Grants For School Field Trips – What better way to educate while entertaining your students in a positive way than getting them on a field trip? A field trip is an excellent chance to offer direct education and a change of pace needed by the students. However, despite the excellent benefit of a field trip, it is often hard to make this event a reality. As you may have guessed it, the main obstacle for this is finding the money.
Fortunately, there are some grants available for school field trips available in the United States. We have compiled several programs that may be able to help you to cover a part of the cost. They are:
Grants For School Field Trips Opportunities
Field trips are recognized for their significant educational and socio-emotional advantages for students across various academic levels. However, the financial aspect frequently poses a considerable barrier. Even when the field trip itself is offered at no cost, the expense of transportation, particularly bussing, can render it financially unfeasible for many educational institutions and families. In response to this challenge, we have compiled a selection of effective strategies. We hope it can alleviate the financial burden associated with organizing field trips.
Furthermore, schools can explore collaborative efforts with other educational institutions or neighboring districts. Pooling resources and sharing costs can significantly reduce the financial strain on individual schools. At the same time, it still provides enriching experiences for students. This approach not only fosters community partnerships but also promotes a sense of camaraderie among educators working towards a common goal of enhancing student learning opportunities.
Here are some examples of grants for school field trips:
Target Education Grants
Being one of the biggest stores in the United States, we’ve heard that Target has donated millions of dollars to charity. But they actually do more than just donating. Target has been known to give back to the society through their Corporate Social Responsibility programs. One of the programs is to provide grants for teachers and fellow educators, as well as organizations that focus on education. They open grant application for early childhood reading, art, culture, and design, along with constructive field trips!
For grants for school field trips, the application is available every August 1 to September 30. The amount of grant money given varies greatly, but they are always between $700 and $2,000. This grant program is famous, so you can expect some competition during the application. We highly recommend you to try submitting again the following year if your application is rejected. TIP: find examples of application for the Target field trip grant.
Walmart Community Giving Program
There’s another big store that you can approach to find financial assistance for school field trip. Walmart provides Walmart Community Giving Program that is available for a public and private school located near a Walmart store. Each winner will receive between $250 and $2,500. This grant can help the teachers with the cost of a field trip.
Walmart opens the application throughout the year (up to December 31). TIP: try to add elements of sustainability, healthy eating, career opportunities, or women’s economic empowerment. These four areas are the focus of Walmart Community Giving Program, hence involving one of them will surely increase your chance of funding.
ING Unsung Heroes
The Unsung Heroes program aims to support qualified educators that have innovative class projects that can give the students a very valuable experience. Qualified educators will receive $2,000 for the project, and there’s extra money available for the top three educators that have the most interesting and innovative program. The program is currently available each year, and each year there are 100 teachers and educators that are selected. Note that applicants should work as a full-time member of a K-12 public or private school in the United States.
SYTA Youth Foundation Road Scholarship
Traveling cost can be quite expensive, especially if your class’ field trip goes far away from the school location. If in any case there are some students that cannot afford the money for the traveling cost of this outdoor education, you can always try to get help. The SYTA Youth Foundation offers Road scholarship program that can cover this problem. The SYTA Youth Foundation hopes that through traveling the students will get a positive experience and significant difference. The amount money received may vary each year, depending on the application number, the cost of trips and also the fund available.
Big Yellow School Bus
Another great opportunity to cut down your field trip’s traveling cost is to use Big Yellow School Bus (if available in your area). The program can assist the school by providing $200 grants, to cover the transportation costs. However, the organization requires the school to have their field trips to cultural institutions or have activities related to arts, humanities, and sciences. The application is available during school year, and the winners will get the money in the next school year.
The Kohl’s Cares Field Trip Program
The Kohl’s Cares Field Trip Program exemplifies the commitment of Kohl’s Department Stores. The goal is to support local schools in the metro-Milwaukee area. During the 2013/2014 school year, Kohl’s provided $750,000 in funding to eligible schools. The purpose is to offset the expenses associated with field trips. Through the Kohl’s Cares Field Trip Grants, schools in the local community will get more educational opportunities beyond the classroom without incurring additional costs.
This initiative underscores Kohl’s dedication to enhancing the educational experiences of students by facilitating access to enriching learning opportunities outside traditional classroom settings. By providing financial assistance to cover field trip expenses, Kohl’s aims to ensure that students have the opportunity to engage in hands-on learning experiences that complement their academic curriculum.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many opportunities available throughout the United States. Those options can help you cover the cost of field trips. Create a conceptual, interesting, and meaningful application for grants for school field trips. Then, apply for the grant as soon as possible.
These grants not only alleviate financial burdens for schools but also open doors to experiential learning opportunities that complement classroom instruction. As a result, students are able to engage in hands-on activities, explore new environments, and deepen their understanding of various subjects. Such initiatives serve as a testament to the positive impact that corporate philanthropy can have on education, fostering a culture of curiosity, discovery, and lifelong learning within communities.
References:
- SYTA Youth Foundation
- Big Yellow School Bus
- Image: glacierconservancy.org
