As our economy has begun to recover
ever so slowly, grant opportunities have increased. That means if more grants are out there right
now, and less people are looking for them, it greatly increases your odds of
securing some of this grant money.
You still have plenty of time to
write grants for summer school, and this would certainly be a good time to
begin writing grants for the fall semester. You’re just going to have to alter your thinking a little. Instead of this being the home stretch where
you focus completely on getting to the
end of school year, you need to think of it as an opportunity to have plenty of
money for next year’s programs.
I’m not suggesting that you neglect
any of your teacher or administrator duties.
I’m just saying that if you’re going to write a grant or two, you’ll
never have less competition than you will right now.
If you are going to write several
grants, remember the sequence. First,
find the problem in your district, campus, or classroom that needs
correcting. Develop a good, workable
plan that will help you fix or alleviate these problems. Use a grant database to help you find grants
that match up with your problems. Gather
the materials and documentation that you need to demonstrate that you have
problems and that you have ideas, strategies, and programs that will help you
resolve those problems.
Then, write your grant proposal. Make sure you beat the deadline for
Working with a good grant database
will help you quickly and easily identify the grants for which you
qualify. I’d like to recommend the use
of the following school grant databases:
Discount School Supply
(free and very comprehensive for the categories listed)
The School Funding Center
(subscription fee, but the largest and most comprehensive available)
Ed.gov (free, lists only federal grants)
Grants.gov (free, lists all federal grants, not just those for schools)
(subscription, comprehensive list of foundation grants)
50 State Education Agencies (free, lists all state education grants for that state)
With the use of one or two of these
school grant databases, you will make your task much easier. The time is
right. The competition is less. You have April and May to make use of these
conditions before you get out of school for summer vacation. Let’s get started --- today!