WIN BIG with Grant Champions! Access presentation on our website : Go to main portal http://www.fultonschools.org On the main banner, click on ‘District’ Click on ‘Department Directory’ Scroll down and select ‘Grants’

Topics of Discussion for today’s workshop Today’s Agenda Topics of Discussion for today’s workshop Introductions Office of Grant Development Website Grant Champions Program Overview Strategies for Mining Local Resources DonorsChoose.org Create and Post Your Donors Choose Project Tips and Tricks to Get Funded Introductions

Introductions Briefly share a bit about yourself including… Where do you work? Have you written any grants before? Have you received any grant awards? What resources do you need in your classroom?

Office of Grant Development Website We have a web presence on two sites: Office of Grant Development on the main portal Office of Grant Development on the employee portal Bookmark this site to access the monthly Grant Alert

Online Resources Online Resources Twitter Feed with Current Grant Opportunities Grant Resources and Workshops Upcoming Events Grant Exemplars Recent Grant Awards Monthly Grant Alerts Our website, provides online resources with grant alerts, sample grant budgets, proposals and exemplars for reference. Our Twitter Feed runs along the side of the page with links to current grant opportunities.

Grant Development Approval Process Inform Principal of intent to submit a grant proposal or intent to participate in a grant with another organization. Discuss grant objectives, alignment to strategic plan, grant budget, reporting requirements, roles and responsibilities, etc. Complete the online Grant Approval Form Submit Grant and let us know if awarded. Allow up to 2 weeks to obtain approvals prior to grant submission. Coordinate with the Office of Grant Development to facilitate securing signatures in the Central Office. If awarded, let the Grants Dept. know. Be sure to write a thank you note and take pictures, tweet about it, tag the funder, FCS Grant Champs and FCS Leaders.

Grant Champions Program Overview Participating in Grant Champions is an opportunity to build your grant development skills and secure additional funding for your school or department. The Office of Grant Development provides grant resources and consultative support to help you and your grant team navigate the grant approval process and develop competitive grant proposals. As the Grant Champion, you will lead the grant development efforts for your school. The time Grant Champions invest in the program will vary, from an hour a month to an hour a week, based on the needs of your school/department and the structure you develop.  Grant Champions help schools secure funding for their unique programs. Principals nominate Grant Champions for their schools. Grant development is a transferable skill. You can use these skills in your personal life to raise funding for nonprofits where you volunteer.

Getting Started Grant Development – Where do I begin? Form a Grant Committee Staff, PTA Member, School Governance Council and gather input from teachers, parents, the community Assign team member duties (Grant Lead, Researcher, Writer, Proofreader, Community Outreach) Review Monthly Grant Alerts and follow twitter alerts. Mine local resources (Partners in Education, Corporate partners, faith based community, etc.) Understand your school’s strategic initiatives Review your strategic plan. Your funding strategy should be aligned to your strategic plan. What are the key areas of focus this year? What are the resource gaps? Prepare grant proposal and budget Get Principal Approval Submit online grant approval form for district approval Once approved, submit your proposal to funder and earn grant funding for your school! Grant Development – Where do I begin?

Mining for Local Resources Identify where parents work - Possible opportunities for Corporate Contributions, Corporate Foundation grants, Matching Grants, ‘Dollars for Doers’ Reach out to the local business community – Chamber, Partners in Education, retail stores and restaurants in the area, etc. Review Strategic Partners - Non-profit organizations that support the school and have a 501(c)3 IRS determination letter, e.g., school foundations, YMCA, Boys and Girls Club, etc. Connect with local service organizations - Rotary, Kiwanis, Junior League, faith-based organizations, etc. may have grant programs or looking to support specific projects Find professional organizations of which your teachers are members. Many offer grants, contests, scholarships to members, e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Science Teachers Association, etc. Research grant opportunities at http://foundationcenter.org/atlanta List of Top Volunteer Grant Companies https://doublethedonation.com/matching-grant-resources/list-volunteer-grant-companies/ Dollar for Doer programs are offered by corporations across all different industries. If you look at the Fortune 500 companies, approximately 40% of companies offer some sort of Dollar for Doer program for employees. While the average Dollar for Doer grant is $10-$15 per volunteer hour, the amounts vary widely by company. For instance, Capital One provides a grant of $1 per hour while Chevron provides $500 grants after employees volunteer for 20 hours ($25 per hour).

Grant Writing Tips and Tricks Create a grants calendar with your team Assign a Grant Researcher to look for funding opportunities Ensure that your proposal aligns with the funder’s area of focus Look at past grantees and the amount funded Determine eligibility and follow the grant instructions carefully For a online grant proposals, copy and paste the questions into Word Don’t write in isolation, rely on your grant team Contact the program officer with any questions Start small and keep trying! Determine your eligibility Funders discard proposals that don’t meet eligibility guidelines Grant reviewers assign scores based on a rubric Ask other people to read your proposal Did they understand the purpose of your program? Did it make sense? If available, request reviewer comments on how your application was scored and incorporate feedback into your proposal for the next round of funding.

What is DonorsChoose.org? DonorsChoose.org is a nonprofit that connects public school teachers in need of classroom materials and experiences with individual donors who want to help. Talking points: We strongly believe that knowledge is power, and while we at Horace Mann can’t fully fund every project, we can help to educate you on the program and ways to get your projects funded. Since 2000, DonorsChoose.org has enabled the funding of more than 748,000 classroom projects benefiting more than 18.8 million students. These projects have brought over $439 million in resources to school classrooms. On average, 70% of projects posted to DonorsChoose.org are funded!

Who is eligible to submit a DONORS CHOOSE Project? How does it work? Talking points: So let’s talk about who is eligible to submit a project. At this time, all full-time classroom teachers at public schools and other full-time front-line educators at public schools are eligible to submit projects. Full-time and front-line are defined as those educators that are spending more than 75% of their workday with students. Why do you think that DC requires you to be spending more than 75% of your day with the students if you want to submit a project? Right, because you know what they need, what they don’t have, what you as the educator want to accomplish and what you need to do that. Who is eligible to submit a DONORS CHOOSE Project? All full-time classroom teachers at public schools who spend more than 75% of each workday with students) Other full-time, front-line educators at public schools nurses, guidance counselors, etc. who spend more than 75% of their workday with students.

Getting Started with DonorsChoose.org To develop a DonorsChoose.org grant, teachers should: Visit www.donorschoose.org/teachers. Select “Get started!” to create a teacher account. Log in to your teacher account and submit your first project! What do you need for your classroom? Projects in the $300-$400 range are much more likely to get funded What’s your story? It’s essay time for teacher. Read other project “stories” Make sure to proof read very well, not just for spelling.  Do you have pictures which communicate the project need? Make sure the picture is compliant with DonorsChoose and FCS guidelines and of good quality * TIP - Projects with links to teachers Facebook almost always get funded Here’s some project guidance to get teachers started. Cost:  Projects in the $300-$400 range are much more likely to get funded Social Media:  Projects with links to teachers Facebook almost always get funded Funding:   If you help a teacher get half the funding then someone else or some organization typically will fund the rest Pictures:  Make sure the picture is compliant with Donors Choose guidelines, and of good quality Make sure to proof read very well, not just for spelling. 

Inspire your audience Inspire donors with a catchy title and interesting story and photo from your classroom. Talking points: When describing your project, this is your chance to inspire donors, so be descriptive and make it interesting. If you need pencils, instead of saying, “We need pencils because we use them for everything we do”, say, “We will use the pencils to write short stories for students to learn about creative writing.” That type of description will inspire donors to fund the project more than a general description. You will be asked to add some details such as what materials you are primarily requesting, the subject area, the number of students the project will impact, and the grade level. This will help to guide donors to your project based on the way they can search the site. For me, I routinely look at my old grade school to see what projects I can give to because I have friends that are now teachers at that school. I know what they teach, the grade level and so on so it makes it easy for me to find their projects if they accurately provide details about their projects.

Tips and Tricks to get your project funded Send a note or an email to your student’s parents, grandparents, relatives Post your project on social media, use approved pictures and videos Host an event at a local restaurant to promote your project Use local business resources to build interest and funding for your project Get your local coffee shop to post your project on their bulletin board Engage PTA/PTO, ask parents to spread the word about your project. Write a column about your classroom for a local newspaper Reach out to your local TV station Talking points: Again, you will want to drive people to your project. Some ways to do that are to send a letterhome with your students to notify parents and grandparents about the project. Use social media to share the project, post it on your Facebook page to drive friends to donate, post it on Twitter or LinkedIn. Use the power of social media to help you get funding, people want to help, but they have to know about it before they can. Get your local businesses and organizations involved, such as posting the project at the local coffee shop, getting the PTA, Kiwanis, Lions Club, and Rotary involved by letting them know about the project.

Questions