funding ideas for high school interns?

[c011een.livejournal.com]

I am a grad student at Tufts and I do research on green roofs.  I am finalizing my summer research plans and I would like to hire some high school interns to help out with research on the Tisch Library Green Roof on the Tufts Medford campus.  I would *really* like to pay these interns, so that regular kids (not just the super wealthy) can afford to take advantage of this opportunity.  The problem is that I am fresh out of research money.  I have applied for a bunch of grants and sent a bunch of inquiry emails, but I was hoping that you--the omniscient Davis Square LJ community--might have some ideas on where I can look for money, either through convential routes (grants) or by doing something clever, such as the ingenious Phelps-a-thon at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School   http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1666774.html

Please check out the website for the Tufts Green Roof Collaborative to learn more about the project
http://www.tufts.edu/programs/sustainability/GreenRoof.htm

Thanks in advance!!

-Colleen

Comments

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

You need to look online at the Foundation Center:
http://foundationcenter.org

Unfortunately, you need a subscription to search, but many universities have one-- ask the Tufts library, perhaps? If not, there is a local place in Boston that you can go to and log in using their computers, but I can't for the life of me remember what it's called...

[yagagriswold.livejournal.com]

Are you thinking of AGM? http://www.agmconnect.org Good idea. Also, a one-month basic subscription to the Foundation Directory is pretty darn cheap--$20.

Or, if you start by Googling similar projects, you may be able to come up with foundations that have funded research similar to yours. Then you can use the "Foundation Finder" search function to search by foundation name. It is the one online search tool that The Foundation Center doesn't charge for, but you can only search by foundation name.

Also, I'd talk to the Tufts financial aid office. They may be able to help you come up with other grants.

Finally, you might want to look around for city or non-profit programs that focus on summer jobs for kids and see if you can swing a partnership with them. Good luck!

[upsidown.livejournal.com]

Yes! AGM is it! They are super helpful and very nice.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

In fact, ask the Tufts reference librarians this whole question. It's their job to be information ninjas.

[bobobb.livejournal.com]

I could tell you this in person, but what is the fun in that! Have you looked into ABCD? I used to work for a non-profit that had summer intern high school students from Boston schools that were funded through ABCD.
Also try calling the mayor's office (Somerville or Boston). They both might have some suggestions.

[c011een.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the advice everybody! These are great suggestions.

[kalliejenn2.livejournal.com]

have you thought about federal work study students? i'm not sure if your job would qualify (i'm sure the tufts financial aid office could probably help answer that for you) but if you did, the government pays about 70% of the federal work study student's wages for you.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

How about checking with Somerville High or City Hall for programs being put together for summer jobs for kids. Just be careful.....you tend to get the 'connected' kids, not the needy kids!

The Point: get a whole bunch of people to give small donations

[barry-rafkind.livejournal.com]

You could ask a lot of people to each give a small donation to this cause. Some would be willing, but most would be hesitant to give unless they knew it was really going to be successful. That's why Andrew Mason created ThePoint.com so that people can promise to give only if enough other people also give. Once the tipping point is reached, everyone chips in. One project to pay youth stipends (http://www.thepoint.com/campaigns/youth-stipends) to collect urban stories around East Oakland, CA surpassed their goal of $800 to $973 with this mechanism.