Funding Sources for Children and Youth Programs
Louis S. Schafer
Schoolhouse Partners, 2014
757 pages
“Funding Sources for Children and Youth Programs” is a well-organized print directory that provides a bountiful amount of information about public, private and governmental funding opportunities for grant seekers — from tips on writing grants to more than 3,000 annotated records that provide the grant’s focus and goal, program requirements such as eligibility, funding amounts and deadlines, the sponsor’s name and address and other contact information, restrictions, and much more. The seventh edition of this directory includes detailed indexes by subject, program type and geographic area, published in support of helping readers find the most appropriate and applicable funding opportunities in program areas such as child and youth services, family-strengthening activities, prevention of teen pregnancy, drug and alcohol addiction and violence.
“Funding Sources for Children and Youth Programs” is a subset of the GrantSelect™ database that contains more than 20,000 entries. Begun in the 1980s by a professor in New York City, this database has grown from a collection of grant opportunities listed on index cards to a subscription database and print directories for grant seekers in the areas of the humanities, biomedicine and health care, research and children and youth programs. GrantSelect™ is readily available through public libraries, universities and other entities, and subscriptions are available to individuals. The cost of directory is $79.95. The cost for an individual to subscribe to GrantSelect™ is $500.00 per year. Costs to subscribe to GrantSelect™ vary by size of institution.
This directory uniquely benefits from strengths of the GrantSelect™ database and, according to Louis S. Schafer, the editor, is the only print resource of this scope that is exclusively focused on funding sources for children and youth. Although databases such as GrantSelect™ are constantly updated to identify the most recent grant opportunities, the print directory may be usable for many years because of the depth of information.
Strengths of the GrantSelect™ database improve the print directory’s usefulness. GrantSelect™ identifies each grant and funding opportunity offered by entity, rather than lumping opportunities together by broad program area or organization, as do other resources. For example, the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) has 17 distinct grant opportunities, and each has its own unique focus and intent, such as the USTA Excellence Grants, the USTA Junior Team Tennis Stipends and the USTA National Tennis League Arthur Ashe Essay and Art Contest. Other grant resources may not delve into this detail.
GrantSelect™ also includes charitable family trusts that are often not publicized or included in other grant resources. Charitable family trusts provide access to significant amounts of money and generally require only uncomplicated applications that may not be searchable online according to Schafer.
The book includes an introduction, information about how to use the directory, a list of government and organizational acronyms, tips for writing successful grants, records to 3,049 funding opportunities, and indexes by subject, program type and geographic area. The latter index is a useful addition to this directory. This is an ideal print directory for schools and other organizations and individuals who need this useful funding information specific to youth programs but don’t want the expense of a subscription database.
Shafer has 30 years experience collaborating with school districts and nonprofits to develop, write and submit grants to foundations, corporations, private entities and state and federal agencies. He is CEO of Schoolhouse Partners based in Lafayette, Ind. Schoolhouse Partners maintains and develops the GrantSelect™ database, publishes subsets of the database such as “Funding Sources for Children and Youth Programs,” and offers training and consulting services.
