Funding and Grants

Are you an educator in need of some extra funding to help bring STEM or CS resources to your classroom? There is a wide range of funding resources available to support your classroom needs and we have put together a handy guide to help you on your journey towards a STEAM filled classroom!

Find a Funding Opportunity

Finding suitable funding is extremely important – and extremely time-consuming! Our grants guide will help you cut a few corners on your funding journey.

US Funding Sources

Federal Grants:

A collection of funding opportunities issued by the US government is available on a needs or competitive basis.

State Grants:

Thousands of grant opportunities are provided for STEM projects, directly from your state government’s revenue.

Private Grants:

A number of organizations allocate funds to support community needs with many centering on STEM pathways.

Crowdfunding:

A little goes a long way! Raise money for your STEM project with smaller donations from a large number of people.

Search for Grants Online

Looking to source your own funding? There are many websites which make the hunt that little bit easier. Here are some of our favourite sites:

Grants.gov: Listing over thousands of grants, this site will support you on your search for a federal grant. On the site, you can narrow down your search by eligibility and category. Plus, they also share some useful tips and tricks of the trade, so grant newbies know what to expect!

GrantWatch: Another leading grant resource, listing a variety of grants available. The site allows you to search by funding source, category, and state.

The Foundation Center: This well-known grant database has up-to-date and complete information about grant-makers and the grants available.

Various devices showing grant searching support

UK Funding Sources

Grants:

A collection of grants are available for funding STEM projects in UK schools and coding clubs.

Crowdfunding:

A little goes a long way! Raise money for your STEM project with smaller donations from a large number of people.

Search for Grants Online

Looking to source your own funding? There are many websites which make the hunt that little bit easier. Here are some of our favourite sites:

Grants Online: Narrow down you search for a suitable grant by filtering by location, category, organisation type, funding agency, type, and status.

GrantFinder: The “leading funding database in the UK” will help you discover suitable local, national, and international funding opportunities and even includes writing services to help you on your grant hunt!

Funding Finder: This free site offers information on hundreds of grants, including a description, the amount and how to apply.

Various devices showing grant searching support

Australia Funding Sources

Grants:

A collection of grants available for funding STEM projects in Australian schools and coding clubs.

Crowdfunding:

A little goes a long way! Raise money for your STEM project with smaller donations from a large number of people.

Search for Grants Online

Looking to source your own funding? There are many websites which make the hunt that little bit easier. Here are some of our favourite sites:

GrantConnect: Find current grant listings through the Australian Government’s grant database.

The Grants Hub: Priding themselves on being “Australia’s leading grant search directory”. The Grants Hub provides an easy-to-use site where you can save your favourite grants, compare and filter grants to find a suitable option, create a grant calendar and even set up grant alerts!

Various devices showing grant searching support

Apply for a Grant

10 Steps for Grant Writing

Use our ’10 Steps for Successful Educational Grant Writing Guide’ in your application. This is not specific to Marty the Robot or Robotical.

Grant Writing Tips

Struggling with writer’s block? Get the ball rolling with our sample language, that you can use for guidance or even copy & paste for computer science grants:

Computer Science Curriculum & Standards Alignment

“My plan is to purchase [Robotical product] to develop successful learning experiences that make use of [STEAM subject learning, computational thinking, cross-curricular opportunities, cooperative learning experiences] alongside [subject you teach]. I would like to engage the learners under my care with meaningful experiences in order to expose them to the opportunities open to programmers and engineers while exploring [subject you teach].

Robotical lesson experiences encourage team work, which leads to shared success. Robotical lessons promote the use of new vocabulary and concepts by applying them to real and imagined scenarios. Learners need to solve problems in a cooperative way: each member of the team has an important voice in describing the problem and affecting a solution, this shared learning experience takes many forms, including planning, designing, developing, testing and debugging.

In order to best support the learners in my class, I would suggest the purchase of [Robotical product] because [reason why this product is ideal for the class needs]. This product will enhance the experiences my [number of learners] learners have by bringing to life their current computer science understanding through a physical robotics device. Along with the tangible benefits my learners will experience, my lesson planning and delivery will be enhanced through the resources produced by Robotical that align to the CSTA and ISTE standards as well as the CCSS.”

Marty the Robot teaching programming to primary students

Sample Project Idea

Maximize your chance of getting funding and show grantmakers the impact the grant will have by citing specific projects and targets you’d like to reach with your students. Our educational team have developed a wide range of standards-aligned lesson packs and activities for Marty the Robot, suitable for learning progression:

Marty the Robot walking on instructional coloured cards

Beginner

Students can dip their toes into the world of coding through Marty’s introductory lesson packs. Using unplugged programming, learners are taught foundational concepts and principles.

Three boys programming Marty the robot to kick a ball

Intermediate

When learners are ready, MartyBlocks Jr and our 40+ standards-aligned lessons are here to support progression to on-screen coding!

Marty moving to Marty blocks instructions

Advanced

Students can continue their learning journey with more advanced lesson packs that make use ofMartyBlocks, a block-based coding language based on Scratch.

Watch our Webinar

“Introduction to Fund-Ed: the New All-in-One Solution to STEM Funding!”

Classroom funding webinar asset

Covered in the webinar:

  • Walk through our new resource, Fund-ED
  • Explore the hundreds of funding opportunities available for educators
  • Share some first-hand learning experiences and high points with the grant writing and funding process
  • Outline the important follow-up elements of the grant process
  • Share some helpful tips in winning grants and securing financial support
  • Help you craft your own dream or vision for an innovative project idea

And so much more!

TRY MARTY
FOR FREE

Are you looking for new STEM resources for your classroom? Robotical is loaning Marty the Robot to schools for no-obligation, two-week trials.