Tips for Finding Funding
There are different ways to obtain funding for presenting Mother Goose on the Loose sessions or offering the training workshops. For your convenience we have outlined some of them below.
Partnerships Grants Collaborations Public Registration
Partnerships
If your institution is small and you are seeking a training for a limited amount of people, try partnering with other community organizations to minimize the cost and maximize the amount of people benefiting from a MGOL workshop. Public libraries in relatively close proximity, early literacy & literacy organizations, childcare facilities & preschools, Head Start programs, parenting organizations, programs for teenage moms, social service agencies, and United Way are all groups that have partnered to help fund and share in MGOL trainings.
Grants
President Biden's Build Back Better Agenda has been making investments in our youngest learners, in recognition that skills and supports set up in the earliest years set children up for success in school and in life. Because this is currently a governmental priority, now it is good time to apply for grants.
Many libraries obtain funding to host Mother Goose on the Loose trainings through grants. While the application process may seem complex, if you succeed in getting a grant, the results make it worth the effort. A grant application can include the fee for a training workshop (making it free for all attendees), transportation for the attendees, workshop materials (felt & tacky glue), photocopying of hand-outs, and all of the supplies you need to start running a MGOL program (flannel board-easel, colored scarves, musical instruments, puppets, etc.).
Examples of successful grant proposals are below.
- Fact sheet from Massachusetts regarding their successful
- LSTA grant proposal for Mother Goose on the Loose
- A Grant proposal for a town-wide early literacy program based on Mother Goose on the Loose.
If this is your first time applying for a grant, feel free to send a copy of your application to info@mgol.org. We will be happy to review it and send suggestions back to you.
Collaborations
Mother Goose on the Loose highly recommends collaborating with local and federal institutions. Successful MGOL statewide collaborations have included:
- Department of Education
- Department of Early Learning
- Health Department
- Office of the Governor
- Department of Early Learning
- State Arts Council
- WIC centers
- Laundromats
- Head Start and Early Head Start
- Infants and Toddlers
- Nature Centers & Zoos
- Local Children's Museums
- Hospitals
Public Registration
If writing a grant is not an option, you may want offer workshop that covered via registration fees. The hosting institution (or person) will be responsible for booking the workshop and taking care of all logistics. By advertising the workshop and charging a registration fee, you can recover the booking fee and perhaps even make some income! By hosting the workshop, your institution will be strengthening its image as a “go-to” place for quality early childhood education.
If you would like to host a Mother Goose on the Loose workshop but need help coordinating logistics, please the Mother Goose on the Loose Workshop Outreach Coordinator at: info@mgol.org.