www.hud.gov/directory/ascdir3.cfm.

LESSONS LEARNED

Several years ago, soon after the EZs and ECs were established, I wrote a federal grant application for a school corporation located in a large EZ area, and this meant they had all the right demographics for ranking high with the agency’s peer reviewers and program staff. The competition was stiff and fewer than 10 awards would be made nationally, but my client thankfully received more than $800,000 in grant monies to start an alternative school for dropouts. Later, a Congressional member from my client’s state told me that the EZ designation made all the difference in the world for achieving this grant.

ACTION STEPS

Search daily. Set aside a time every day to search for grant funding opportunities. Check your mail and e-mail for announcements. Read the newspaper, looking for new businesses moving into the state or region. Log onto the Internet and check your state education agency, U.S. Department of Education, and Foundation Center Web sites. Share your findings with members of your grant writing team.

Be creative. If you cannot find anything relevant to your school’s needs, then try using a search engine, such as Google™ (www.google.com), and type in “math grants,” “computer grants,” “science grants,” “consumer science grants,” “grants for elementary schools,” and so forth in the search box.

Surf with the pros. Log onto the Web site Welcome to School Grants! (www.schoolgrants.org) and see what you have been missing. Your peers around the country use this free Web site to identify all types of school grants, and to see examples of funded grant applications posted by teachers who have been successful at winning grants for their schools.