GRANTS

​GRANTS TO INCREASE EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT

DOWNLOAD THE CREEED COMMUNITY GRANTS GUIDELINES

In addition to funding CREEED identified initiatives that increase the number of high-performing schools, CREEED accepts community grant requests that support our goal of increasing educational attainment by expanding the number of high-quality education seats within the public k-12 system of education and reaching the 60x30 El Paso / 60x30 Texas state goals. CREEED has adopted the below grant guidelines for submissions to fund educational initiatives within El Paso County. 

CREEED’s Community Grant Initiative supports innovative education programs and projects that help increase educational attainment in the El Paso region by fostering systemic change to the educational system using innovative approaches and incorporating innovation as an integral part of implementing a mission of post-secondary preparation for all students. 

CREEED will review requests and award competitive grants in accordance with the fourteen guidelines set out below.  Grant decisions are made on an ongoing basis once all materials and guideline answers have been provided.  

All grant awards must be approved by the CREEED Board. Notification of grant approval or denial will be provided after the CREEED Board has made a decision.

GRANT APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

Grant requests may be sent to CREEED via email at grants@CREEED.org, and must provide answers on how the grant matches the Grant Guidelines below.  CREEED asks the same questions of every applicant.  All applicants should be prepared to provide the following: 

• A brief description of the group or organization that is applying and, if different than the requestor, that will lead the proposed project, including any past record of successful education outcomes. 
• Brief bios of the applicant’s senior staff members and Board of Directors.
• A detailed budget request and budget narrative with the specific amount requested along with a breakdown of expenses, and if applicable, a payment structure for grant funds.
• Date of deadline for receipt of funds, which is subject to CREEED’s funding requirements.
• Detailed description of the project, including goals, metrics, and geographic scope. 
• Project timeline.
• Current operating budget (if applicable) and proposed project budget.
• List of current and pending funding sources, including source and amounts.  
• Amount of total Board of Directors contributions for the past 24 months, and percentage of Board members who have contributed to the organization.
• Letter of determination reflecting IRS tax exempt status dated no more than five years from the grant application date.  
• Answers to the questions presented in the CREEED Grant Evaluation Guidelines. 

GRANT EVALUATION GUIDELINES

Grants will be evaluated according to the following criteria.  These guidelines ensure that CREEED Community Grants support investments that are sustainable, scalable, and have a positive strategic impact on increasing educational attainment.  It is not necessary to satisfy each of these criteria in order to receive funding, but applicants must address all the questions raised in these guidelines:  

1. Is your request transformational to the status quo of k-12 system operations?  If so, what is the basis of the transformation and the extent of the transformation projected?

2. Does your request expand the number of high-performing seats in the system?  If so, how many are projected over what period of time and will the system sustain them once expanded?

3. To what degree does your request fit into CREEED’s focus of a post-secondary ready graduate able to complete post-secondary education within a maximum of 6 years (if pursuing a Bachelor's Degree) or less depending on the credential sought?

4. What level of impact will your request have and over what period of time will it expand to include a larger percentage of students, if, initially, it is a targeted program?

5. What type of leadership and teacher resources are necessary to achieve the objectives of your request?  Over what period of time will it take to recruit the talent and have it in place?

6. How will the investment provided by CREEED be leveraged into maintenance of your request, along with its expansion to cover more students, and will the proposal fully incorporate the program through budget support?  If so when in the process will that occur?

7. Will the benefits associated with your request be shared or access provided to other educational institutions to support the expansion of best practices across the El Paso education system?

8. Is the governing board (e.g. School Board) aware and supportive of your request?  If so, if there are dissenters, what is the basis for their dissent?  If not supportive, then how can sustainability be guaranteed?

9. How many students will benefit from your request and over what period of time?  What is the timeline for expanding the number of students to be able to participate?

10. How will parents be informed about the opportunities presented by your request?  Is the program being pursued on an open enrollment basis or a geographically restricted basis?

11. Are you accessing any state sponsored money for this request?  If not, why not? or will you consider pursuing such state sponsored funding?

12. Will you consider modifications to your proposal in order to expand the number of affected students (or the expansion of the number of high-performing seats)?

13. Who have you partnered with for this request and what is their past level of success in expanding high-performing seats?

14. How will you measure that it has achieved the outcomes the request is designed to achieve from a student capability standpoint and over what period of time?  What are the targets for moving towards the ultimate goal?