1. GRANT CHAMPIONS WORKSHOP Office of Grant Development @FCSGrantChamps
September 2017
Ashley Garrison, and Kelly Hopkins,
Office of Grant Development @FCSGrantChamps

2. 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

3. Introductions Where do you work? Have you written any grants before?
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?

4. Website Resources Online Resources
Monthly Grant Alerts
Grant Development Presentations and past workshops
Twitter Feed with Alerts
Grant Exemplars
Recent Grant Awards
Grant Development Tools
Our website, which can be found at Fultonschools.org under Strategy and Innovation 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.

5. 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 navigate the grant approval process and develop competitive grant proposals.
As a Grant Champion, you will lead the grant development efforts for your school and try to submit at least one grant proposal during the school year.
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 program launched last October to help schools own their own fundraising and get funding for unique programs for their schools.
Principals nominate Grant Champions for their schools.
Grant Champions can be a resource to find funding for unique and innovative projects for your school.
Grant development is a transferable skill. You can use these skills in your personal life to raise funding for nonprofits where you volunteer.

6. Grant Development Process
Inform Principal or Department Head 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 Grant Approval Form located on the Office of Grant Development website.
Attach the grant proposal and grant budget to the completed Grant Approval Form.
Submit the Grant Approval Form with the attached grant proposal and budget to the appropriate administrators for signatures.
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.
When you receive notice of an award, notify your principal and the grants dept. so we can highlight your efforts and share the news with our school board members.

7. 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, local service groups, 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.
Submit your proposal and earn grant funding for your school!

8. Mining Local Resources
Mining for Local Resources
Identify where parents work
Possible opportunities for Corporate Contributions, Corporate Foundation grants, ‘Dollars for Doers’ funding, etc.
Identify local businesses
Chamber of Commerce, Partners in Education, stores in the area, etc.
Review Strategic Partners
E.g., 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.
Identify local service organizations that may have a grant program
E.g., Rotary, Kiwanis, Junior League, faith-based organizations, etc.
Compile a list of professional organizations of which your teachers /educators are members
Many offer grants, contests, scholarships to members, e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, National Science Teachers Association, etc.

9. 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 Proofread, proofread, proofread!!! 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.

10. Charlotte Hopikns, Horace Mann
FCS Grant Champions welcome Special Guest Presenter
Charlotte Hopikns, Horace Mann

11. How to use DonorsChoose.org and get the classroom supplies you need
At Horace Mann, our passion is helping teachers in the classroom – because they have one of the most important jobs on the planet.
Talking points:
We have a passion at Horace Mann for helping teachers in the classroom, because you do have one of the most important jobs out there, educating our children.
Unfortunately, all too often, you are spending your own money in order to be able to do your job. How many of you have spent money out of your own pocket for classroom materials? Looks like everyone in the room. How much would you say you spend in a single school year?
It’s very common to hear those same numbers every time I hold this workshop.

12. Educator Issue: Teachers spend $500 a year on school supplies
If teachers invested $500 a year at 6% over 30 years, they would save roughly $126 billion, or $40,000 in additional retirement savings per teacher
92 percent of teachers spend their own money on classroom supplies
85 percent of teachers buy instructional materials for their students
Average spend is $500 per teacher per year, which adds up to $1.6 billion total
On average, teachers spend $500 per year on supplies for their classroom.
92 percent of teachers spend their own money on supplies, and 85 percent buy instructional materials for their students.
Let’s look at what that $500 per year adds up to over time. If teachers all across the country invested $500 per year at 6% interest over 30 years, roughly the length of your career, that would add up to roughly $126 billion dollars, or an additional $40,000 in retirement savings per teacher!
How many of you would like to have an extra $40,000 when you retire? So if through Donorschoose.org you could save that $500, how many of you would be willing to reinvest that money in your retirement? Great, let’s talk about how you can save that money.
Sources: NSSEA Retail Market Awareness Study, Horace Mann calculations
Infographic:

13. What is DonorsChoose.org?
We know getting the classroom resources you need can be challenging. That’s why we’ve partnered with DonorsChoose.org.
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.

14. Does it work? Yes!
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 public school classrooms.
On average, 70% of projects posted to DonorsChoose.org are funded!
Talking points:
Does Donorschoose.org work? It absolutely does!
DC started in 2000, and since that time over 748,000 projects have been funded bringing in over $439 million in resources to schools benefiting over 18.8 million students.
70% of projects posted to the site get fully funded.
One thing that DC has found through their research is that projects that have a total dollar amount of $400 or less have a better chance of getting funded. And this makes sense if you think about yourself as a donor. If you had $50 to give, would you give to a project that had $400 left, or $800 left? The $400 project right? Your dollars will have more of an impact to getting that project completed, and donors will think the same as you when deciding where their donation is going, so keep that in mind when posting your projects.
So what happens if your project comes out to be more than $400? Split the project into two projects, keeping both of them under the $400 mark.

15. How does it work? Talking points:
We know that DC works, but how does it work?
It really is a simple process, you submit a project, donors from around the world choose to help, and after the project is funded, Donorschoose.org volunteers deliver the supplies to the school and you and your students send thank you notes. I have some hand-made thank you notes that I have received from projects I have funded, and this one is my favorite. (Show cards, discuss, and pass around). These thank you cards make a difference to donors, it’s not an automatic reply from a site after donating, it’s not a cookie cutter thank you note, it’s personal, it’s from the students you had a hand in helping, and means a lot to the donors.

16. Who is eligible to submit a project request at DonorsChoose.org?
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)
PLEASE NOTE: At this time, administrators, volunteers, staff developers, paraprofessionals, teacher aides and substitute teachers cannot request resources at DonorsChoose.org.
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.

17. Let’s get started! To get started, teachers should:
Visit
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 Donors Choose guidelines, and of good quality
* TIP - Projects with links to teachers Facebook almost always get funded
Here’s 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. 
Teachers need to have an idea of what they are going to post and why before creating a project. In your invite to the workshop, ask the teacher to have some preparation done.

18. 1. Choose the project type?
How do I create a project?
1. Choose the project type?
3. What does your classroom need?
Choose a vendor to start shopping for materials.
2. Tell about your students
Donors love to read about what makes students special.
Talking points:
This can be for supplies, a class trip, or a visitor.

19. 4. Choose your materials and add them to your cart.
How do I create a project?
4. Choose your materials and add them to your cart.
5. When you are done shopping, Summarize Cart and click “Save and Continue”.
Talking points:
You will then choose your materials and add them to your cart. If you have ever done any online shopping, it works the same way. When you are done adding materials from a vendor, you can checkout and the materials are automatically directed back to your project.

20. How do I submit a project?
6. You will be guided through the remaining steps to describe your project and submit for funding.
Inspire donors with a photo from your classroom. Use this guidance:
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.

21. How do I submit a project?
Review your project, then click “Submit Your Project”!
What happens next?
DonorsChoose.org volunteers will review your project and post it on the site.
Once it’s posted, donors can visit the site and choose to fund the project.
Once a project is funded, DonorsChoose.org orders the materials, ships them to the school, and collects a thank-you package for the donors.
For complete rules, see DonorsChoose.org.
Talking points:
Finally, review your project to make sure you have requested everything you need, and click ‘Submit Your Project’.

22. How do I get my project funded?
Send a note or an to your student’s parents, grandparents, relatives
Post your project on social media
Get the community involved – Use local business resources to build interest and funding for your project
Get your local coffee shop to post your project on the bulletin board or chalk board
Get parent organizations involved – Local PTA, Booster
Tap into community organizations – Kiwanis, Lions Club, Rotary
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.

23. Reach Your Project Goal: Activate Your Community
Throw a donor party for friends and acquaintances.
Engage your administration, PTA/PTO, or ask your students’ parents to spread the word about your project.
Create your own shareable items, such as t-shirts, business cards, or flyers, to hand out at school events and local businesses.
Write a column about your classroom for a local newspaper or reach out to your local TV station.
Brainstorm with your colleagues about ways to band together to reach out to your community.

24. For additional information contact:
Steen Lyles, Donors Choose
Charlotte Hopkins, Horace Mann Ashley Garrison
Kelly Hopkins
@FCSGrantChamps