1. How to Access FCS-Guests Wireless Network
1. Select FCS-Guests in the wireless network list 2. Connect to fultonschools.org 3. Click the “Need an account? Click Here” link on the login page 4. Fill-in account details, accept terms of use, and click “Register” 5. You will receive a text message and/or with sign in credentials 6. Login the “Fulton County Schools Guest Login” link and enter your credentials 7. After a successful login, you will be redirected to the Fulton County Schools homepage and may access other allowed websites.

2. Grant Champions 101 Grant Development Workshop
September 2018
Access today’s workshop slides on our website:
Go to main portal
On the main banner, click on ‘District’
Click on ‘Department Directory’
Scroll down and select ‘Grants’

3. Introductions Briefly share a bit about yourself including…
What do you do?
Have you written any grants before?
What are your school’s funding priorities?

4. Learning Outcomes
Knowing were to find valuable resources on the Grant Development website
Creating a Grant Champions Program
Understanding the grant approval process
Mining for local funding resources
Developing competitive grant applications
Learning grant development tips and tricks
Posting DonorsChoose.org Projects

5. 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

6. Twitter Feed with Current Grant Opportunities
Online Resources
Twitter Feed with Current Grant Opportunities
Monthly Grant Alerts
Grant Approval Form
Upcoming Workshops
Recent Grant Awards
Grant Exemplars
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.

7. 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 serve as the school’s grant lead and create a grant team to identify resource gaps and develop and submit competitive grant proposals to fund programs and projects 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 Champions can be a resource to help your principal and SGC support your schools Strategic Plan.
Grant development is a transferable skill. You can use these skills in your personal life to raise funding for nonprofits where you volunteer.

8. Grant Champion Activities
Form a Grant Committee
Principal, Teachers, Staff, Parents, PTA and SGC members
2. Assign team member duties
Grant lead, researcher, grant writer, proofreader, community liaison
3. Know your School's strategic plan
Discuss the school’s funding needs and resource gaps
4. Review Monthly Grant Alerts and Twitter Alerts
5. Mine local resources in your community
Partners in Education, Corporate partners, service groups, faith based partners
Prepare grant proposal and budget
Submit online grant approval form.
Submit your proposals to the funder
Earn grant funding for your school!

9. Grant Development Process

10. Grant 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.

11. Questions? Comments? Break?

12. Mining for Local Resources
Reach out to the local business community – Chamber, Partners in Education, retail stores and restaurants in the area, etc.
Identify where parents work - Possible opportunities for Corporate Contributions, Corporate Foundation grants, Matching Grants, ‘Dollars for Doers’
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 that may have a grant program - Rotary, Kiwanis, Junior League, faith-based organizations, etc.
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
List of Top 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).

13. 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.

14. DonorsChoose.org What do you need for your classroom?
To develop a DonorsChoose.org grant, 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 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. 

15. Getting Started with Donors Choose
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. 

16. 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.

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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’.

20. The Office of Grant Development
Contact:
Ashley Garrison at
Kelly Hopkins at