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June 1, 2001
Web Sites to Help You Write and Win Grants
By Gwen Solomon
The Internet is a great place to learn about grants. You can visit Web sites that list lots of grants and find precisely the one that meets your needs. Sometimes the whole application package is even available at the grant funders' Web site. You can get lots of advice on how to write your proposal online as well. You can even review successful proposals to see how it's done. While it's always the strength of your concept that matters most, the sites below are a good start to finding, writing, and winning grants.
PLACES TO LOCATE GRANTS
Technology & Learning
Search for ways to get money to fund technology in your school. Browse all the grants at once, or search by keyword or other criteria. Then check out the Funding Tips and Resources for lists of Web, print and video resources for funding opportunities. Check out narratives of successful grant and contest winners in Winners' Circle.
The Foundation Center
The Foundation Center is the most authoritative source of up-to-date information on private philanthropy in the United States. Their programs are designed to help grantseekers, grantmakers, researchers, policymakers, the media, and the general public better understand the changing field of philanthropy.
SchoolGrants
This Web site was created so there would be a place where small districts could go to find grant opportunities and other assistance to help them in finding funding for supplemental programs for their students. It provides grant writing tips, tools, sample proposals, and resources. There's also a listserv called Bring Home the Bacon that you can join to collaborate and share. Subscribers range from brand-new teachers/grant-writers to those who successfully procure millions of dollars of grants each year.
ADVICE ON WRITING GRANT PROPOSALS
Proposal Writing Short Course
Among the various types of assistance available at the Foundation Center, their short course on proposal writing is helpful, free, and online (and thus available whenever it's convenient for you). It looks at the components of a grant proposal and describes the type of information you need to provide and advice on how best to do it.
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting evaluates hundreds of proposals each year for a variety of funding purposes. Their publication, "Basic Elements of Grant Writing," is an easy guide to the basic elements of grant writing and is offered to assist applicants to CPB and to other funding sources. It offers guideposts to help grant writers through each stage of the process. While the stages apply to other grants, CPB cautions grant writers to carefully read the guidelines written for the specific grant. Successful grant writing involves the coordination of several activities, including planning, searching for data and resources, writing and packaging a proposal, submitting a proposal to a funder, and follow-up. Here are some steps that will help.
Beginning Grant Writing, An Educator's Guide
Writing grants is a complex and time consuming task. It requires skills in researching various grant opportunities and careful attention to the writing process. The Internet gives the beginning grantwriter a distinct advantage, which allows one to locate funding sources, access information about the grantwriting process and seek technical assistance as needed. This Web site provides advice, technical assistance, and resources.
About.com's Advice for 7-12 Educators
Grant Writing Tips include techniques for finding appropriate grants, tips and techniques to help the grant writer navigate his/her way through the grant proposal process. A Grant Match Rubric helps grant writers choose the right grant programs so they can find the ones that match their needs and goals. There are also lists of sources of federal, state, foundational, and corporate grants and ideas and tips to help you write your grants.
Guide for Writing a Funding Proposal
This Proposal Guide was created at Michigan State University to provide instructions on how to write a funding proposal and to show actual examples of a completed proposal. While it is targeted to higher education, the advice is universal and the writing tips apply to K-12.
Grantwriting for Educators
This site begins with advice on writing grant proposals called Grant Basics and includes links to searching for grants on the Web and related resources, and advice on the grant writing process.
National Science Foundation
From the National Science Foundation (Division of Undergraduate Education), A Guide for Proposal Writing was compiled with the help of staff, grant readers, and grant recipients. It provides information about the whole process of grant-making. Sections offer descriptions of a proposal, criteria used for evaluating a proposal, and suggestions for proposal writers. There are lots of great ideas even though this targets NSF grants specifically.
WestEd's Tips for Preparing a Successful Proposal
This U.S. Department of Education regional education laboratory provides advice on preparing a successful proposal that was developed by project reviewers and others familiar with proposal development and review.
TERC Grant Writing Guide
This guide was written to provide high school science teachers with guidelines for submitting proposals for science education enhancement to foundations, government agencies, and local philanthropies, but the advice is generic enough to be valuable to others. It's divided into 4 chapters that deal with identifying your goal, researching and establishing a relationship with a prospective funder, the actual writing of the grant, and possible review procedures. Appendices offer sample documents
Eisenhower National Clearinghouse
ENC's Funding Opportunities provides a series of articles about locating and applying for grants from columns that were originally published in their newsletter. Other information includes resources to help educators locate and apply for educational funds from corporations, agencies, and foundations. includes There are links to other web sites with information for grant seekers, and a Guidebook of federally sponsored programs in math and science.
Email: Gwen Solomon
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