It’s Wednesday and another post of #31daysofkindergarten…but this one is a surprise guest post from Bright and Sunny in Primary! Marcie is here to share about Free Money for your Classroom. I hope you love this post!
Hi! I’m Marcie Taylor from Sunny and Bright in Primary and I’m so excited to be here today! I have been teaching for 20 years and I am currently teaching kindergarten, my all time favorite grade!
I know we are all struggling to wrap our heads around how school is going to look this year. Will it be in person? Will it be virtual? A hybrid? Will it change during the year? The only thing anyone seems to be sure of is that it will be different.
Chances are you are going to need some new materials to make things work this year. You might need new digital lessons/activities, new storage materials or a closet full of cleaning supplies.
That’s why I wanted to pop in today and talk to you about getting all these new things you need for FREE. Seriously. It’s time for us to stop figuring out how to fund our own classrooms. There is FREE money out there and I am passionate about helping you get your hands on it!
In case it’s not clear I am talking about writing classroom grants. Wait! Stick with me! I know that the idea of writing grants is intimidating to many of you… but I am here to tell you how incredibly easy it can be!
Grants are not for ‘other teachers’, they are not for ‘good writers’ or for people with lots of time on their hands. They are for YOU and for YOUR students.
I’ve broken everything you need to do into 4 simple steps.
1. Just Do It
Here’s what you need to know: it’s not hard. You need to get past the idea that it is too hard or too time consuming. It’s not.
You just need to decide to do it. Right now. Just decide.
Once you decide it is going to happen – it will. I promise.
2. Back it Up
One of the absolute best tricks is to reverse engineer your grant writing process. This means you need to find out who is giving away money and what they want to fund.
-Look at who is giving away money
-Ask for that money
-Go shopping
It’s really that simple.
When you go backwards and create your project based on the criteria of the money that is already available your grant will fund VERY QUICKLY.
3. Dollars Fund Dreams
You are right. Donors don’t want to buy you stuff.
Donors want to make a difference. They don’t want to buy pencils… they want to give disadvantaged students a chance for success. And they can do this by buying pencils.
Don’t be afraid to be cheesy. Give the donors “warm fuzzies”. Many of these people have no idea what it’s like in your classroom or why your students need these things. Think about how special your students are and then tell the donors. Help them see that they can make a difference.
4. Mind Your Manners
It is so important to say thank you! THANK your donors. Make them feel good about their donation. They will be MUCH more likely to donate to your next project if you take the time to let them know they made a difference. I’ve got so much more to share with you!
You can read about grant writing in much more detail over on my blog Sunny and Bright in Primary. I have a 4 part series that gives you lots of information about how to get started.
I’ve also created this free guide to grant writing that you can download at bit.ly/TeacherGrantFreebie
If you have any questions you can reach me on Instagram @sunnyandbrightinprimary I regularly share grant writing tips and specific grant opportunities.
Happy Writing!
That is a wrap for day 8 of #31daysofkindergarten here on my blog! Thank you Marcie for guest posting today! I love your approach to free money for the classroom! ? In case you missed the previous posts in this series…
- Kindergarten Daily Academic Schedule
- Best Assessments for Kindergarten
- Preparing for the 2020 School Year
- Super Ideas for Teaching Rules & Procedures in a Kindergarten Classroom
- Boom Cards: Everything You Need to Know
- Individual Phonics Literacy Kits
- Individual Supply Storage from Dollar Tree
Abigail is a Kindergarten Teacher, Curriculum Writer, National Speaker and author of the website, Kindergarten Chaos, LLC. She lives in Las Vegas, NV with her husband and 3 kids. She provides professional development to schools and districts all over the country. If your school or district is in need of professional development for everything Kindergarten, please email her at kindergartenchaos2@gmail.com