Grantsmanship

An Exercise in Becoming Successful in Funding your Own Classroom

Monday, June 25, 2012

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Why Bother?

• Statistics in your favor

• Professionalism

• Control

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Summer Time-Line• Monday, June 25

• Introduction/discuss project ideas

• Tuesday, June 26

• Identify target funding source(s) and deadlines – download forms

• Outline need, goals and objectives

• Wednesday, June 27

• Outline project activities

• Identify budget items

• Thursday, June 28

• Specify outcomes to be measured/evaluation process

• Friday, June 29

• Final review/editing/polishing of proposal outline

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Brass Tacks (as in, getting down to)

• Developing the proposal idea

– Defining clear goals and objectives

–Writing a compelling need

statement – “TELL YOUR

STORY”

• Identify outcomes and evaluation

• Three “P”sJune 13, 2011

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Planning• Start Small, Think Big• Develop your skills/confidence by targeting

small awards ($300-500)

• Plan from outset for a project that can grow/span for than a single year

• Use your evaluation data to revise plans/support your argument for additional funding/new grant

• Establish Time-line/Think Ahead• Six-nine month lead time not unreasonable

• Many Spring deadlinesJune 13, 2011

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Pathways• Identifying an idea

• Selfish-How will $ help my classroom?

• Broader need-What other program/learning goal will be advanced?

• Who is most likely to send $ my way?

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Partners

• Planning• Editing• Execution• Evaluation – Your Data

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Setting the Stage

• Decisions• Grant=Innovation=Change• Timing • 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle)

• Pathways and Partners

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Pareto Principle• AKA the 80/20 Rule.

• 20% of a grant-writer’s activities are responsible for 80% of the results. – Your highest value “20%” boils down to telling your

story.– Your story is the glue holding the proposal together.– Your story provides the basis for your individual giving.– Your story is what writes your website copy.– Your story isn’t your mission statement. It’s not the

937 high school students you serve.– Your story isn’t even “The Story,” for you’ll never have

just one. June 13, 2011

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Relevance• So, how you can better communicate your message?

– Doesn’t needs to be more complex than it really is. You don’t need to take a “storytelling” seminar or learn a lot of jargon.

• Another way to think about 80/20– Devote ~80% of the time/effort in writing a proposal to project

design and planning.

– The last 20% is devoted to writing the proposal.

• You cannot write a competitive proposal without devoting the 80% in design and planning.

Do not write until you have planned! (From: http://www.gea.gsu.edu/Grants/grant_writing.html )

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Strategies-Proposal Idea

• In your classroom• Identify problem areas• Lack of inquiry-based activities• Poorly motivated students• After-school efforts

• School-site• Build science division• Joint projects/teacher partners

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Strategies-Need Statement

• Become familiar with national/local initiatives• Develop “short-list” of agencies to target• Adapt/adopt project goals to align• Use “buzz-words” (examples easy to access)• Inquiry-based• Contemporary• Partner

• Perform polls/quantitate deficiencies• Test scores• Questionnaires

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• Dream “yume”

• From: www.pacific-akido.org

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