Monday, January 9, 2012

How to pitch your grant to big companies for funding


Hello all,

Just another quick tip I thought I would throw out there for those of you who are new to the Donorschoose grant writing.

When writing with a particular company's support in mind, make sure to CAREFULLY read what they are looking for in a project - particularly key words necessary. 

In Example:

Leap Frog has the following requirements for funding:

50% match offer for projects that request the LeapFrog Tag School Reading System. Projects should include LeapFrog Tag School readers, books, maps and accessories only. Materials should cost $350 or less.

Tag School readers can be found through the following vendors: Best Buy, CDW, Kaplan Early Learning Company, Nasco, Quill, School Specialty, and Teachers' School Supply. Be sure to include the phrase "LeapFrog Tag readers" to qualify. 

This last line may be seemingly unimportant to some but may be the making or breaking of your funding opportunity.  If a donor has a specific instruction such as this, FOLLOW IT TO THE LETTER.

In other words, Tag reader, Leap frog, or leap Frog reading system will not suffice. The words you list in your project must be exactly as the donor has requested. Many companies search for projects by a string of key words/phrases they have listed. If your phrasing does not match their search, then you have missed the boat. 

I am only mentioning this because I have seen leap frog funding a plethora of grants; however, the ones which have not had funding applied to them, I noticed have imprecise wording of the phrase above or have requested other items in addition to Tag materials, making them ineligible for this funding opportunity.

Here again is the link for current companies funding grants:

Read carefully and Good luck to all! 
Don't give up - this is after all a learning process!

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