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Money Matters

Locating Funding Opportunities

As a person who has been working in the field of education funding for several years, the number one question I am asked by educators is, "Where can I find grants?" Before we all had Internet access, the local public library was the best place to find free information, including information about funding opportunities. Another option was to pay a substantial amount of money to private, for-profit publishers for subscriptions to newsletters of listings of current and future funding opportunities. Now, however, we have the Internet.

Having Internet access allows grant seekers to search and find public and private funding opportunities without ever having to leave their classroom and/or office. In addition, you can find almost all online opportunities without the use of special hardware, software, or subscriptions. One key to finding what you need is to search regularly; if daily is not possible, weekly is sufficient—sometimes as little as 30 minutes a week will do. Once you have determined what Web sites are most useful for your purposes, visit them regularly. Grant proposal writing is governed by deadlines—the sooner you find an appropriate opportunity, the sooner you can get started on writing the proposal and the more time you have to develop your program and/or create a viable partnership.

One good place to start your online searching is with the federal government. Although most grants to schools and districts are through the Education Department (ED), searching via the Federal Register (www.gpoaccess.gov/fr/) allows you to check opportunities for all government agencies. If you are sure that you just want to see ED's postings to the Federal Register, they have a page of their own (www.ed.gov/news/fedregister/announce/)

Another good place to look for funding opportunities is the site of your state education department. If you are not sure of the Web address, you can find a listing, provided by ED: wdcrobcolp01.ed.gov/Programs/EROD/org_list.cfm?category_ID=SEA Most state sites have a specific page or section relating to funding; some even have a specific office with staff to answer your questions. You will find this site very valuable not just for funding opportunities, but for related information concerning legislation and program priorities.

If you are looking for private money, most foundations—corporate, family or otherwise—have their own Web sites where they clearly define priorities and eligibility and where you can find a lot of information on current and past grants. You should get to know which private funders are interested in your area—both geographical and programmatic. The Foundation Center (www.fdncenter.org) is a good resource for that information in addition to offering a free weekly e-mail newsletter, called the RFP Bulletin (fdncenter.org/pnd/rfp/).

Lots of opportunities may be found on sites that serve as resource lists with links back to the original funder. Some of these Web sites are: School Grants (www.schoolgrants.org/grant_opps.htm), Grants Alert (www.grantsalert.com/resources.cfm), tech.learning (techlearning.com/resources/grants.jhtml) and Education World (www.education-world.com/a_admin/grants/additional_grants.shtml).

These resources should get you started in the search for grant opportunities for your students, staff, school, and district. In future columns I'll discuss other aspects of funding and grant proposal development, giving you more helpful resources along the way. Please feel free to contact me with any of your funding questions and remember—it isn't the money, it's what you do with it that is important!

— Jill Oppenheim
Resource Development Associate, NWREL
oppenhej@nwrel.org