Frequently Asked Funding Questions

1. What types of funding do others use to purchase your programs?
Schools often use general funds, operating budgets, and grants. Your district or school may already have funds available for prevention programs, so you may want to check with your prevention coordinator or district office as a first step. If there aren’t district funds available, educators often use money from community sources, private companies and foundations, or federal funds.

Some educators also use money designated for character education. Our SECOND STEP and STEPS TO RESPECT programs align with character education standards.

You may also wish to sign up for our Funding InfoSource e-newsletter, which lists state and federal funding opportunities and private grants that may help you purchase our programs.

2. Do you know of funding in my area?
Committee for Children keeps a list of companies and foundations that may provide funds to purchase our programs. Geographical areas covered are included with each listing, unless the company or foundation listed didn’t specify a particular area. Educators often use funds from community organizations, such as municipal government, police offices, and faith-based institutions. You may also wish to sign up for our Funding InfoSource E-Newsletter, which lists state and federal funding opportunities and private grants that may help you purchase our programs.

3. Are any grants available soon?
Application due dates are included in our list of companies and foundations that may fund the purchase of our programs. You may also wish to sign up for our Funding InfoSource E-Newsletter, which lists state and federal funding opportunities and private grants that may help you purchase our programs.

4. Which specific funds cover your programs?
It is impossible to say with certainty that a specific fund will cover our programs in every instance. However, educators have had success funding our programs with money from Safe and Drug-Free Schools, Safe Schools/Healthy Students, Title I, IDEA, and character education, and Head Start. They have also had success with community organizations and funding from companies and foundations.

See how our programs align with Title I, IDEA, or Head Start standards, or how our SECOND STEP and STEPS TO RESPECT programs align with character education standards.

5. What are "the lists," and is the SECOND STEP program on them?
“The lists” include programs endorsed by various government and nongovernment organizations. Some districts and funders will only fund programs on these lists. Our SECOND STEP program has received several endorsements and is on the lists. Read more.

6. How do I apply for funding from Committee for Children?
Committee for Children is a nonprofit organization, and we cannot provide funding to purchase our programs.

7. Do you have any tips for writing specific grants?
Read our grant-writing tips.
See a sample grant proposal for curricula purchase from SchoolGrants.Org.

8. Do you have any sample wording we can use to apply for a grant?
There are several other pages on this site where you can find wording that might be helpful in writing a grant proposal for our programs. The sections on the research behind the programs, how they align with academic and character education standards, and awards and endorsements may be particularly helpful. All of these are listed in our grant-writing toolkit. It may also be helpful to include wording on how social and emotional learning supports academic achievement in general. In addition, we have a "talking points" list for the SECOND STEP and STEPS TO RESPECT programs that contains some wording that might help get you started.

9. Do you have research citations I can use in my grant application?
We have research on the effectiveness of our programs, with references and citations:
See research on the SECOND STEP program
See research on the STEPS TO RESPECT program
See research on the TALKING ABOUT TOUCHING program

All of our programs are research based, and the review of research for each program also includes references and citations:
See the SECOND STEP Review of Research for preschool/kindergarten, grades 1–3, grades 4–5, and middle school
See the STEPS TO RESPECT review of research

In addition, we have information about how social and emotional learning supports academic achievement.

10. I need to measure the impact of my program for a specific grant. Do you have measurement tools?
Yes! See implementation tools and evaluation tools for the SECOND STEP and STEPS TO RESPECT programs.

Return to Funding Help.