Telling Your Story and Vision

Successful grant-writing starts with sharing your story and vision. It begins first with diving into the narrative of your unique learners and classroom experiences. It may take some time and reflection, but find your own authentic voice to organically relays this account. It is critical to present the whole picture. Creatively highlight what excites, motivates, and inspires your students to grow and reach their potential.

At the same time, donors and grant reviewers want to know about the challenges that your classroom faces and must continually work to overcome. They recognize that educators have an immense task and are intrigued to learn how you are responding with integrity, passion, fortitude, and bravery. Here it is key to elaborate on specific data, anecdotes, and examples that persuasively build your case, while still safeguarding student privacy. It is helpful to take into account any school-wide or district data on demographics and socioeconomics as this can aid in developing a context for your story. 

Your story becomes even more powerful when combined with a compelling vision. Reflect upon your own personal dreams and the hopes and dreams of your students. And then think as big as you can about how to unite these dreams, imagining that money and resources were not a limiting factor. Ask yourself what learning resources, experiences, and opportunities you wish that you could somehow share with your students. Once you’ve figured out what your story is and what you dream of bringing to your classroom, then you’re ready to start looking for the right grant or fundraising.

Finding the Right Grants and Funding 

There are numerous types of fundraising opportunities. Give yourself time to reflect upon which forms are best for your purposes.

Teacher Fundraising Sites 

Fundraising sites vary based on your local area and region of the world so you will need to conduct research on what works best for you. Fundraising sites such as GoFundMe work for teachers almost anywhere globally. For being based in the United States there are DonorsChoose , and AdoptAClassroom represents an increasingly popular and easy way for educators to raise financial support for their classroom projects as citizen donors, corporate sponsors, and foundation partners donate to these educator causes. Teachers create a project page and promote this page over time through social media and email. Many share the excitement by involving students in the progress being made toward the fundraising goal. Best of all, if a project is completed, learners will love celebrating the arrival of the new materials and the writing of thank you letters, artwork, and cards!

Competitions 

If you’re looking for a way to inspire and challenge students, competitions are another excellent option. Competitions are often created by companies with the goal of engaging educators and students in developing original inventions or solutions to pressing world issues.

Local and Regional Grants 

If you’re new to grant writing and looking for a high chance of getting your project funded, explore the local grants and foundations in your area. Many school systems also have a separate foundation which supports students and teachers with funding. Oftentimes, there also are community businesses and organizations that want to support local schools in your district. These groups may offer numerous small grants, with fewer requirements and forms to complete.

Private Companies and National Grants 

Perhaps you’ve had some local and regional success with grant writing, and you’re gaining confidence in your writing and research skills. You may also have cultivated bigger dreams for your classroom and school that require significant funding. If this is the case, then you may want to attempt a few national grants offered by private companies. These are highly competitive and the requirements tend to be much more tedious and stringent. Even so, there are winners every year and it may be you! Winning a grant like this can transform a school for years to come.

Making a Plan

Now that you’ve found the grant and fundraising that best fits you, make a plan and set it into action! Here are several ideas for making an effective, manageable grant-writing plan: 

• Find the best time in your schedule for writing. Pick days and times when you are most fresh to write your absolute best. 
• Consider teaming up with fellow educators in your school to divide up the grant-writing tasks.
• Ask your administrator for the time and resources that you need to write a successful grant. 
• Find out when your grant is due and create a timeline. Plan for when you would like to have different sections, forms, and writings of the grant complete. 
• Make a checklist to check off grant tasks as you complete them. A large grant can seem much less daunting if decomposed into numerous smaller jobs. 
• Create a short list of potential grant readers. Share your ideas and grant work with others to refine your ideas, seek suggestions and improvements, and find out if your story and vision is convincing.

Developing a Budget, Plan To Implement, and Timeline 

Effectively sharing your story and vision will gain the attention of a grant reader. However, to ensure that your grant is ultimately selected for funding, it’s crucial to formulate a realistic and well-reasoned budget, implementation plan, and timeline to accomplish your project. Most grants want to know exactly how the funding will be spent. Providing clear accounting can help strengthen your case. To complement this budget, paint an inspiring picture of how you will utilize the materials you gain from funding to support students and their learning. Some grants will ask for a specific timeline to accomplish your project and may even ask for written follow-up statements, videos, or images as evidence of completion. Other organizations and companies like to see that their funding will go toward ongoing projects that can be used year after year, impacting a significant amount of students.

5 Reasons

Listed are the 5 points useful for listing why Strawbees is the absolute STEAM solution for grants.

1. Strawbees straws and connectors are durable, washable, and reusable, enabling educators to support learners with these materials over and over again, for years to come. Donors and grant funders want to see that their investment will be a lasting contribution. 
2. Designs with Strawbees can be scaled up or down to engage all learning ages, backgrounds, and abilities within a school. This means that with Strawbees you’re not purchasing something for a very exclusive or narrow niche within your school. Strawbees is inclusive in that anyone, kids and adults alike, can build and learn with this engaging, hands-on resource. 
3. Your grant funds will go farther with Strawbees, especially when purchasing for larger groups. For example, the Strawbees STEAM School Kit is designed to be used with up to 30 kids at a time. Many other STEAM and companies offer bundles that either serve fewer students per kit or cost a significantly higher amount for their class set. 
4. With a grant for Strawbees, educators are not only investing in physical STEAM materials. Strawbees has developed and will continue to expand upon a new digital classroom with curriculum-aligned lessons, activities, along with support articles and media, to guide teachers in implementation and to further student learning. 
5. Strawbees is a sustainable grant investment. Besides being reusable, these lightweight straws and connectors are recyclable. Teachers and students also learn to reduce waste as they find creative ways to combine Strawbees with other repurpose materials like cardboard, plastic cartons, paper, containers, and more!

Teacher Support

For lists of grants and additional grant writing tips, visit the official Strawbees Grant website .

Media Credits

• [1] By Suzy Hazelwood, Public Domain
• [2] By Strawbees AB
• [3] By Pixabay, Public Domain
• [4] - [5] By Strawbees AB
• [6] By United Nations - UN.org/SustainableDevelopment, Public Domain
• [7] - [10] By Strawbees AB
• [11] By cookie_studio, Public Domain
• [12] By Suzy Hazelwood, Public Domain
• [13] - [14] By Strawbees AB

Grant and Funding Resources

• Gofundme (Global)
• Donors Choose (US only)
• AdoptAClassroom (US only)