We’ve all been there at least once. During your curriculum planning, you come across some amazing new technology while browsing for resources–a premium subscription to some fantastic web platform, a set of lessons designed for 1:1 iPads, the latest and greatest interactive projector–and immediately your brain starts buzzing with ways that your students could make use of it. You draw up some plans, and bring them to the school with the hope of taking your teaching in an entirely new direction.

Then your principal tells you that the idea is fantastic…for next year, maybe. This year, they just don’t have the room in the budget.

This scenario happens every day for teachers around the country, due to the distribution, and sometimes outright lack, of district funds. It’s an unfortunate fact, and one that’s endlessly frustrating to every educator who has to buy their own classroom supplies for the year. We’d like to extend our admiration and our sympathy to those teachers whose ambition for their classroom stretches beyond what the school can afford…but more than that, we’d like to help.

Fortunately, there are more and more options for teachers to find additional funding to keep their classroom in shape and evolving. Here’s a short overview of some options for you to consider, and some tips for when you venture out into the world of alternative funding.

Crowdfunding

Many people equate the term ‘crowdfunding’ with jokes like the Potato Salad Fund and the new life-sized statue of RoboCop in Detroit, but this new method of fundraising is not as silly as people used to think. The basic principle of crowdfunding is that a person can post a project or request on sites like Kickstarter, and anyone can donate any amount they want to help fund the project into life. By making the project public, hundreds of small donations can quickly build up into a completely funded venture in an amazingly short time, without putting pressure on any one source to donate a ton of money to your cause.
Sounds good, right? Since the topic of education affects everyone, giving the community a chance to help directly fund a classroom’s needs can cut out the middleman, get you the funds you need fast, and even provide a way to allow parents, friends and other members of the community to directly impact their childrens’ education–if only a little.
If you decide to venture out into the world of crowdfunding, though, I’d recommend using a location that caters to educational projects. Sites like AdoptAClassroom, DonorsChoose and Indiegogo provide a level of service that is specifically tailored to teachers and schools, rather than the entrepreneur-focused tone of Kickstarter. In recent years, these sites have been getting more and more attention, and have seen more and more success for the teachers that sign on. Recently, Steven Colbert even made headlines by single-handedly funding every request on DonorsChoose from his home state! With credentials like that, you may never know who’s about to pay for your new classroom iPads–but you’ll know that those who contribute have your students at heart as much as you do.

Grants

One of the primary ways schools boost their budgets is through grant funding. When schools apply for money through Title 1 or other types of federal funding, the grants they receive are typically folded into the school’s budget and based on factors such as student demographics, achievement, and the state’s cost of education. These types of grants are usually handled by administrators and often recur from year to year.

However, there are other grants that teachers can apply for individually to fund their own classroom efforts. The amounts of these grants are typically much smaller, ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, and can be used for any number of efforts ranging from professional development to buying new hardware.
So where are these grants? A more accurate question is “Where are they not“! Many educational websites provide a short list of grants teachers can apply to each year, along with links to their applications. The first place many teachers should look is their state’s Department of Education website; for example, the page for New York’s DOE provides a fairly comprehensive list for teachers of multiple grades and subjects. Non-government websites, such as Edutopia, Teach.com, the NEA Foundation or TeachersCount, often will provide their own lists of grants from alternative resources. Still more grants are corporate-sponsored, and thus can have very specific requirements–for example, one grant offered by Toshiba requires that the award be used specifically towards math or science education–but if your classroom fits the bill, there’s no reason not to apply there too!

Whatever method you choose, the best way to win the funds you need is with details, details, details. Grants will often require–and donors love to see–that you have a plan for the technology you want to purchase for the classroom. When writing up a grant application or crowdfunding request, consider including these points:

• Summary of Funds Use- what EXACTLY will the funds you desire be spent on? Include an itemized plan on what you plan to purchase with your new windfall–how much it will cost to purchase and maintain–to show your prospective backers that no dollar will be wasted.
  • Apps / Programs you will use – If purchasing hardware, have an idea of what will be placed on this hardware (apps for iPads, programs for computers, etc.) Why are you using these apps / programs? How will they improve student progress? 
• Classroom Applications- How will the technology be used throughout your daily instruction? Be as detailed as possible – even include a sample lesson plan using the technology. If the grant is for a one-time event, make sure it is clear what the event is and how your students will benefit from such an event
  • Assessment of activity – How will you assess student progress in content objectives? Can you use the technology to assess? 
• Alignment to Standards– What technology or educational standards will this new acquisition address? What skills will the students be learning, developing, or practicing with this technology? Using the Common Core standards, as well as the NETS technology standards for tech use in the classroom, will give your request the sense of authority it needs to succeed
• Project evaluation- How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your grant? How will you track growth in student achievement with and without the new technology? Will your backers be privy to your results? Even those who donate just a couple of bucks to a crowd-funded project like to see when their money contributes to a success.

Fortunately, the resources we’ve provided here are only a starting point into the funds being given out to teachers. There’s a whole world of tech money out there for teachers who are willing to look for it–and when you finally get what you need to put that gadget or software in your students’ hands, you’ll find that the results are worth the effort.