A: There are many excellent grant writing workshops available for nonprofit fund raisers throughout the country. Your local AFP chapter can help you know the benefits of a particular one in your area.
The question you should be asking yourself, however, is this the best way for you to be spending your time? Most of the gifts received by private-independent schools come from individuals or family foundations and donor-advised funds controlled by individuals. Few foundations support private-independent schools. If you are looking for professional development opportunities, you and your School Head might think about seminars directed at giving by individuals, including annual giving, alumni, major gift, and planned giving workshops.
If you refer to the 2009 Report of Voluntary Support of Education, you will find that, among the schools that completed their survey, only 24.2 % of their total gifts came from foundations. When you consider how much of that total was given by family foundations directed by individuals with close ties to their schools, the percentage is even lower. The same conclusion can be applied to gifts from corporations where the percentage was at a very low: 4.2%.
