Funding Tips

• Local seed stores or other merchants – in some communities, Walmart, Home Depot, or other large discount stores are happy to donate torn bags of seed. Big chains usually throw out torn bags. You could ask them to call you and then have a volunteer pick up the seed. Let local merchants know that many families start to feed birds after their children are introduced to bird feeding at school. If the merchant helps out, be sure to let parents know about their participation.
• PTA or PTO
• Community grant applications: e.g. local humanities council, local education foundation
• Local clubs: garden club, Kiwanis, Rotary, Audubon chapter or other bird club
• Local professionals: e.g. landscape architects, doctors, lawyers
• State and federal grants for habitat development
• Generate a wish list and give it to your principal. If someone comes to the principal wanting to contribute some money for a worthy project, your wish list is in his office.
• Fundraiser – e.g. sell bird "decorations" for trees at holiday time, make feeders or birdhouses and sell them
• Let parents know what you’re doing by giving an introductory parents’ night
• North American Association Environmental Educators (NAAEE) affiliates
• National grants – Chevron Sure Grant, Toyota Tapestry Grant, Phillips Petroleum PEP Grant, Sea World/Busch Gardens, Eisenhower, Learn and Serve, U.S. Forestry Service, Ted Turner Foundation, Trout Unlimited, Environmental Protection Agency. You can usually find these by searching the web.
• Volunteer to chair the school’s "grants" committee so that you know about funding opportunities as soon as they are announced by the sponsor.

If you receive a grant, especially one from a local resource be sure to:

• Have your students write a letter to the agency (store, club, etc.) thanking them.
• Write a letter for your principal to send and give it to the principal to sign
• Write a letter to the editor or your local newspaper thanking the agency
• Take pictures of your students using materials funded by the club, etc. and send copies to the club, etc.
• Invite a local reporter (TV, radio, or newspaper) to visit your class to feature the grant and your students

When writing your grants:

• Stress community involvement; show how the grant will affect others in the community
• Show how you will keep the program going after the grant
• Before writing your grant, call the funding source and ask them what they are looking for. They will usually tell you and you can then tailor your proposal to their needs.

Miscellaneous

• In some states you can increase your probability of receiving a grant if the grant will show how you will network with teachers in nearby counties

• Remember that retired folk can be great resources. Let people at local retirement communities know your needs; they may well want to sponsor your class’s participation in Classroom BirdWatch or other special projects.

Many of the ideas on this page were sent to us by teachers and other educators. Send us your favorite activity idea:

Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Education Department re: Funding Tips
159 Sapsucker Woods Road
Ithaca, NY 14850

Email: baj3@cornell.edu