Resources for Grant Writing
At the recent TRLD (Technology, Reading and Learning Diversity) Conference I attended a workshop by a grant-writing specialist, Sheryl Abshire, from Lake Charles, LA, about how to approach grantgivers, write grants, and get grant funding. All of you can probably use grant money, to cover the costs of attending conferences or training sessions or for additional technology to implement UDL in your classrooms and schools.
Sheryl listed several keys to successful grant writing, which included:
- do exactly what the RFP (request for proposal) guidelines say
- connect the grant request to something that is for ongoing improvement
- provide specifics on how you will use the grant money and how you will collect and evaluate the data
- be passionate, creative and innovative about your plans
- focus on areas of need in your school or district
- include what you/your school/your district will provide to help make the grant successful (e.g., partnerships with other community resources)
- if you write the grant for professional development, link it back to improving student achievement in an area of need
She provided several websites with grant information:
Her personal grant information website with resources listed alphabetically: http://www.cpsb.org/Scripts/abshire/grants.asp
The School Grants web site with grant information for PK-12 (note that it has sample grants and fund raising information on the sidebar to the left) http://www.schoolgrants.org/
The eSchool News website which provides grant and funding information for schools. You can sign up for a funding alert newsletter there also. http://www.eschoolnews.com/funding/
An information resource website, Thomson West, that has a Grants for K-12 Hotline that provides a bi-weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to for a yearly fee. http://west.thomson.com/store/product.aspx?r+139011&product_id=40560035
