Financial Help

  • Raising Money For Your Children


    Financial help for schools and communities to purchase anti-bullying, youth guidance and life skill materials

Win Free Programs

We are pleased to announce that through the generous support of Our Funders, we will be giving away sets of free programs to schools participating in our Stepping On Up Student Essay Writing contest.
Learn More »

Financial Help for Schools

Stepping On Up incorporates an wide range of topics and approaches and schools can use funds from a variety of sources to bring the programs to their classrooms. To search for funding to support using Stepping On Up, use the following key words:

Anti-Bullying, On-line Safety, Cyber-Bullying, Drug and Violence Prevention, Character Education, Life Skills, Social Emotional Learning, Media Literacy, Funds for Safe and Healthy Students

The Office of Safe and Healthy Students

There have been changes in federal funding for these programs as outlined here:

Recently the Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools and its programs were moved into a new Office of Safe and Healthy Students within the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education (OESE). This change was effective on September 26, 2011, and will provide new opportunities for staff from OESE and OSDFS to work together to improve school environments and support children’s learning, health, and well-being. The contents of the new OSHS (formerly OSDFS) Web pages were relocated to OESE’s homepage and is available at www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oese/oshs/index.html.

The Office of Safe and Healty Students (formerly OSDFS) administers, coordinates, and recommends policy for improving quality and excellence of programs and activities that are designed to:

  • Provide financial assistance for drug and violence prevention activities and activities that promote the health and well being of students in elementary and secondary schools, and institutions of higher education. Activities may be carried out by State and local educational agencies and by other public and private nonprofit organizations.
  • Participate in the formulation and development of ED program policy and legislative proposals and in overall Administration policies related to violence and drug prevention; drafting program regulations.
  • Participate in interagency committees, groups, and partnerships related to drug and violence prevention, coordinating with other Federal agencies on issues related to comprehensive school health, and advising the Secretary on the formulation of comprehensive school health education policy.
  • Participate with other Federal agencies in the development of a national research agenda for drug and violence prevention.
  • Administer the Department’s programs relating to character and civics education.

Organization

The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools is under the supervision of the Assistant Deputy Secretary who reports to the Secretary and the Deputy Secretary on policy and program administration matters. The Immediate Office of the Assistant Deputy Secretary provides overall direction, coordination, and leadership to the following major elements:

To learn more about these government grants, check out http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/om/fs_po/oese/safehealth.html

Other government and private sources for funding and financial help for schools:

  • Title I (Improving Basic Programs)
  • Title II (Teacher and Principal Training)
  • Title IV (Office of Safe and Healty Students)
  • Title V (Innovative Programs).
  • County government discretionary funds
  • Governor’s special council funds for child abuse prevention
  • Mental health funds
  • District and school safety funds
  • School enhancement dollars
  • Mayor’s office or municipal government
  • Police departments
  • Violence prevention organizations
  • Medical clinics
  • Parent-Teacher Associations
  • Banking institutions
  • Faith-based institutions
  • Private foundations

Local Sources of Funding and Financial Help for Schools

Donations from Individuals

Bullying and cyber bullying has become an area of concern for many people across the country, including many philanthropically-minded individuals. Seek out the financial support of individuals in your community in order to purchase Stepping On Up and other useful programs for your school. Donations to public schools, non-profit independent schools and religious schools are generally tax deductible.

Local Businesses

Many large national corporations have programs to support employee and community-based programs wherever they have a store, factory, warehouse, or office complex. They can be a good source of funds for purchases of this size.

Business partners are another source of funds. Department stores, big box retailers, supermarkets, restaurant chains, real estate companies, law firms, banks, medical facilities, doctors and dentists, telephone and utility companies are good sources of local funding.

Civic Organizations

Another source of local funding are civic organizations such as Rotary and Kiwanis and Veterans’ organizations. Many are already involved in anti-bullying campaigns and often fund lower cost programs such as Stepping On Up.

Parent Teacher Organizations

PTOs or PTAs often have funds for classroom materials or can initiates fundraising programs to do so. Several of our other programs have been purchased in this way.

Churches and Religious Organizations

Religious organizations all over the country are involved in youth development projects and could be good partners for after-school programs on issues of bullying, cyber bullying and character education.

Local Government, Law Enforcement, Juvenile Justice and Continuation Schools

Bullying does not just take place at school and with it spread through cyber bullying, whole communities are impacted. Check with your local officials to see if they have any sources of funds and/or programs you could access to make your community safer and violence free and help both the victims and perpetrators of bullying.

Special Education Funds

Your district special education department may be a good partner. Often the target of bullies, special needs kids benefit tremendously when caring and inclusive community values are encouraged as they are in Stepping On Up.

Foundations and Other Grant Sources

Working with a local non-profit foundation opens up a broad range of funding sources. Here are some links to foundations with an education focus. Many more sources can be found at www.foundationcenter.org

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Making America’s Classrooms World-Class Once Again

The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation

The David Lucile & Packard Foundation

Other Foundations with an Education

Other Web Sites of Interest

Check back periodically to see new sources of financial help for schools and communities added to these pages.