School playground equipment grants will provide the community or school to contribute to providing both social and physical benefits for the children or students. As you know, school playground is a big investment, so any form of capital help would be even better.
Children playing in the school playground will have better social skills as the result of playing with other children. These skills include cooperation, compassion, leadership, negotiation, communication, etc. Moreover, the physical challenge of school playground will help these kids healthier. After all, the best work out for children is playing.
Successfully Get School Playground Equipment Grants
That said, getting a grant for this cause still require some efforts since there are many people who have the same ideas as you are. You have to have careful planning and search for suitable funders. A proposal that is in line to the funder’s priorities and specs is also important. In this post, you will learn about all of it.
First, you have to have clear information about what you need and the cost needed for the equipment. For example, you can write that you want to install a monkey bar or merry go round, write down the total cost, and add information about the shipping and installation fees that are needed.
Another thing to keep in mind is to provide demographic information about the students of the school, especially if there are a significant handicapped people or high-risk population. This often becomes the funders’ target. For example, you want to provide easy access to the playground for minority descendants children in your area.
Have a proper research using an online directory of foundations is a good way to go. Use their search feature and enter the keywords that are related to school (i.e. elementary education, youth, children, playground etc).
Now that you know where to send your grant proposal, you should carefully see their website and learn which way the first contact would be acceptable. Some ask for a full proposal, some may ask for email or letter of inquiry. If not listed, try to send email to them. In that mail, remember to ask whether you are allowed to send a proposal for your school playground project, and don’t forget to write down the short version of your project too. If they want to see your proposal, ask if the organization prefers a narrative form of the proposal or a specific application form.
Now that you’ve got the organization’s attention, you need to prepare the proposal based on their preferences. In general, a grant proposal for school playground equipment grants is consisted of:
- Project’s summary
- Demographic information (population details) that will use the facility
- Needed items and their estimated cost, install cost and shipping cost
- The timeline needed
- Reasons why you ask help from that specific grantmakers
- How you will evaluate the project success
You also have to include the school IRS letter, which will prove that your school has the 501C3 status (tax-exempted).
Last but not least, make sure to follow the timeline provided by the grantmaker. Always send the proposal before the deadline passed. You should also write a thank you note or letter to show your appreciation, regardless you get your grants for school playground equipment or not. Check complete List of Playground Equipment Grants Provider HERE!.
References :
- Grants and Fundraisers for Your Playground
- Image: heraldextra.com
