Maximizing Grants: Tips & Tools for School Funding Success

1. GRANTS! • Finding more money • For your school • For your students

2. AGENDA! Introduction First things first Looking for grants Writing grants When not to write grants

3. Goals of this session • Know the steps in applying for a grant • Be better equipped to find grants • Gain knowledge to improve grant applications • Bring more money to your schools!

4. What to expect Tips Tricks Tools

5. What you’ll need or Laptop Phone

6. Opening Activity – Poll Everywhere • What type of school are you? • Have you ever applied for a grant before? • What do you need more of at your school? • What are some common themes? • What funding challenges do you face?

7. What to do BEFORE you apply

8. First things first What to do BEFOREyou apply

9. BEFORE you apply 1 2 3 Communicate with the right people Determine your needs Know district rules

10. Needs: Good to request Smaller grants > $5,000 Books/supplies Events support Well-defined enhancement programs for students Specific one-time needs with a clear solution Larger grants < $5,000 Technology (with IT approval) Equipment/supplies Camps and other one-time activities Sometimes playground Activities aligned with school theme

11. Harder to request Often much harder to find funding, is more difficult to sustain with grants, or require district buy-in Capital upgrades Staffing and related salary costs Embedded, long-term academic/services programming General operating costs  Know what you are getting into first!!!

12. First things first Let’s look at the items we selected Is there anything we’d add to this list? Take away? Spend more time on before applying? *

13. First things first Let’s look at the items we selected Is there anything we’d add to this list? Take away? We will save the list for later planning *

14. What to do BEFORE you apply

15. Know the district rules If your grant proposal meets one of the following criteria, the proposal MUST be submitted to the Grants Office: -Amount of funds requested is greater than $10,000 (Grants of $75,000+ require Board notice) -Grantor is either the federal or state government  -Proposal requires Superintendent’s signature -Grant funding employs full-time staff -Grant application needs Board approval -There’s a contract or MOU -Grant project requires district support for implementation -Requires a letter of support

16. Who needs to know? A short list of who to communicate with before applying Your grant may require you to communicate with any of the following Policy and Compliance Human Resources Budget office Operations Technology Superintendent …Or contact the Grants Office for help

17. Trick – Justifying your request The best way to get through any barriers is to clearly justify your request with findings from a needs assessment Clearly linking the importance of your request with the needs identified in your school goes a long way to overcoming barriers A needs assessment can help But who has time for a needs assessment?

18. Tool – Continuous Improvement Plan Make sure to link grant requests to the CIP when possible The 5Essentials report is a good visual

19. What to do BEFORE you apply

20. Let’s search Grant search tips, tricks, and tools

21. Find grants Where’s the money?

22. Grant search – “Aggregators” • Aggregators: Sites or services that aggregate or identify grants. Typically related to a topic, so it is easy to see a number of relevant grants at one time • Pros: Grants are relevant • Cons: • These are usually national, and miss smaller, more local funders • Everyone else has the same information, so grants listed are pretty competitive • Examples: • The Center for Health & Health Care in Schools • Edutopia(George Lucas Educational Foundation) • Resource Associates

23. Grant search – “Data mining” • Data mining: Sites or services that provide data about grants and funders so you can mine the information for clues to identify possible funders • Pros: More information = better grant strategy • Cons: • Gives insight about past funding, not future opportunities or solicitations • Labor intensive • Requires lots of detective work • Examples: • Foundation Center(free at the JPL) • Guidestar(use this to look up IRS 990s and other past activity)

24. Grant search – Direct search • Direct search: Don’t forget to search companies’ and funders’ sites directly. Many companies provide grants directly. • Pros: A great way to find more funding sources • Cons: • Labor intensive • Requires detective work • Examples: • IKEA • Mazda

25. Grant search – Matching grants • Matching grants: Some funders prioritize giving to organizations where their employees give/volunteer • Pros: Great relationship-based strategy, great way to engage parents • Cons: Dependent on others to be successful • Examples: • T Rowe PriceUBS • PNC FoundationPepsi Bottling • Morgan StanleyMedtronic • FidelityChase • Charles SchwabBank of America • Coach *

26. The trick? The trick is vetting grant opportunities to find the most likely possibilities, and finding the best path to reach them What do you look for when selecting grants to apply for?

27. The trick? History of funding similar organizations Number of grants/amount of funds awarded Interest in a shared topic/issue Scandal! Relationships, relationships, relationships (also relationships)

28. The trick? • Ways to stand out—make your own paths to possibilities • Check out Guidestar.org • Read the paper (JBJ too) • Reach out for a meeting in advance of making a request • Find out who your parents’ employers are • Find out who your volunteers’ employers are

29. The DCPS Grants Office Page • The Grants Office page has all of these resources in one place, plus some perks: •  A listing of grants perfect for schools to use • Subject-specific grant searches (more to come!) • Notices of upcoming grant openings • A grants listing selected specifically for DCPS schools

30. Resources

31. Let’s write Grant writing tips, tricks, and tools

32. Writing Basics that work for almost any proposal

33. Basic grant components • Introduction/background—Setting the stage, providing any foundational information • Statement of need—Using data to frame the problem in a way that the listener can clearly see • Project description—What you are proposing as a solution, clearly described • Organizational capacity—The strength of staff/school/district as the grantee • Impact—What are the results of your funding, & how will you demonstrate it? • Budget—How do you fix the problem—solution • Supporting documents—establish the listener as a part of the solution

34. Basic grant components – supporting documents • Timeline—Setting the stage, providing any foundational information • Pictures/drawings—Using data to frame the problem in a way that the listener can clearly see • Support letters—What you are proposing as a solution, clearly described • Past reports—The strength of you/staff/school/district as the grantee • Resumes/CVs—What the result of the funding will be, and how will you demonstrate it? • But don’t overdo it!!! Pay attention to the application!!!

35. Hidden Figures • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btm0uybciPA

36. What did Mary do? • Acknowledge the listener—establish them in the story/problem • Define the problem—using data to frame the problem in a way that the listener can clearly see • Set the context—Why the problem is important, in terms that were meaningful to the listener • Establish the vision—What the vision is—how it could be. Draw the picture, especially in how it is different and better than the experience of the listener • Offer a resolution—How do you fix the problem—solution • Circle around to the pitch—establish the listener as a part of the solution

37. Other tricks…

38. Readability – this… • Readability—Use fonts, bolding, colors, to make your proposal more easily understandable

39. Readability – or this ? • Readability—Use fonts, bolding, colors, to make your proposal more easily understandable

40. Readability – or this ? • Readability—Use fonts, bolding, colors, to make your proposal more easily understandable • REMEMBER: Readers are HUMAN too!

41. Simplicity simple > complicated • Simplicity—You probably don’t need all of those words • Go through and replace words with simpler ones in your near-final draft

42. Simplicity simple > complicated

43. Tools Grant Planning Matrix Use this for your grant planning • Other resources • Grant Writing for Dummies • HRSA • Grant maker relationship toolkit: • Grants.gov

44. Do I even need a grant? Alternatives and when NOT to apply for a grant

45. When grants are NOT a good option • Long-term projects with no sustainability/wind-down plan • Projects/grants you have to work too hard to make “fit” • The cost of the project is more than the grant provides for • To fund something not supported by leadership • With a partner you do not trust/know

46. Some alternative ways to fund • Crowdfunding • Partnership • Parent-led booster • Revenue-generated model • Donations and matching

47. The Grants Office page has resources! Raijah Hayes, Grants Supervisor hayesr1@duvalschools.org 390-2973

48. THANK YOU!!! • Happy writing! The Grants Office page has resources! Raijah Hayes, Grants Supervisor hayesr1@duvalschools.org 390-2973