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 might already have funds available for prevention programs, so you might 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.
2. Do you know of funding in my area?
We don’t have information on funding for specific geographic areas. You may want to try searching the Fundsnet website, a database of private funding by state, which might provide further ideas for funding sources.
3. Which specific funds cover your programs?
It’s 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:
- Title I, Parts A and C
- Title II, Part A
- Title IV, Part A
- Title VI, Part B
- Title VIII, Impact Aid
- Head Start
- Project Aware
Educators have also had success with funding from community organizations, companies, and foundations. Go to our Funding Matrix to learn more about what programs are available in your state and how those programs apply to your school.
4. What are “the lists,” and are Second Step® programs on them?
“The lists” include programs endorsed by various government and nongovernment organizations. Some districts and funders will only fund programs on these lists. Second Step programs have received several endorsements and are on the lists.
5. How do I apply for funding from Committee for Children?
Committee for Children is a nonprofit organization, and we can’t provide funding to purchase our programs.
6. Do you have any tips for writing specific grants?
Visit our grant-writing toolkit.
7. Do you have any sample wording I can use to apply for a grant?
Several pages on this site offer wording that you might find helpful in writing a grant proposal for our programs. These pages are listed in our grant-writing toolkit. It might also be helpful to include wording on how social-emotional learning supports academic achievement in general. In addition, we have a “talking points” list for Second Step programs and the Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit that contains some wording to help get you started. You can also view our Second Step FAQs.
8. Do you have research citations I can use in my grant application?
There are research studies available on most of our programs, complete with references and citations:
- Read research on Second Step programs
- Read the Reviews of Research for:
- Read the Second Step® Bullying Prevention Unit Review of Research (PDF)
- Read the Second Step® Child Protection Unit Review of Research (PDF)
9. I need to measure the impact of my program for a specific grant. Do you have evaluation tools?
Yes! Evaluation tools for Second Step programs can be found on our Student Assessment page. Tools for the Steps to Respect program and the 2002 edition of Second Step can be found in our free downloads.
10. What can I say about the Second Step Digital K-8 Program Lesson Progress Reports for a grant?
The Lesson Progress Report provides data on the number of program users and the number of lessons completed per school. This information can be useful for grant reports or funder updates.
License administrators use can this data at any time during the school year to support quarterly or annual grant reporting. To report lesson progress to date:
- Download the Detailed Lesson Report CSV.
- Open the file using Microsoft Excel.
- Use the autosum feature by selecting the cells in the Lessons Completed column. The sum will appear in the bottom right corner.
Your data will automatically be reset on June 30 of each year. To ensure you get your final school year data, download your last report before June 30.