Finding the Funds for Technology Projects

This article was in the March 24, 2015 edition of TCEA TechNotes.

In today's world of tightened budgets and a lean economy, teachers find it difficult to secure adequate funding for all of their classroom needs, including technology. But just because the funding isn't there doesn't mean the need for that equipment is non-existent. In fact, we would argue that the need for educational technology is greater today than it has ever been as teachers work to personalize and differentiate teaching and learning for all students.

There are still ways to secure funds for your classroom projects, and TCEA is happy to share these with you. Here are a few great resources that require a little extra work, but are well worth the effort.

Donors Choose - DonorsChoose.org is a non-profit association that allows individuals to donate directly to public school classroom projects. Founded in 2000, the organization asks teachers "What change do you want in your classroom?" A teacher answers that question by choosing exactly what items are needed and describes the project online. Once funded, the items are sent to the classroom for immediate use. 70% of projects posted are funded. Teachers can sign up here. Adopt A Classroom and ClassWish are similar websites with crowdsourcing donation programs.

Digital Wish - Digital Wish has everything you need to locate funding specifically for classroom technology. Just like a gift registry, teachers build a wish list of technology products for the classroom and then tell prospective donors how their support will make a difference to students. In addition, Digital Wish offers discounts on common technology for the classroom.

Grant Wrangler - Grant Wrangler is dedicated to providing information about grants available for teachers. The site divides the grants available into several different categories like STEM, Arts and Humanities, Health and Physical Education, Libraries, Technology, and more.

EdTech Team Student Device Grant - The EdTech Team provides class sets of Chromebooks or Nexus devices to schools around the world out of their training profits. So far, they have donated 20 class sets. The short online application is available here.

Corning Incorporated Foundation - The foundation supports competitive grants for instructional technology for the classroom. Currently, they provide 136 grants in education totaling about $3 million.  

Funding Factory - Get your community behind the effort to recycle inkjet and toner cartridges, cell phones, and small electronics and earn points toward technology. The program is completely free for schools and even includes the cost of shipping the items. 

Grant Watch - This website offers information on all of the latest grants available. New grants are posted every day.

District Foundations - Many school districts now have a separate foundation that provides grants to classroom teachers. Check with your central office to see if your school has one and take advantage of that opportunity.

Fund Raisers - If you're tired of selling cookie dough to fund your classroom projects, here are several different items to help you raise money. 

·         LockerWorks is a great fund raiser for the beginning of school that offers a flexible organizer that hangs inside a locker. 

·         Provide each student with their own flash drive through the fund raising program from Pexagon Technology. 

And for something really different, try selling Mixed Bag Designs, which offers beautiful bags.