Private Partners Working with Corporations and Foundations

Foundations & Corporations  Order of Events  Background  Strategy  Leads & Activity  How CS4Ed can help  Joe Walters, Ed.D.   (781) (Massachusetts)

Foundations & Corporations  Value in funding from private sources  credibility  visibility  flexibility  support innovation  address unmet needs  (even if dollar amounts are small)

Foundations & Corporations  +++ Caution +++  Follow the rules  the Station has procedures  but new opportunities?  Clear with schools  may have rules too  may not be able to receive funds?

Assets  Your PBS Station is  recognized brand  reliable organization that delivers quality  trusted leader in the community  one dedicated “good work”  but also a national presence  PBS/TeacherLine is  quality product  innovation  new opportunity

Assets  Your school partner  provides direct service to community  needy, dedicated, reform-minded  Combination  national presence, visible, celebrated, and rooted in the community  well-known local service provider with documented needs and a valued mission

Strategy  Doing “good work” in the community  Through quality organizations and educational leaders  Working in partnership with other educators and with local funders

Local Funders Foundations & Corporations

Many Varieties  Mission Education, among other “causes”  Area Local … regional … national  Size Significant dollars … small awards  Leadership Program officer … advisory committee  Process Formal applications … informal letter

But, Who Are They?  Leads  Names, contacts, URL  Qualified  mission  region  size  leadership  process

But, Who Are They?  CS4Ed Database  Names, contacts, URL  But…  Mostly national foundations  fund nationally  Large regional foundations  fund in a specific region  Expanding the database to  local funders  national foundations with specific localities

The Challenge  Lots of local knowledge required  No economy of scale  each organization is unique  (even for national corporations with local funding committees)  So, we can do the leg work, but…

Following the Trail  Foundation Database  “Nashville TN and Education”  Result = Frist Foundation grants to PENCIL Foundation

Following the Trail  Frist Foundationwww.frist.orgwww.frist.org  Projects in Nashville  Mostly in the arts  PENCIL Foundation

Following the Trail  PENCIL Foundation  …established in 1982 by Nashville business and community leaders who recognized the need for community involvement in public education. Our mission is to link community resources with Nashville public schools to help young people…  Math Partners program  Extensive corporate sponsorship

Following the Trail  PENCIL Foundation  fund raising is a full-time job 

Following the Trail  Is Frist Foundation and PENCIL a useful lead?  Or is this trail unhelpful, or too well-trod, or misleading and distracting, or politically risky, etc?  Feedback -- give and take  list of leads  feedback

Telling a Story

What’s the Story?  Pay for Subscriptions for PBS/TL?  Must match the mission of Foundation  Sounds like something School Department should pay for…

Story: A Project  Partner with school  reliable, but needy  Motivate the Project  pilot program of innovative technology  special attention to underserved students  addressing needs of ELL  part of School Reform initiative  Doing “good work”

Story: A Project  Justify PBS/TL in that project  flexible, just-in-time, reaching the hard to reach  Value to community  leadership, innovation  serving needy kids  dissemination: glory to funder  Give project a name?

An Illustration  Urban school  Poor test scores in math  Not meeting AYP  Some excellent leaders  Young, inexperienced staff  high turnover  they need help  District struggling to find a new approach

The Project  Pilot innovative online training  Target PBS/TL math courses  Face-to-face sessions with mentoring  Evaluate impact  demonstrate innovation  Roll out to more schools  go after federal funding

Another Illustration  Broad math reform initiative  PBS/TL math courses for key teachers  one component  supporting school change  face-to-face as well as on-line content  Evaluate impact  analyze math test scores over several years  Report to Community

Scale of Costs  The Budget  3 Courses for XX Teachers$10,000  Facilitator on-site $3,000  Evaluate $4,000  Total$17,000

Now What?  You have your project “story”  You have a list of potential funders  foundations  local corporations  individuals

Next: Build Relationships  Often funding is not about proposals, but about trust  Get to know the people at the Foundation who make decisions

Building Relationships  Funder’s job: to give money away responsibly  must find good projects  identify reliable organizations  keep up-to-date on research in the field (s)  must show results, build portfolio  You can help them

Building Relationships  Strategy  Phone calls & correspondence  School and need  Talk about project  Host topical meetings  Research on education, technology, media  Discussion of professional development  Innovations  Introduce your “project” when appropriate  Introduce school leaders

Building Relationships  A reminder  PBS/TL is recognized brand  quality, reliable organization  trusted educational leader  one that does “good work”  Talk with them about your Project  not about funding  all in service of helping them

Finally, the Request  Respond to funder’s request  Write a formal letter  Submit a formal proposal

Finally, the Request  Narrative  Describe the need  Outline the solution  Management plan  Budget  Evaluation and Dissemination  Data and glory to funder

Finding those Contacts

Contacts  Select a Foundation  read the mission  pinpoint its funding region  analyze other projects they have funded  identify a key contact  Link to Medtronic Foundation Link to Medtronic Foundation

Activity  Use Handout  Qualifying Contacts  Read the Mission  Pinpoint the funding region  Analyze other funded projects  Identify a key contact  Brainstorm a project and partner

Working with CS4Ed

 We can…  Provide white papers (proposal language)  Participate in informational meetings  Furnish “expert” resumes as needed  Conduct or manage evaluations

Working with CS4Ed  We can also furnishes leads  in your region  qualified to some extent  You make suggestions  we check background, etc

Concluding Thoughts  Take a long-term view  time and effort as investment in future  Keep this in perspective  not the primary funding focus  but an important supplement  Value in private funding  visibility, credibility, flexibility

Contact  Joe Walters   (781) (Massachusetts)