Ten Foundations Every Teacher Should Know About
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
Every few years, an article comes out pointing out to the public that the average teacher spends roughly $400 each year on their classroom, with first year teachers usually spending twice that amount. Couple that with the well known fact that teachers salaries are not typically align to the value they provide, and it’s easy to get disheartened.
But fear not, loyal educators, your sacrifices are not being overlooked! Across the country, thousands of foundations and companies have heard your pleas for funding and are standing at the ready with grant money just for you. In fact, there are so many grants out there, it can be overwhelming to find the one that is right for you.
To that end, the WeAreTeachers team has ten foundations or companies to share with you that offer grant money for teachers like you. These foundations were chosen by our team for their innovative nature, their pool of resources, and the ease of the application process.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention our fantastic (and fantasically easy) microgrant program, which allow teachers to submit their best ideas on a given topic (currently there are two on literacy and professional development) and then compete for online votes to be one of the ten teachers awarded $200 and a flip video camera or iPod nano with video to document your project. (And, every idea is available online to inspire you!) New microgrants are available all the time, so check back regularly!
2. Digital Wish
If you are looking for a list of grants, this non profit is the place to start. Sponsored by Olympus and Flip Video, Digital Wish provides a long list of grants for various subjects.
This is an excellent organization that promotes creativity and innovation in the classroom through grants. According to their website, “Kids In Need Teacher Grants provide K-12 educators with funding to provide innovative learning opportunities for their students. The Kids In Need Foundation helps to engage students in the learning process by supporting our most creative and important educational resource — our nation’s teachers.”
4. Sprint Character Education Grant Program
Last year, Sprint gave out more than $450,000 in grant money to support character education initiatives in the classroom. Grants are open to all US public school (K-12) and school districts nationwide.
This foundation awards five $1,000 grants to teachers who need money to keep their program goals afloat, with preferred emphasis on helping students with learning disabilities.
6. Toyota TAPESTRY Grant Program
Each year, Toyota supports innovative student projects by awarding fifty large grants and twenty small scale grants for projects that focus on science education.
7. ING Unsung Heroes Grant Program
Since 1995, the Unsung Heroes program has been awarding 100 innovative, forward thinking teachers with $2000 each, usually with at least one winner from each state. Additionally, the top three winners win between $5000 and $25,000.
Not to be outdone by Toyota, the American Honda Foundation has awarded $25 million dollars in grant money for science based projects since it’s inception.
9. Inspiration Software Inspired Teachers Scholarships
Twenty five teachers are awarded with $1000 towards professional development or new technology for their classroom through Inspired Teacher Scholarships.
10. Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams Grant
If you’ve got a group of inventive students and a great idea, look no further than the Lemelson-MIT grant program for a little prestige and a lot of dough. InvenTeams receive up to $10,000 for their best inventions.
Have you had any experience with these foundations? Know of an awesome grant that you think we missed? We want to know about it! Let us know your best grant secrets and don’t forget to apply for our microgrants for a quick and easy way to get yourself a little extra money!
