This single-semester project had two major goals:

• Students were to learn and apply grantsmanship skills.
• Students were to become active partners with five selected nonprofit organizations in East Central Indiana and thus help support the following activities through grant proposal writing or related services:  creation of a medical clinic for Afghan women and children; environmental educational programming for children; restoration of the Limberlost wetlands; wildlife rehabilitation; and creation of an alternative energy/sustainable living fair.  (In the end, the number of community partners expanded to six, as the alternative energy fair became a collaborative effort).

Action

Eight of the students, working in pairs with four of our partner organizations, identified appropriate funding sources and wrote at least one grant proposal for each organization; in the process, they also helped compile grant-related materials for their organization to use in the future, including a proposal template.  Two of the students took on different roles, related to their special interests and the organizations' needs:  one student created or updated Web sites for four of the organizations, and the other became a member of the newly created Sustainable Living Fair of East Central Indiana steering committee, participating in the planning and development of the fair and also seeking grant funds.

Results

• Four pairs of students wrote one or more grant proposals for each of their organization's funding needs; depending on foundations' funding cycles, they may or may not have submitted those proposals by the end of spring semester.
• Each pair of students prepared a packet of materials–in both print and on CD-Rom containing likely funding sources and a template for future grant proposals.
• One community partner was nominated for three volunteerism/community service awards.
• Three organizational Web sites were created or dramatically reworked; another Web site was updated.
• A cooperative relationship was established with a graduate student in Ball State University's digital storytelling program for the creation or updating of all other community partner Web sites this summer.
• A newly formed coalition of environmental organizations created a steering committee for the first Sustainable Living Fair of East Central Indiana, planned for June 2007.  The venue has been secured (Delaware County Fairgrounds), a grant proposal for up-front costs has been submitted to the Community Foundation of Muncie and Delaware County, and a logo contest for Ball State University students has been announced.  Plans for speakers, workshops, vendors, and field trips have been drafted.

Faculty Mentor

Dr. Barbara Stedman, Honors College

Partnerships

• AWAKEN (Afghan Women's And Kids' Education & Necessities)
• Cope Environmental Center
• Limberlost Swamp Remembered and Friends of the Limberlost
• Wildlife Resqu Haus
• Robert Cooper Audubon Society, Five Rivers Group of the Sierra Club, and Cope Environmental Center:  collaborating to sponsor the Sustainable Living Fair of East Central Indiana

Students

Emily Alvarez, Sandy Fields, Karen Hamm, Holly Iseler, Mona Luxion, Joseph McGowan, Sarah Robbins, Jennifer Shea, Heidi Skurat Harris, Joseph Townsend