Organizing your Data:  The Data collection phase

Sherry Roland-Washington

Securing funding for schools has remain a challenge for rural, urban, and private schools since the turn of the century.  In Illinois and Pennsylvania, the lack of a current state budget has severely impacted schools’ and state universities’ abilities to impart resources to learners.  Educational leaders in many schools are faced with the dilemma of seeking an answer to that old adage, “How am I going to do more with less?”  “How am I going to meet payroll and ensure the distribution of equitable materials for all students given the constraints of the budget?”  Although the questions are rhetorical in nature, the reality of the situation is authentic.

Public school funding in the United States comes from federal, state, and local sources, but because nearly half of those funds come from local property taxes, the system generates large funding differences between wealthy and impoverished communities. Such differences exist among states, among school districts within each state, and even among schools within specific districts.  Many Educational Leaders are confronted with two choices: believe the fabricated story the money is on the way, or empower the staff to come up creative ways to balance the budget and ensure a rigorous education for all learners.   Given the constraints of the limited options, many Educators go into survival mode and apply for an assortment of grants. 

Applying for grants is a feasible option, if you have the right structures in place.  After several years as a Grant consultant for schools, faith based organizations, and non-profit companies; the best advice I would give any school district, sports group, or church group seeking a grant is take the time to establish an honest, transparent strategic plan aligned to the organizations’ goals, mission and vision statements. 

EDUCATIONAL GRANT TIP #1:   ORGANIZE YOUR DATA

Just as we organize our information in preparation to file taxes, it is vitally important organizations take time to compile the data in one central location.  Whether you are working with a consultant or have assigned the duty to a staff in your organization, having the data in one location will leave more time for the discussion of how to implement the grant vs. more time searching for data. What data do you need?  Glad you asked that question.  I strongly recommend you start with the following:

 

·         An aligned strategic plan

·         The school’s budget

·         Data of the school’s performance (Academic, Behavioral, Attendance, & Graduation)

·         The survey data of the participates (Title 1 parent surveys, etc.)

·         The climate data of your region (crime rate, median income, unemployment data, etc.)

·         A needs statement

·         Identify the stakeholders

·         A list of your board members

·         Copies of your board minutes and agendas

·         Clarify the long term outcomes you wish to achieve

·         Generate a list of how you will document or measure  the success of your goals

Grant consultants call this process, “The pre-collection” period.  These are just a few of the documents you will need. The extensive list of data is always cited in the introduction of the grant you are applying for, it is important to read this information carefully.  There are “free” websites to store your collection of documents.  Two of my personal favorites are dropbox https://www.dropbox.com and livebinders:  http://www.livebinders.com/welcome/home.  Having this data readily available to review will help you decide which grants you should apply for.  For example, here is a sample of some upcoming federal grants from the Federal Government.

 

Ø  Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Programs

o   Program Description: This program provides funding to LEAs to establish or expand elementary and secondary school counseling programs, with special consideration given to applicants that can:  Demonstrate the greatest need for counseling services in the schools to be served; propose the most innovative and promising approaches; and Show the greatest potential for replication and dissemination.

Ø  Project School Emergency Response to Violence (SERV) Grant Program

o   Program Description: This program funds short-term and long-term education-related services for local educational agencies (LEAs) and institutions of higher education (IHEs) to help them recover from a violent or traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted.

 

Ø  Project Prevent Grant Program

o   Program Description: This program provides funding to LEAs to increase their capacity both to identify, assess, and serve students exposed to pervasive violence, helping to ensure that affected students are offered mental health services for trauma or anxiety; support conflict resolution programs; and implement other school–based violence prevention strategies in order to reduce the likelihood that these students will later commit violent acts.

If your organization does not have the capacity or time to apply for the above grants, our company can provide this service for you. We are here to assist those who desire the help.  As always, please feel free to email me at sherry.washington@govgrantshelp.com with questions you have about the grant writing process for Education.  Explore our new website for Educators and share your questions and concerns on the discussion board at the grant help webpage.  Next month I will discuss how to use the data you have collected to create a logic model.  The logic model is the secret key to attaining award winning grants. Until then, continue to put students first;  and remember: YOU MATTER.