Foundation Grants to Support Programs for Students with Autism
January 15, 2010 by Abby
Filed under Individuals With Autism, Special Education
Back in December 2009 I read an article about a school in Massachusetts that was awarded a grant from the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism to support a Saturday social skills class for their students with autism. This foundation distributed $378,766 this past year to support 29 non-profit organizations with $16,500 of this going to fund the social skills program. Applying for grant funding is a great solution to support programs that need additional monies to build and support the programs they offer.
Our country is in the middle of a financial crisis and there are countless budget cuts being made which are greatly impacting our education system. With a little time and creativity, however, we can offset the affects of these cuts by applying for grants from foundations. I say “a little time” which is misleading because it does take time, but in the grand scheme of things when you consider the cost of NOT getting additional financial support to create and sustain programs for students with disabilities, it really is a little time.
There is a lot of money in grant funding that goes undispersed every year. Foundations have been created for the sole purpose of supporting non-profit organizations in providing innovative and effective services. There is no reason to continue pulling out our hair over lack of funding for special program or technology for students with autism… it’s time to do the foot work and secure the necessary funding that is available.
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Hi – I’m the mother of a 12-year-old middleschooler with Asperger’s Syndrome. Like many towns, ours is out of money. I am looking for a way to fund a peer-mentoring program to get typical kids onboard with understanding the gifts and challenges of kids like mine, and so many others in my town. My town doesn’t appear interested and I am tired of waiting around for them to come up with something. I want to help, but I am overwhelmed with the grand-writing process and have no training, but am willing to learn. Can you tell me if there is anything available like this? I’m not really talking a lot of money, but would need start-up costs to fund teachers’ time, purchase of games and money to fund small activities like bowling, etc. Can you help? Thanks.
The best resource to search for foundation grants is: http://foundationcenter.org/
On this website you can search for grant funds by keyword and state (you will typically have more success with grants from within your state). This search will generate a list of funds. From here you can search for the specific funds using google . Once you find the fund’s website, you need to look for details regarding: types of projects the foundation funds, application guidelines and deadlines.
There is information on the Foundation Center website in regards to writing grant proposals. You will be able to find tips and sample grant applications. The most important thing to think about when applying for grant funding is how to make your application clear and convincing. The trustees of the foundation need very detailed information to aid them in making a decision. Decisions will only be made in your favor if the grant application is complete and thorough.
Due to the variety of foundation grants available and the individual requirements for each, I can’t provide you with specific information about specific grants, but the information I’ve mentioned above should give you a great start to getting funding for your project. Once you’ve found foundations to apply to and have begun the application process, I would be more than happy to look over a grant application for you and give you feedback.