Perhaps you are ready to expand your technology lab or you need some new digital audio equipment for your rehearsal space, but you need some money. It's fine to start dreaming of grants, but keep in mind that a great funding proposal needs to be supported with a great plan.

Many teachers find the process of grant seeking overwhelming and confusing. That's understandable, but you can keep the process of seeking and implementing grants manageable by clearly articulating the parameters of your project — who, what, where, when, how, and how much — before you begin writing your proposal.

Imagine and describe to yourself or a friend what the classroom or lab will look like with the added equipment or resources. What will the children be doing? What will student work look like? What will students be learning or doing that is better than before? How will this translate into measurable student achievement? Add as much detail to this mental picture as possible.

From this vision, articulate your goals and objectives. For instance, if your vision is a classroom lab of computers and keyboards to teach music composition and arranging, then your goal might be to improve students' mastery of standards in composition. Your objective might be to use technology tools to facilitate the learning and exploration of composition concepts with students who have a wide range of musical skill.

Visit a neighboring school that comes close to the vision you have developed. See the lab or resources in action. Ask questions! Ask your colleagues for copies of grant proposals that helped support their project. Ask your colleagues how, in retrospect, they might have piloted their lab. Get samples of student work to support your proposal. Find out who funded their technology purchases.

Think “pilot,” and think multiyear. With music technology it's easy to spend a lot of money quickly. It's also easy to create a monster of technology that you are not trained or equipped to manage efficiently.

A pilot is a very small test of your idea. Take your mental picture of what's possible and find a very small, inexpensive piece that would allow you to test your idea and develop some student work that proves its effectiveness. For pilot projects, a local PTC, parent music-support group, education foundation, or community foundation is a good bet. The key here is to make sure your pilot is a good test of the larger project.

Many music-technology companies will assist you in planning your project by developing a proposal for the equipment needed to accomplish your vision, soup to nuts, including a floor plan. Some companies to consider include SoundTree, Lentine's Music, and Brook Mays, but there are others.

Even at the pilot stage, funding may require support from multiple sources and levels. Most funders outside your immediate community want to see local investment in the project. Think about geographic circles around your lab. First consider the school itself: are you able to secure even a little money from your public-school budget? Will your music-support organization or PTC support the project either at the pilot stage or full implementation stage? Do you have any multicommunity funding sources?

Start noticing funding credits when you attend local music events; make note of the funders that might be possibilities for your project. Check out the funding categories of your state Department of Education, especially the technology categories that do not necessarily have a music focus.

Success with national sources is likely only for the most sophisticated projects that are well beyond the pilot stage, show proven results, and promise new and expanded uses of technology that would be useful as replication and research models. State and national funding sources also tend to favor rural, inner-city, and low-income communities.

At this point, because of all your research, a plan should almost write itself. You know what the students will know and will be able to do better. You know what you need to do to make that happen. You know how others have accomplished the same task. You might even have some sample proposals in hand. Hopefully you have some leads on potential funders. And you have broken your project into small manageable pieces, or pilots.

Next time, we'll discuss how to tell your story in a manner that will convince the reader to invest in you. We'll also learn about following proposal guidelines exactly and making your project practical and realistic. To top it off, we'll consider how to actually write funding proposals — and enjoy the process.

Susan Bonaiuto does planning and grant writing for the Needham Public Schools in Needham, Massachusetts. She also writes grants for TI:ME and is the former director of the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts.

Brook Mays Music Co.; tel. (800) 637-8966; e-mail CustomerService@brookmays.com; Web www.brookmays.com

Lentine's; tel. (800) 822-6752; Web www.lentine.com

SoundTree; tel. (800) 963-TREE (8733) x1826 or (631) 393-8535; Web www.soundtree.com