In my last post I gave you several places to look for
grants. Mainly I listed grant databases
available to you since I am convinced these databases are the most logical
place to find grants these days. Hey, we
might as well use computers to their full advantage, and up-to-date,
comprehensive grant databases just weren’t available 20 years ago.
Sometimes these databases, as good as they are, just aren’t
going to list some of the grants that are available to you. Some grants are purely local, don’t have set
criteria, and are never publicly announced.
Most of my time in education was spent in a small East
Texas school district where I was a teacher, principal, and assistant
superintendent for 20 years. In that
time, I asked for and got $15,000 for my middle school and then another $75,000
for the district from one local business. How did I get that money? I just
asked for it. I laid out a plan showing
that by investing this money in the local school system, the company would have
better educated employees when the current students graduated in a few years
and sought jobs locally.
In addition to that money, a well-to-do couple in our
community gave the school district enough money to buy a vocational center for
the agriculture department, rebuild the press box at the football stadium, and
to repair and update the baseball field.
We didn’t even approach them. They came to us, gave us the money, and told us how they would like it
spent. Their two children went to our
school, and they just wanted to help.
Educators also often overlook the opportunity to ask for
help from “big box” stores in their area.
Most of these have regular corporate grant programs, but they don’t
always advertise the $1,000 to $3,000 dollar grants they often give to local
groups. To find out if your local
Wal-Mart, Target, Lowes, Home Depot, Best Buy, etc. has such a program, just go
to the store and ask the manager. If
they do, ask what type of projects qualify.
If they don’t, go to the next store.
Most of the time your school or organization doesn’t have to lie within
the city limits. In fact, if you are within a 50-mile radius and the city is
your regular shopping destination, you will usually qualify.
Even if you’re getting money locally, and the grantor
doesn’t require a lot of paperwork, I still suggest you write out what type of
problem you’re having, what you believe to be the best solution to your
problem, and how the money the grantor is giving will be spent to help you
reach your goals. I think anyone who
gives money, whether an individual or a company, deserves to know how you spend
your grant money and how successful you are.
In fact, your ability to use local grant money successfully
may actually help you get even more money from the same local source in the
future. Also, you might consider asking
individuals or companies that give you money if they or their employees would
like to be involved in the grant program.
Many like to volunteer so they can be more involved locally with the
schools.
You don’t always need a grant database to find grantmoney. Look close to home when you have
the opportunity. It might pay off more
than you could ever imagine.
