All grants are different. It's important to know exactly what the grant you are writing requires.
For most grants you'll need to describe:
We have two templates for you to use:
The templates can be helpful as you begin to write, but keep in mind that you'll need to tailor your responses to your particular grant.
We are seeking funding to purchase a K-5 Family Math Night kit for (name of school or organization). The kit will help us host a Family Math Night event where families will be engaged in fun, hands-on activities in math. In addition, this event will help strengthen the school-community relationship as parents, teachers, and students come together to support learning.
Research shows that parents rate family and community engagement as the most important driver of satisfaction with their child's school. Research also shows that early math skills are the strongest predictor of a child's success in school and beyond. With the purchase of this kit, we will be able to foster a collaborative learning environment by bringing families together to engage in meaningful math activities while reinforcing skills learned in the classroom.
Our goal with this grant is to purchase a Family Math Night kit and use it to host a Family Math Night event. Through this event we hope to:
The Family Math Night kit serves 120 K–5 students and includes all the manipulatives, games, materials, and station banners for 24 different activities.
The kit also includes an Online Assistant with access to:
Having everything needed to host a Family Math Night included in the kit will make it easy for teachers to organize the event.
Our Family Math Night will be a schoolwide event hosted at school in the evening from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Flyers included in the kit will be sent out to families two weeks in advance announcing the event.
On event night, eight stations will be set up in the multi-use room. At each station will be Beginning (K–1), Intermediate (2/3), and Advanced (4/5) activities. Each station will also have a Station Facilitator to help with materials and answer questions.
To create a festive and relaxed environment, families will explore the different stations in a go-at-your-own-pace style. Parents will work with their child exploring fun, hands-on, standards-aligned activities. While doing the activities with their child, they will learn tools and strategies to help with math at home.
Evaluations will be available at the end of the event via a QR code included with the kit so families can easily share their thoughts about their experience at the event. These comments will be automatically collected and available to view in the Online Assistant.
There are six statements on the evaluation that can be answered on a scale of 1 to 5. Each statement also offers the opportunity for participants to add their thoughts or comments. The six statements are:
The evaluations will help us assess how well the event went for both parents and children. In addition, they will give us insight into how the activities helped parents support their child's mathematical learning. Not only will the event make math learning interactive and fun but it will help strengthen the connection between school and home.
The cost for the kit is ($). Shipping UPS Ground is ($). The total cost would be ($). Because most of the items in the kit can be reused, this one-time purchase will allow us to host the event many times.
Dr. Karen Mapp, renowned for her work on family engagement, cites three criteria needed for schools to provide effective family engagement:
Using the Family Math Night kit to host a Family Math Night event covers each of these criteria while also reinforcing essential math skills and fostering a sense of community. Collectively, these are the ingredients for promoting academic achievement for all of our children.
We would like to thank you for your consideration of our application. With your support, we can empower students and families to engage in meaningful math learning together while building a positive school climate.
We are seeking funding to purchase standards-aligned math games that can be sent home to families to reinforce essential skills and promote home/school collaboration.
In a 2025 study.com survey of 700 elementary and middle school teachers, 87% of the teachers surveyed said that increased parent and family support is the most impactful solution for closing academic gaps.
This aligns with research that shows a strong relationship between family engagement and student academic success. Students whose parents and caregivers are involved in their schooling, regardless of family income or background, are more likely to have higher grades and test scores.
Research also shows that playing quality math games in the elementary grades can have positive long-term outcomes for students. This is important because early math skills are the strongest predictor of a child's success in school and beyond.
With this grant we will be able to improve student academic achievement by reinforcing essential math skills while engaging parents and caregivers as partners in the education of their children.
Our goal with this grant is to purchase grade-level appropriate math games that will encourage skills practice at home and help foster a collaborative learning environment between home and school.
Through these games we hope to:
One of the benefits of purchasing these games is that they come individually pre-packaged, making it easy for them to be sent home with students. The games are organized into Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced levels according to the grade bands Kindergarten/First, Second/Third, and Fourth/Fifth respectively and are also available in Spanish.
Once teachers receive the games, they can choose one of the games to teach their students how to play and then send the game home for families to play together.
Included with the game will be a family letter that describes why playing games helps build and reinforce math skills. This letter is included with the purchase of the games.
Also included is a Check-In Chat (or Dealin' Dialog depending on the games purchased), designed to help facilitate a dialogue between home and school. This Check-In Chat is an opportunity for parents to provide feedback and communicate with their child's teacher about any insights or questions they may have about their child's mathematical thinking after playing the game. The Check-In Chat comments can also serve as a way for the teacher to tailor instruction.
Included on the Check-In Chat are four questions:
The directions to play are on each individual game. Video directions for the board games can also be accessed via a QR code included on the game packet.
The games include multiple versions in increasing levels of difficulty. Having multiple versions is a great way to “customize” the game for each student. There is a space on the Check-In Chat for the teacher to indicate which version of the game families should play depending on the skill(s) being reinforced.
The games will be returned to school the following day along with the Check-In Chat. Teachers will be able to resend the game home for families to play a different version. At some point, teachers can teach students how to play a different game in the packet and send it home along with a Check-In Chat.
Once families have had a chance to play the games and share their thoughts and insights, the games will remain at home so families can continue playing and learning together.
The cost for the math games is ($). Shipping UPS Ground is ($). The total cost would be ($).
Playing games is inherently fun, which is why games are an easy way for schools to get families to connect over learning. While families are playing, students will be engaged in purposeful practice while reinforcing skills and building math confidence.
In addition, the Check-In Chats will help foster a collaborative learning environment between home and school. This will help build strong home/school partnerships that actively support student growth and learning.
We would like to thank you for your consideration of our application. With your support, we can empower students and families to engage in meaningful math learning together while fostering a collaborative learning environment between home and school.