Okay, so there are no "secrets" to getting large amounts of grant money. There certainly are some guidelines, however, and I believe once you put these simple guidelines into practice, you'll probably get more grant money than you thought possible.

As you read these, you may think they're too simple to be all that important. You would be wrong! Follow the guidelines below, and you'll get more grant money than 95% of the other people who apply.

First, know specifically what your needs are and match those needs closely with grantor's mission. Your students read two grade levels below normal. The U.S. Department of Education gives money to schools who have students with math levels two grade levels below normal.

That's not a match.

You need regular, old library books. They give money for innovative technology programs.

That's not a match.

Last month I discussed contacting the granting agency BEFORE you ever start writing a grant application. If you do not have a fairly close match between your needs and their purpose for giving, you are not going to get the grant money you need.

First, match your needs with their purpose for giving.

Second, complete the application EXACTLY as you are instructed by the granting entity. If you don't, either your application score will not be high enough to compete with other schools also applying for the grant, or your application won't be read at all. If it says use 12-point type, use 12-point type, not 10, not 14. If it asks for a formal budget, submit a formal budget, not a loose bunch of numbers not specifically directed at the problem.

Second, follow directions. You expect students to follow directions exactly. Granting agencies expect the same from you.

Third, apply for many grants, not just one or two. Apply for three grants to solve one problem. Try to solve four different problems. That's twelve applications right there.

The truth is, if you follow step one and step two above, you will get lots of grant money once you apply step three.

Once you've matched up your needs to their purpose for giving, once you've followed their grant application directions completely, then all you need to do is crank out enough applications. It's a numbers game. Your odds just went up almost geometrically.

Follow these three basic guidelines, and you'll get as much or more grant money than 95% of the other schools in the United States.

Don Peek is an expert in school funding. He has run The School Funding Center since 2001. Its database contains over 100,000 grants available to all types of schools in the United States. Don worked in education for 20 years as a teacher, principal, and assistant superintendent before becoming the VP then the president of the training division of Renaissance Learning, developer of the Accelerated Reader.
http://www.schoolfundingcenter.info