Category Archives: budget news

Grant Writing Tools and News You Can Use

There are some tools on the website and news coming this week that I wanted to be sure to share with you.

Help with Writing Letters of Support for Grants – As you put together grant proposals over the next few months, don’t shortchange your proposal by including poor letters of support. Recently, we posted a blog post on Writing Good Letters of Support for Grants that you should check out.  Because I couldn’t get all of the information in a short, easy to scan post, I also recorded a webinar on the topic. The recording is free and will be available for viewing on demand (within the next day or so) on our Webinar Resource page. While you’re there, check out the other grant writing webinars.

FY 2011 Proposed Federal Budget Update – On Friday, February 19, 2010, our Tips from the Grant Goddess show on BlogTalkRadio will focus on some highlights of the President’s proposed FY 2011 budget.  We will speak specifically about what the budget proposes for education and social services. You can listen to the show live online on Friday, or listen to the recording later on demand.  We have many other recoded radio shows available at that link, too, on a variety of grant-related topics.  They are all free for you, so take some time to browse the topics. One last thing about the FY 2011 Proposed Budget Highlights – We’ll be posting additional highlights, beyond those we discuss on the radio show, on our  GrantGoddess.com member site. If you are not a member, check out what you can get if you gain access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, non-profit development, and program evaluation resources on the web!

New Mini-Grants Posted on Mini-Grant Central – Some folks are interested in large state, federal, and foundation grants, but many others are perfectly happy writing for mini-grants (small grants ranging from $500 – $10,000). Mini-grants are everywhere, but they can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look.  That’s why we added Mini-Grant Central to the forum on the GrantGoddess.com member site. I just added 10 more mini-grant sources this morning.  We added 12 last week.  The list will keep growing and growing. If you’re interesting in mini-grants, membership is for you.

New Grant Tips iPhone App – Just three weeks ago, we released an iPhone (and iPod Touch) application.  Grant Tips includes over 100 grant writing tips organized into categories designed to provide support through all stages of proposal development. We have heard some great feedback on this tool, so take a look here for more information.

We are constantly adding new resources to the Grant Goddess website.  Take a few minutes and see what gold you can find there!

Grant Writing Tools and News You Can Use

There are some tools on the website and news coming this week that I wanted to be sure to share with you.

Help with Writing Letters of Support for Grants – As you put together grant proposals over the next few months, don’t shortchange your proposal by including poor letters of support. Recently, we posted a blog post on Writing Good Letters of Support for Grants that you should check out.  Because I couldn’t get all of the information in a short, easy to scan post, I also recorded a webinar on the topic. The recording is free and will be available for viewing on demand (within the next day or so) on our Webinar Resource page. While you’re there, check out the other grant writing webinars.

FY 2011 Proposed Federal Budget Update – On Friday, February 19, 2010, our Tips from the Grant Goddess show on BlogTalkRadio will focus on some highlights of the President’s proposed FY 2011 budget.  We will speak specifically about what the budget proposes for education and social services. You can listen to the show live online on Friday, or listen to the recording later on demand.  We have many other recoded radio shows available at that link, too, on a variety of grant-related topics.  They are all free for you, so take some time to browse the topics. One last thing about the FY 2011 Proposed Budget Highlights – We’ll be posting additional highlights, beyond those we discuss on the radio show, on our  GrantGoddess.com member site. If you are not a member, check out what you can get if you gain access to the largest collection of grant seeking, grant writing, non-profit development, and program evaluation resources on the web!

New Mini-Grants Posted on Mini-Grant Central – Some folks are interested in large state, federal, and foundation grants, but many others are perfectly happy writing for mini-grants (small grants ranging from $500 – $10,000). Mini-grants are everywhere, but they can be hard to find if you don’t know where to look.  That’s why we added Mini-Grant Central to the forum on the GrantGoddess.com member site. I just added 10 more mini-grant sources this morning.  We added 12 last week.  The list will keep growing and growing. If you’re interesting in mini-grants, membership is for you.

New Grant Tips iPhone App – Just three weeks ago, we released an iPhone (and iPod Touch) application.  Grant Tips includes over 100 grant writing tips organized into categories designed to provide support through all stages of proposal development. We have heard some great feedback on this tool, so take a look here for more information.

We are constantly adding new resources to the Grant Goddess website.  Take a few minutes and see what gold you can find there!

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com

Federal Education Budget for 2011 – BIG News!

I just finished participating in the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS) webinar.   The purpose of the call was to go through current SDFS grant competitions and answer questions.  There was not much information provided in the webinar that is not currently available through the U.S. Department of Education Funding Forecast or RFPs that are already out (The webinar PowerPoint will be available through the Grant Writing Resources page on our website).

There were two pieces of information about this year’s grant competitions that were important and worthy of note (then keep reading for the BIG news about FY2011):

  • There had been some confusion about the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program for this year.  If over $40,000,000 is allocated for the program, the program includes both elementary and secondary grants.  If under $40,000,000 is allocated, the program will only fund elementary school counseling proposals.  The RFP notes that over $15,000,000 was allocated for new grants this year, leading folks to believe that only elementary school counseling grants would be funded.  On the call, the FPO clarified that $55,000,000 has been allocated for this year (inlcuding funds for continuation grants).  Because the continuation grants are all elementary programs, this covers the $40,000,000 legislative requirement for elementaries.  This means that the FY2010 competition is open to both elementary and secondary programs.
  • Also, we have been waiting with bated breath for news of the new School Climate grants.  We learned today that for FY 2010 these will only be available to SEAs (State Education Agencies), not LEAs.

Ok, that was big news, but here’s the really big news…..

Assistant Deputy Secretary Kevin Jennings reported that the budget presented by the president yesterday for FY 2011 has some very good news for Education.  It includes a 6% increase for ED, and a 12% increase for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS).

In addition, OSDFS will be working to consolidate grant competitions to make it easier for LEAs to apply for and receive funds.  OSDFS will also be proting the funding of comprehenisve programs, rather small piecemeal programs (the current funding model). Specifically, they are planning to consolidate all of their little grant programs into four main programs:
1) Safe Schools/Healthy Students (which is, by the way, being revamped a bit in preparation for the big shift)

2) Emergency Management Grants (No information was provided regarding if these will be the same ones available now or new ones, or the same old ones with additions.)

3) Violence/Substance Abuse Prevention Grants (including those for higher education; Again, no news on how much of the current portfolio will be continued in this classification)

4) School Climate Grants (To be known as the Successful, Safe & Healthy Students Program – or something like that.  Mr. Jennings pointed out that these School Climate grants in FY 2011 will be available to both SEAs and LEAs (unlike this year, which is open only to SEAs).

Of course, all of these plans for FY 2011 depend on the approval of the President’s proposed budget, and a lot can happen over the next several months as that process moves forward.  However, the preliminary news for Education is promising.

Federal Education Budget for 2011 – BIG News!

I just finished participating in the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS) webinar.   The purpose of the call was to go through current SDFS grant competitions and answer questions.  There was not much information provided in the webinar that is not currently available through the U.S. Department of Education Funding Forecast or RFPs that are already out (The webinar PowerPoint will be available through the Grant Writing Resources page on our website).

There were two pieces of information about this year’s grant competitions that were important and worthy of note (then keep reading for the BIG news about FY2011):

  • There had been some confusion about the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling program for this year.  If over $40,000,000 is allocated for the program, the program includes both elementary and secondary grants.  If under $40,000,000 is allocated, the program will only fund elementary school counseling proposals.  The RFP notes that over $15,000,000 was allocated for new grants this year, leading folks to believe that only elementary school counseling grants would be funded.  On the call, the FPO clarified that $55,000,000 has been allocated for this year (inlcuding funds for continuation grants).  Because the continuation grants are all elementary programs, this covers the $40,000,000 legislative requirement for elementaries.  This means that the FY2010 competition is open to both elementary and secondary programs.
  • Also, we have been waiting with bated breath for news of the new School Climate grants.  We learned today that for FY 2010 these will only be available to SEAs (State Education Agencies), not LEAs.

Ok, that was big news, but here’s the really big news…..

Assistant Deputy Secretary Kevin Jennings reported that the budget presented by the president yesterday for FY 2011 has some very good news for Education.  It includes a 6% increase for ED, and a 12% increase for the Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools (OSDFS).

In addition, OSDFS will be working to consolidate grant competitions to make it easier for LEAs to apply for and receive funds.  OSDFS will also be proting the funding of comprehenisve programs, rather small piecemeal programs (the current funding model). Specifically, they are planning to consolidate all of their little grant programs into four main programs:
1) Safe Schools/Healthy Students (which is, by the way, being revamped a bit in preparation for the big shift)

2) Emergency Management Grants (No information was provided regarding if these will be the same ones available now or new ones, or the same old ones with additions.)

3) Violence/Substance Abuse Prevention Grants (including those for higher education; Again, no news on how much of the current portfolio will be continued in this classification)

4) School Climate Grants (To be known as the Successful, Safe & Healthy Students Program – or something like that.  Mr. Jennings pointed out that these School Climate grants in FY 2011 will be available to both SEAs and LEAs (unlike this year, which is open only to SEAs).

Of course, all of these plans for FY 2011 depend on the approval of the President’s proposed budget, and a lot can happen over the next several months as that process moves forward.  However, the preliminary news for Education is promising.

Published by Creative Resources & Research http://grantgoddess.com