Grant Writing for Beginners: Writing a Description of Your School
Most grant proposals include a description of the school’s mission, vision, and history. This section is important in establishing that your school has the experience and expertise required to successfully carry out the proposed project or program.
This blog is part of our new series, Grant Writing for Beginners. The series addresses all stages of preparing a grant proposal from writing a Letter of Inquiry to submitting a proposal. This post continues the series by outlining how to write a description of your school:
Mission Statement
Provide your school’s mission statement or vision statement. Keep in mind that foundations provide funding to advance their own missions, and explore how your mission aligns with the foundation’s goals.
History
Try to include any interesting facts you can find about your school’s history. Mention any relevant awards, milestones, or new programs.
Demographics
Include any relevant demographics about your school or the student’s the grant will serve. How many students are in your class, grade level, or district? Many funders will only fund schools with a certain percentage of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. Fast and Fabulous Data When You’re in a Hurry lists valuable resources for finding the demographics you need quickly.
Demonstrate Expertise
Illustrate the expertise of your school’s staff and how that applies to the proposed project. To help you write this section, ask colleagues to provide a CV or resume from which you can pull relevant information. If you plan on using volunteers, describe their expertise as well.
The description you write should paint a picture of a school that is capable of meeting the needs of its target audience. Grant reviewers should come away feeling confident in your school’s ability to see the proposed project through. They should also see a clear connection between your school’s vision and the goals of the foundation.
If you found this post helpful, subscribe to the blog to be notified of future Grant Writing for Beginners series posts. Next time we’ll discuss the statement of need.
