Funds for Foundations and government departments that provide grants for School projects are not unlimited, and for this reason even perfect grant applications may be refused. This is not to say that a School ought not to put its best foot forward when applying for an Educational Grant. Just that the motto should be try, try and try again until you get it right. So, do not be discouraged. Follow our grant writing tips for schools, and your School will stand a better chance.

• Read the instructions, guidelines and hints that the Grantor provides very carefully, making notes as you go along. If you attempt to fit a grant program to your School’s requirements, then you are putting things back-to-front and this is a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Your requirement must match what the Grantor has in mind – if it does not, move along and find another grant.

• Be as innovative and creative as you can when you apply for a School Grant.  A touch of humor can spice up an otherwise boring subject and help the grant assessor maintain attention. Remember that the goal of School Grantors is not to subsidize normal operating costs – they are project orientated and more interested in helping find creative solutions for special needs. Stay away from risky schemes and put a new spin on old ideas.

• Be realistic. Include an evaluation plan that details how you propose to evaluate progress, with criteria and time scales too. A Grantor wants to know how you will report on progress made with the money that they give you. If your scheme could be of value to other Schools as well, include this in your Grant proposal and provide information on orders of magnitude. A Grantor will be more interested in a School Grant proposal if there are spin-offs for other institutions too

• Make sure that you also include a detailed budget. This must mention what the School will provide itself, in terms of funds, staff and other resources. The gap will be your motivation for the value of the Grant.

• If possible, refer to research finding and reports by other Schools that show that your ideas are feasible, not pipe dreams. A good School Grantor does not want to spend money on what they know already. You will find help here.

The key to writing a successful Educational Grant application is absolutely clarity – why not let a few colleagues critique your draft and feed back to you what they think you said. If your Grant application does end up being rejected, do not give up. Every journey begins with the first step and failures are opportunities in disguise to learn. Is this not what you tell the students in your class?

This information is from educationalgrants.net, a website that provides free information on Educational Grants. You will find valuable information there, including Grant Writing Tips for Schools.

Getting An Educational Grant is a post from: Educational Grants

There are several reasons why School Grants are not necessarily the best and only way to raise money for your school. These reasons include:

• Your need may not match a suitable grantor’s schedule

• The grantor’s program may be oversubscribed for the year

• You are unable to provide the level of detail that a grantor needs

• There may not be enough time to complete the grant process

• An appropriate grant may not exist.

When these problems arise, why not introduce a fundraising initiative instead. Find raising can be much quicker, meaning that your all important project gets off the ground sooner.

You need to bear the following in mind

• A crucial difference between a grant and a donation to a fund raising effort is that, while a grantor may already have a budget, a donor seldom has. With a grant, you often just need a single target. With a fundraising project, on the other hand, you need to use a shotgun approach because you are after many, far smaller gifts.

• Do not try to re-invent the wheel yourself. Rather speak to colleagues in other schools and learn from their fundraising experience. In fact, any community-based organization will have ideas and useful background too – what about churches and other non-profit groups.

• Before you leap off into the unknown, you need to have a clear idea of where you are heading, and what you must achieve. What are your project objectives? How much money do you need? Who are your donors likely to be? In the last regard, do not forget to include the students at your School, and their parents too. You will be surprised how much money you could raise this way, and every little helps.

The following is a useful checklist that many Schools successfully apply:

• Is your idea compatible with School ideals and values? If not, holding a bikini contest at a religiously conservative institution could be a bad idea. Rather think again.

• Has the School Management Board or other body approved it? If not, then going ahead without this could be a career-limiting move.

• Do you have to register your scheme with some or other body?

• How are you going to raise the money? Are you planning a concert, sports day or similar event? Will somebody underwrite the costs for you in case your project flops?

• Who is going to help you in terms of time? You cannot plan, rehearse and manage a concert while also taking gate money and cooking food. Make sure that you will have enough resources available on the day.

• Finally, are the benefits likely to be worth the time and effort? Too many well-meaning teachers rush off and bust a boiler, only to be deeply disillusioned on the day.

Remember too that people get tired of Schools asking them for money all the time. At all costs, avoid too many fund raising efforts in a year. Experience suggests just one or maybe two a year, carefully chosen so that they will twang the heartstrings of the community. That way, your chances of success will be tht much greater.

Fundraising is often a quicker way to raise money. A school fundraising initiative needs careful planning, to make sure that the results are worthwhile, and that the organizers can cope with the pressure too.

Raising Educational Money is a post from: Educational Grants

The American National Science Foundation is an Independent Federal Agency tasked by United States Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science and to advance the national health, prosperity, and welfare through identifying and funding work at the frontiers of science. The Foundation has an annual budget of almost $7 billion for the year 2010 and uses this allocation to fund around 20% of all basic research conducted at the Nation’s Colleges and Universities. In fields including computer sciences, mathematics and the social sciences too, the National Science Foundation is the leading source of federal funds. Why not apply for a National Science Foundation Grant Today

The Foundation does not believe in working from the bottom down. It keeps in touch with research throughout the nation by constantly monitoring activity in the research community as it seeks to track the explosion in human understanding. Where is identifies areas with huge potential it becomes involved with funding and choosing the right people. The foundation’s Geo-Science Education Program is the administrative conduit through which the National Science Foundation considers, evaluates and approves funding applications. The awards it makes provide start-up or proof-of-concept funding to incubate innovative research until it reaches the tipping-point of self-sustainability.

The Geo-Science Education Program provides support throughout the education hierarchy from elementary to post-doctoral levels, and includes middle, secondary, undergraduate and graduate programs too. Targets include geo-science oriented pre-service teacher training and in-service professional training programs too. Web-based educational systems fall within the remit of the Digital Library for Earth System Education.

The goals of the Geo-science Education Program include:

• Improving the quality of geo-scientific education at all levels

• Increasing the quality and quantity of earth and space science K-12 educators

• Increasing numbers of enrolled geo-science students at all levels

• Enhancing public understanding of geo-science related matters

The Geo-Science Education Program awards a maximum of 15 National Science Foundation Grants every year. Applicants may propose grants of up to $200,000. The Foundation usually releases funds over a period of two years to facilitate the development of longer-term project sustainability.

Science Grants is a post from: Educational Grants

• Bringing all forms of Art to all Americans

• Promoting excellence in established and new Art forms

• Providing leadership in Arts education

The Endowment is the nation’s largest Arts grant sponsor, and is involved in all spheres of American life, and in all 50 States, including inner city and rural areas and even military bases too. It also has an ongoing commitment to ensure that all children (not just those especially talented) receive a broad education in the different Arts while still at school. Targeted activities include creating, performing and communicating through a wide variety of artistic media.

The nation’s needs change over time as priorities shift. Today, the Arts Endowment is focussing on developing themes for educators to explore in teaching their students artistic knowledge, skills and understanding that they can share with their communities. Some of these students go on to higher levels of arts education and become leading American artists. Others use their broader understanding as backdrop to other academic subjects. Interestingly enough, students exposed to the Arts at school tend on average to achieve higher grades in other subjects too.

It is important that education grant applicants with an eye on the National Endowment for the Arts have the Foundation’s objectives in mind when applying or attending an interview. Their objectives will have to be naturally part of the over-arching Foundation Vision, if they are to succeed.

Any one organization may submit only one application for a grant. This ensures that they deliver quality applications, and really do intend to follow through if they are successful. Here is a summary of the main grants that the National Endowment for the Arts offers to the broader education community in terms of its remit (if the organization applies under the wrong category, evaluators may transfer their proposal to a more appropriate one):

• Category 1: Learning in the Arts for Children and Youth

The objective of the category is to promote the education of youth and children in the Arts, and in a school-based or community setting too. Education should be in-depth, curriculum based and take place over en extended period. Student projects, which should provide participatory learning and include interfaces with skilled artists, must also embrace the following aspects:

• Opportunities to personally experience living high quality Art
• Acquisition of creative skills
• Application of these skills within the chosen program theme
• The use of national or state art education standards as assessment criteria

More about this at http://www.nea.gov/grants/apply/GAP11/LITA.html

• Category 2: Access to Artistic Excellence

The goals of this program are to:

• Preserve the American cultural heritage
• Encourage and support artistic excellence
• Ensure access to art for all Americans

The targets are projects that will promote short-term exposure to the arts by youth and children, and intergenerational programs as well. Sub-themes include artist communities, dance, design, folk and traditional arts, literature, local arts agencies, media arts, museums, music and musical theatre, opera, presenting, theatre and the visual arts.Choosing the right sub-theme is important. The Foundation provides advice athttp://www.nea.gov/grants/apply/GAP11/LITA.html#choose

• Category 3: Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grants

This category aims at small to mid-sized organizations seeking to reach out to under-serviced groups. The approach is to be informal, and the Foundation will not fund curriculum-based education under this Category. Visit http://www.nea.gov/grants/apply/GAP11/Challenge.html for further information.

These are by no means the only education grants available from the National Endowment for the Arts. Other opportunities include Creativity and Aging in America, Radio and Television Programs, Principles of Urban Design for Mayors, and Community Arts and Humanities Programs aimed at celebrating the creativity of the nation’s younger people.

The National Endowment for the Arts is an independent federal agency dedicated to ensuring that all Americans have the opportunity to experience the Arts. It does this through a variety of grant programs aimed at all citizens, from the youngest to the very old.

Arts Grants is a post from: Educational Grants

Some grant applications fail because of ineffective links between the object of the grant, and the wider community environment beyond. The secret is to merge these two effectively, so that the grant application becomes a true expression of the deeper need. Keep these tips in mind, and your grant application will be in harmony with the community’s wider needs. In this way, grantors become partners as opposed to donors – something that they very much appreciate because this is so close to their own hearts.

Practical Example: Funding for a Pre-School Day-Care Center

• Develop a crystal-clear idea in your own mind regarding the root problem that your grant proposal intends addressing. Perhaps you are seeking funding for a pre-school day-care centre. That is great. However possibly the true problem that you wish to solve is that in a poorer area both parents have to work. Why does this worry you? Find out what other community programs focus on the same underlying issues, and develop ways that blend your ideas with these.

• Identify the specific gap in the overall program that your proposal aims to fill. Is the working parent problem you are concerned about related to a specific geographical location or sub-community? Alternatively, is it time-related because the parents are seasonal workers? Know which gap needs fixing, and how it relates to broader socio-economic issues as well.

• Take a longer view and visualize the changes that implementing your ideas will make to the lives of the beneficiaries. How will things be different when your dream is in place? Imagine parents returning home to greet their well-fed happy children, and these children getting better grades when they begin school too. If this is your objective, then that is the vision that must underpin your proposal for a grant.

• Determine objective measures for success. The original goal in the example used here was a completed pre-school day-care centre in a poorer area (and that is a worthy objective too). However, it is more than just that. The true goal appears to be a drop in poverty-related childhood diseases among local pre-school children, and also better junior school grades. Now we are getting closer to the goal for which you need that grant.

• Your grant application is far more likely to succeed when there is clear evidence of local community support and participation. In other words, you need a winning team. Letters of support from neighborhood leaders and district counselors are a good start here. Beyond that, how many temporary and permanent jobs will result? Who can help build the building, and who will operate it afterwards? Find evidence that local people can do the work.

The Real Need is Lower Childhood Disease, Better Junior School Grades, and Extra Jobs.

An educational grant application has better prospects of success when it addresses fundamental needs in a community, and produces other benefits too. When you follow these tips, your community has a better chance of benefiting from a grant. This is why blending grant and program planning is so important

Educational Grant Application is a post from: Educational Grants

If you would like to further your education, but are unable to raise the funds to do so, then you should consider applying for a government education grant. This is because government money is usually available for those who qualify, and have a reasonable educational record of accomplishment. All you need to do to get your hands on these funds is to qualify in principle, and to understand the application process to follow to get your school or college education paid for.

Academic Potential

It does not make sense to provide an educational grant to a student who will, or cannot study, which is why the government usually looks for signs of academic potential. Assessors often look at previous school results. If you have always been an unsuccessful student, then you should perhaps fix that first, before you apply for government money.

Exceptions may however be made where compelling reasons exist for this. This means that if your past academic record has been adversely affected by cognitive or physical disability, or perhaps dysfunctional factors in your social or family background, then you should still consider applying. Such proposals need to be carefully worded and motivated, and you should ask someone who knows you well enough, to lend you a helping hand.

The “Why Me” Question

It has been correctly said that a salesperson cannot sell a product that they do not believe in. Equally so, you cannot motivate yourself for an educational grant  unless you truly believe that you qualify for it. The following are the big questions that you need to answer before you even begin to look for a grant:

• What are your goals in life, and why do you need education to achieve these?

• What specific qualification(s) do you need for this career?

• What especially makes you interested in that particular course of study?

• What are you going to do, to make sure that your studies will be successful?

• How do you intend to pay society back for your education grant?

The Core of a Good Educational Grant Application

Let us assume that you are applying for a grant in order to be educated as a School Teacher. If this is the case, then the bones of your covering letter could perhaps be like this:

I have always wanted to be a School Teacher because I would like to repay the efforts that my teachers have put into my own development in the past. Unfortunately, I come from a poor inner-city background and my Mother cannot afford the college fees. There is also nobody else to whom I could turn for help. If successful, I undertake to apply myself to my studies, and to always put my study curriculum ahead of other interests. I already have a computer and a desk at home where I can study in the evenings. I have decided to specialise in Geography as my main teaching subject. This is because I have always wanted to travel and I believe that shared understanding is a pathway to peace. After I have qualified as a teacher, I promise you that I will continue in my chosen vocation, for as long as I possibly can.

Hardly rocket science, is it? But, please do make sure that you mean what you say sincerely too. The only thing worse than wasting grant money, is frittering away the precious years of your younger life.

Other Hints and Tips

Officials who review applications for Education Grants are experts on the subject because they to this for a living. First impressions always count, and the following are important in this regard:

• Avoid irritating the assessor (who you will probably never meet) by causing confusion or irritation.

• Make sure that everything flows through smoothly from your covering letter, and at all costs avoid inconsistencies.

• Complete every page on every form clearly and succinctly. Never say on “Form B”, for example that the information is already written down on “Form A”. It is always a good idea to do a draft run on a copy of the form. That way you can make sure that everything fits in neatly, and that there are no untidy corrections.

• Finally, provide all the other supporting information listed on the form. If you are attaching copies, ask your religious leader or teacher to confirm that these are genuine.

How To Take Action Today

There is no earthly reason why you should not apply for an Educational Grant if you qualify for it, because you deserve it, and because you will repay it through your normal taxes in your later life. Elsewhere on this web site you will find information on the different government departments that provide Educational Grants that are available to you.

How To Get Educational Grants is a post from: Educational Grants