Grantsmanship

1. Grantsmanship An Exercise in Becoming Successful in Funding your Own Classroom Monday, June 25, 2012

2. Why Bother? • Statistics in your favor • Professionalism • Control CC-RWR 2 June 13, 2011

3. 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 June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 12

4. 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”s June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 8

5. 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 deadlines June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 6

6. 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? June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 4

7. Partners • Planning • Editing • Execution • Evaluation – Your Data June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 5

8. Setting the Stage • Decisions • Grant=Innovation=Change • Timing • 80/20 rule (Pareto Principle) • Pathways and Partners CC-RWR 3 June 13, 2011

9. 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. CC-RWR 3 June 13, 2011

10. 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 ) CC-RWR 3 June 13, 2011

11. 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 June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 9

12. 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 June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 11

13. Dream “yume” • From: www.pacific-akido.org June 13, 2011 CC-RWR 13