Go to the Microgrant Application Form web page. Fill in contact information.
- Write approximately half page about a problem or an opportunity that you see and would like to address.
2. Write approximately a half a page on what you would propose to do. This is a general description.
3. Write a half page on what you would need (personnel, materials) and budget for materials. If one or more students is to participate and to partner with you, include their name(s). Give a reasonably good estimate of the cost of each material. You can include padding of 10 to 20 percent to cover taxes and unexpected price increases. You may also want to include a 5 to 10 percent general supplies category for unanticipated needs. The grant writing form will total the amount. If it is above $250, the form will reject it. But never fear, your principal can choose to override the $250 limit if it is warranted.
4. Write a half page about your procedure and exactly what you will do. That is, if the action proposed above is somewhat general, e.g., “beautify the front entrance of the school,” the Procedure section could specify painting a bench, buying a mascot sign, putting the sign on a pressure treated wooden pole, putting landscape pavers from Lowes or Home Depot around the garden, picking up trash, and so on.
5. Write approximately half a page on how you would evaluate success of the grant, e.g., “We will count the number of students who participate for each workday. We will interview children on the playground and combine their responses on a Likert type scale.”*
Finally, remember that the whole purpose of the school is for the kids. Whether or not there is to be a student partner to help administer the grant, try to make this into a learning opportunity for one or more students.
There are a variety of ways you might evaluate the outcome.
Using a series of Likert type items and/or true/false items would be one way, but there are other ways, too.
- * Here is an example of a Likert type item:
- I spend more time on the playground now that the new bench is in place:
- 1=Disagree
- 2=Slightly disagree
- 3=Not sure
- 4=Slightly agree
- 5=Agree
This could be done by asking children face to face what they think or through giving them a questionnaire. Another possibility would be to count the number of children using the playground before and after the new bench. This is just one example of an outcome measure, but it is a technique often used in research. For educational purposes, personnel at the Garden of Hope Fund will be glad to assist in designing outcome measures that are practical for your setting.