Please adhere to the following submission instructions. Failure to comply with these instructions will disqualify the application.

All proposals must be submitted through the NEA Foundation’s online grant system. Click here to submit a proposal electronically.

Applicant Information

Lead Applicant: The lead applicant will be the NEA Foundation’s contact person for award notification, reporting, publicity, and other grant-related activities.

Partner Data: For all Learning & Leadership Grant applications submitted by groups, please complete a data sheet for one partner who will assume leadership of the project should the lead applicant be unable to continue. Applications for group grants without partner data will not be considered. Applications submitted for individual grants do not need partner data.

Fiscal Agent Note: If no fiscal agent is designated on the applicant data sheet, grant funds will be made payable to the lead applicant and reported to the Internal Revenue Service. Because the grant funds may be considered taxable income, the lead applicant may wish to consult with his or her tax advisor before submitting the application. NEA members who elect to designate a fiscal agent are encouraged to consider their local NEA affiliate for this role.

Applications missing lead applicant data will not be considered.

Narrative and Budget

Please consult our Learning & Leadership Grant Writing Tips.

The narrative must address the following items:

1. Provide an abstract/summary of your proposed work (For examples, please see the descriptions of our recently funded grants. Failure to comply with the character limit may lead to disqualification of your application.
2. What do you propose to learn? How, where, and when will that learning be accomplished? Please specify any learning resources you plan to use and the time frame for your work.
3. What is the need for such professional development? Describe the way you and your colleagues assessed the need, including the student work used in your process.
4. How, when, where, and with whom will you share what you have learned?
5. Provide a line-item budget for the proposed work. Individual grant requests must total $2,000. Group grant requests must total $5,000. Identify any additional support (cash or in-kind) that will be provided by other sources.

Selection Criteria

• Proposed learning is high quality
• Proposed learning is directly related to a clear and compelling student need.
• Proposed collegial sharing is interactive and sustained over time.
• Proposed learning is likely to improve student achievement.
• Budget is appropriate to the proposed learning and sharing.

The NEA Foundation may allocate a number of grants based in part on geographic considerations.