Donor’s Choose Grant Writing Tips for Success:

  1. Read through this Overview and how to submit a Project https://donorschoose.app.box.com/s/u5n9jfwejsh23ypqbne3

2.  Know What Funds are Available https://www.donorschoose.org/match-offers . Proposals that are under $400 - $500 are mostlikely to get funded. Shop wisely and break up projects. You can have 8 projects going at one time. When one is funded, space opens up for another.

  1. Read other projects. Start with Jed’s site and moreto see how other educators are wording their projects and what they’re asking for.

4.  Creative & Catchy titles are winners!

5.  Make it clear you are a full time, contracted teacher if writing for two partner schools.

6.  Articulate why the requests are important…To write about your project, start by

a.  IMAGINE a perfect day in your classroom:

i.  What are students doing?

ii.  What are they learning?

iii.  And finally,what are the resources and supplies that get them there?

iv.  The answer to this final question serves as the beginning ofthe written portion of your project.

v.  Once you’ve written about the supplies you need,addressthe other questions you asked yourself, explaininghow these resources will contribute to yourvision for your students.

7.  Edit closely – less is better and eliminate jargon.

  1. Promotion…Double Down on Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) – how to use Facebook automatic updates https://help.donorschoose.org/hc/en-us/articles/202001557-How-to-use-Facebook-Automatic-Updates
  2. Sharing your page in your email signature https://help.donorschoose.org/hc/en-us/articles/203235497-Sharing-your-teacher-page-in-your-email-signature

10. Keep project up as long as possible

  1. December is most active month for funding – get them up before December.
  2. Join Community Pages such as Caring Classrooms, Classroom Angels, Kindergarten Rocks, and Send A Smile to help others and receive help. Basically how it works is you join their page on Facebook. Once a week, they post projects on their community page. You donate at least a dollar and post your project you want featured. You'll have a chance to get selected once current projects on the community page get funded and spots open up. They also host fun contests that allow you to win gift cards and spots on their page. Most of them have 100% successful funding rates. If your project gets posted, it's almost guaranteed to get funded. Check it out!

GET STARTED:

https://secure.donorschoose.org/wizard/addressWizard.html?execution=e1s1