Grants and Funding Ideas

Looking for funding to bring an author/illustrator to your school? Here are some ideas and grant resources:

• Many authors offer multiple school discounts. Contact other schools in your district to see if they would be interested in teaming up to help bring costs down.
• SKYPE with an author, most authors offer Skype visits for a minimal fee. This may be an affordable, exciting option for your school!
• Host a fundraiser at your school.
• Apply for grants:

Grant Wrangler Grant Wrangler is a free, searchable grants listing service offered by Nimble Press. The Web site lists grants and contests for K-12 schools and teachers. As of February 2009, Grant Wrangler listed more than $110 million in grants and awards, more than 695 individual grants.	Adopt a Classroom Adopt-A-Classroom invites the community into the classroom in support of teachers and their students. By adopting classrooms, donors form partnerships with specific classrooms providing financial and oral support. Deadline: Ongoing/Unspecific
Amber Brown SCBWI Grant One school will be rewarded with an all expense paid, full day visit by a well respected children’s author or illustrator. The chosen school will also receive a $250 stipend to assist in creating this memorable event to celebrate reading, learning, and children’s literature and $250 worth of books by the visiting author. Additionally, one runner up school will be selected and rewarded with books valued at $250.00. Deadline: Applications may be submitted between November 1st and December 31st.	Barnes & Noble Sponsorship and Charitable Donations As part of their commitment to good corporate citizenship, Barnes & Noble considers local and national support requests from non-profit organizations that focus on literacy, the arts or education (pre-K – 12).  They also consider sponsorship opportunities where they can partner with organizations that focus their core businesses on higher learning, literacy and the arts.
Donors Choice DonorsChoice aims to provide teachers and students in need with resources that public schools often lack. Here, teachers submit ideas for materials or experiences that their students need to learn. Individuals choose a project and make it a classroom reality through their generous funding.	Maureen Hayes Award This $4,000 award was established with funding from Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing, in honor of Maureen Hayes, to bring together children and nationally recognized authors/illustrators by funding an author/ illustrator visit to a library. Applicant must be a personal member of ALSC as well as ALA.
National Endowment for the Humanities NEH is an independent grant-making agency of the United States government dedicated to supporting research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.	ING Unsung Heroes Are you an educator with a class project that is short on funding but long on potential? Do you know a teacher looking for grant dollars? ING Unsung Heroes® could help you turn great ideas into reality for students. For more than 10 years, and with $3 million in awarded grants, ING Unsung Heroes has proven to be an A+ program with educators. The program’s “alumni” have inspired success in the classroom and impacted countless numbers of students. Each year, 100 educators are selected to receive $2,000 to help fund their innovative class projects. Three of those are chosen to receive the top awards of an additional $5,000, $10,000 and $25,000. Applications for the 2011 awards are now available. The application deadline is April 30, 2011.
Target Early Childhood Reading Grant Reading is essential to a child's learning process. That's why Target awards grants to schools, libraries and nonprofit organizations to support programs such as after-school reading events and weekend book clubs. Together we're fostering a love of reading and encouraging children, preschool through third grade, to read together with their families. Guidelines Early childhood reading grants are $2,000. Grant applications are typically accepted between March 1 and April 30 each year, with grant notifications delivered in September.	The Wallace Foundation The Wallace Foundation is currently active in three focus areas. The Foundation solicits proposals from organizations it identifies for programs it initiates, and unsolicited proposals are rarely funded.
The Verizon Foundation Verizon wants to transform the way the private, public, and nonprofit sectors work together in building collaborative partnerships. For more information, check their website.

For more information including grant writing resources, contact us today!