Find answers to the most common questions about eligibility, proposal guidelines, budgeting, deadlines, fiscal sponsors, and more.
Yes. Lead and partner applicants for Student Success and Learning & Leadership grants must be current members of the NEA.
Here is information on how to become a member of the NEA.
Grant applications focused on the following topics are most likely to be funded:
- Enhanced critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Master of essential academic content
- Communication and collaboration skills
- Project-based learning and learning experiences connected to real-world issues and challenges
Yes. Although the educators assigned as the lead and partner must be NEA members, non-members can certainly take part in the project.
Applicants must be teachers, education support professionals, or specialized instructional support personnel and must be current NEA members. Current NEA Foundation grantees are ineligible for this funding opportunity. A successful proposal will also make an individual ineligible for other NEA Foundation funding opportunities until the grant is successfully completed and closed out.
* Education support professionals include: para-educators, school bus drivers, maintenance and custodial staff, food services staff, school nurses and student services workers, clerical and office assistants, school security officers, and technicians.
* Specialized instructional support personnel (SISP) are defined as: school counselors, psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, library media specialists, speech pathologists and others.
No. Grant funds may not be used to reimburse expenses incurred prior to the notification date. Applications that include activities or expenses scheduled prior to the notification date will not be considered. We encourage you to plan ahead.
No. Group Learning & Leadership grants fund collegial study, and funds may not be used to support travel costs or conference fees for more than one person. One member of the study group may travel to the conference and share their knowledge with the rest of the group when they return.
We review applications three times a year. You can submit an application at any time, but if you want your application to be reviewed for a specific notification date, then you must submit your application by the posted deadline. For example, if you want to be notified about funding by April 15, then we must receive your application by the close of business on February 1. If we receive your application on February 2 or later, we’ll hold it for the next round with notification by September 15.
We notify all lead grant applicants via the email submitted on the application. If you haven’t received an email the Foundation by the notification date, please contact us at neafoundation@nea.org.
No. Student Success grants cannot pay stipends, salaries, or grant administration fees. We will not consider applications that include. Stipends are only allowed as part of a group Learning & Leadership grant.
Student Success grant funds may be used for resource materials, supplies, equipment, or technology. However, the proposed work and related materials should focus on students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. If your budget includes materials, they must play a central role in deepening student knowledge and habits of inquiry. If you have a proposed project that does not meet these criteria, we encourage you to visit our grant resources page for resources that support materials-centered projects.
Yes. Your budget must account for the full grant amount. We do not award partial grants. You must also plan to spend all of the funds within 12 months of the notification date.
Yes. As long as you have submitted all of the required reports for your previous grant, you may apply for the Foundation’s grant programs as many times as you like. However, you must submit a unique proposal; we won’t consider identical applications.
No. If you do not designate a fiscal agent, we award the grant to the lead applicant. In that case, the IRS may consider the grant personal income and therefore taxable. Fiscal sponsors are usually non-profits, schools, districts, or local unions that can accept the funds without tax liability.
Before you designate a fiscal agent, make sure you know the organization’s procedures for dispersing funds. You will have to abide by these procedures and should be sure you are comfortable working with that system.
The application process is highly competitive, and like many other foundations, we receive more worthy applications than we can fund. The Foundation typically awards approximately 120 Grants to Educators each year.
