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Proposal Deadline: January 8, 2009
To submit your proposal, go to: http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/projects/78

Minigrant Objectives

Special-focus networks offer minigrant opportunities to sites in order to provide modest support for projects that contribute to strengthening the site, and to strengthen and support work in areas identified by the networks as part of their mission. These areas include, but are not limited to, building leadership capacity, developing or extending new and established inservice and continuity programs, enhancing summer institute programming, and networking with other sites to support student learning and writing.

Overview

The Rural Sites Network (RSN) offers minigrant funds to NWP sites on an annual basis. The grants are offered every fall as part of the special-focus networks minigrant program in conjunction with the NWP Continued Funding Application. Funding criteria and awards are determined through a peer-review process; grants are awarded in the spring of each year. This year, grants of $5,000 will be awarded.

The Goals of the RSN network are to

• explore the complex issue of what it means to teach, work, and learn in a rural context
• increase sites' capacity to carry out research and programs
• address issues—such as distance and poverty—that affect rural classrooms and communities.

The Goals of the RSN Minigrant Program

The intent of the RSN minigrants is to provide support to writing project sites to initiate or sustain work consistent with the mission and goals of the network. If your site has a project it would like to conduct that meets the goals of RSN, we invite you to apply for a minigrant this year. Funds from this grant may be used only for programs designed to provide development opportunities for professional educators. RSN minigrants are not awarded for programs that provide services directly to students, such as youth writing camps, though they may be used to provide professional development to teacher-consultants facilitating community or student-focused programs.

Consider applying for an RSN Minigrant if you want to fund a project that addresses one or more of the following goals:

• Support teacher research into rural educational contexts and issues, and provide opportunities for teacher-researchers to disseminate their findings.
• Document the work of your site and its teachers in order to enhance the public's understanding of rural education.
• Begin a new program, or enhance a developing program, for delivering professional development or providing continuity in the rural areas you serve.
• Expand and/or diversify the leadership base at your site.
• Collaborate with other networks, programs, initiatives, or individual sites within the NWP.

Obligations of the Grant

• Provide informal status updates to minigrant program chairs/liaisons as requested.
• Submit a progress report by August 2009 per guidelines of the award letter.
• Submit a final report on the work by August 2010 per guidelines of the award letter.
• Share an inquiry into or outcome of the work of the minigrant with an audience beyond your site, through a venue such as an NWP publication or an NWP-sponsored event or special program—for example, the Annual Meeting, a special-focus network conference or retreat, or a regional event. Some suggested presentation formats are workshops, displays, written articles, and multimedia products. Your presentation is not limited to these venues or formats.
• Include a reflection on the impact or implications of the minigrant on the site's development, work, and/or accomplishments in the January 2010 Continued Funding Application.

Schedule

• November 2008: Special-focus network minigrant opportunities announced and network membership sign-ups open
• January 8, 2009: Minigrant proposal deadline
• March 2009: Minigrant awards announced
• March 2009–August 2010: Program implementation
• August 2009: Progress reports due
• January 2010: Include reflection in CFA
  
• August 2010: Final reports due

Proposal Guidelines

To apply for a Rural Sites Network minigrant, submit the following:

1. A summary of the proposed project (200–400 words)
2. A proposal narrative of approximately 1,200 words (four standard pages)
3. A timeline that includes proposed dates for related activities and names of persons responsible for the work
4. A budget request that totals $5,000.

Project Summary

Compose a one-paragraph, 200- to 400-word description of your project. If your project is funded, the summary may be used in whole or in part on the NWP website.

Proposal Narrative

The narrative of the proposal will summarize what you hope to accomplish and how you plan to carry it out. Please refer to the rubric at the end of the application when completing your proposal. Your proposal must include the following elements:

• A proposal rationale of no more than one page that briefly describes the context, service area, and compelling local need for professional development related to education in rural areas. The rationale is where you will make your case for this project.
• A description of the project that includes project goals and corresponding activities. Include roles and responsibilities necessary for program implementation. The description should make clear what resources (time, people, money) this project will require and how you will accomplish the work. Make sure the description makes clear how it will fulfill the need outlined in your rationale.
• A description of the impact of the proposed project. We are particularly interested in how you anticipate this project will affect teachers, schools, and/or your writing project site. Consider how you will integrate this work into the ongoing work of your site and sustain it beyond supplemental grant funding.
• A dissemination plan that includes sharing what has been learned from this work locally, throughout our network of sites, and/or with the field of education at large. Dissemination plans may include NWP and other conference presentations. Funds may be allocated in the minigrant budget to support dissemination plans.

Timeline

Include, in chart form, a proposed timeline showing the dates of your project's succession of activities and the names of persons responsible for the work you plan to do as you move from launch toward completion of this project. Include NWP reporting dates in your plan. This work may begin as early as March 2009 and should conclude by August 30, 2010.

Budget

Minigrant budgets and project reporting must meet federal requirements and schedules as specified in overall site awards. Minigrants are provided using federal funds, which must be used for activities that provide professional development opportunities to professional educators. Any activity expenses incurred by or for students or relating to entertainment must be covered by matching nonfederal funds.

Budget requests should total $5,000 and should explain how you will use the minigrant funds. If desired, funds may be budgeted for costs related to minigrant presentations. If any supplementary funding is to be used, explain its source and how it will be spent. You may use the Minigrant Budget Template (found at http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/projects/78) to prepare your budget request. The site director is required to enter the requested budget into the online budget system (http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/nwpsites/budget_system.html) in order to complete your minigrant proposal.

Making the Match

When you apply for a minigrant—as when you apply for any federal grant from the NWP—you are required to show a minimum of a one-to-one dollar match in your application. Sites have successfully met this requirement in a number of ways. Below, we describe two options that many sites use to meet the match. If you need further assistance or suggestions, contact Mike Mathis, NWP director of grants and contracts, at mmathis@nwp.org.

Option 1: Matching minigrant funds in the core site budget

If your site's requested budget for core funding shows matching funds at least equal to the sum of your site's core grant plus the minigrant, you have met the match. For example, if you apply for a $5,000 minigrant on top of a $43,000 core grant, and your site shows at least $48,000 in matching funds on the requested budget, the minimum match requirement has been met. What we look for in a minigrant match is an overall match to federal NWP site dollars; these funds do not have to be designated specifically for the minigrant project.

What if the core site budget does not meet the minigrant match needed?

As you might do with your site application, investigate the most likely sources for funding support. These include university funds for teacher release time, supplies and equipment, office support, and conference travel; and state and/or school district support for professional development, research, assessment-related tools, and special projects. If you have tapped these sources and still come up short, contact Mike Mathis at mmathis@nwp.org. He can help sort through possible avenues within the university and suggest other ideas to help find the match you need.

Option 2: Matching funds specifically for the minigrant project

For minigrant projects that target a particular population or geographic area, or that address a specific area of need (e.g., disadvantaged schools, minority communities, the promotion of literacy, or parental involvement), you may be able to secure matching funds from private foundations and community funds that focus on similar issues. Sometimes you can get matching resources from institutions in the area where you are providing service. Companies and philanthropic organizations often strive to link with worthwhile community projects in their home areas, and some set aside money specifically for educational purposes. Writing Project sites have also found that obtaining local support can help to build bridges within a community and increase local commitment to good educational programs.

If you use or raise match funds specifically for the minigrant project, include the funds in a separate column on your minigrant budget detailing how the match funds will be used.

Remember to include donor letters of commitment if you are raising new funds for your match.

Supporting Information

Rural Sites Network

2009–2010 Minigrants: Criteria for Evaluation

The Rural Sites Network seeks to fund projects that support its current interests. Reviewers give preference to proposals that

• enhance the visibility of the site among the schools, teachers, and/or communities in the rural areas it serves
• document the work of the site, its teachers, and/or its service area, so that rural writing projects and rural education are better understood by the public
• foster interaction and collegiality among rural and other teacher-consultants
• build teacher leadership at the site by having rural participants share in the planning and decision making concerning the site's development.

In addition to supporting the purposes above, review teams assess proposals with a focus on how the proposal as a whole

• demonstrates ways in which the project will draw upon the talents of the site's rural teacher-consultants, schools, and/or communities
• explains how the project will address the particular challenges and/or interests of the site
• demonstrates that the site has the commitment, ability, and resources to carry out the project
• carries the potential to bring something new into being for the site and have an impact on long-term site development.