»»  SPIE/E3 Grant Application

SPIE/E3 Grant Program

The PSD Foundation board decided in October 2008 to bring all of its charitable funds under the umbrella of the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado. This opened the door for the convergence of the PSD Foundation's "Supporting Partnerships in Innovative Education" (SPIE) grant program and the Community Foundation's "Encouraging Educational Excellence" (E3) grant program.

Beginning with the Fall 2009 grant cycle, PSD staff members were able to apply for SPIE and E3 grant funding using a common application form.

The collaborative grant program allows the foundations to work in unison on the grant review process. Grants are made possible by annual donations from local donors as well as by the income generated from the E3 endowment fund at the Community Foundation.

Since the inception of the SPIE and E3 grant programs, $812,700 has been awarded to PSD employees.

The SPIE/E3 grant program is just one of many ways that the Community Foundation  and the PSD Foundation contribute to the community. The Community Foundation distributes millions of dollars into Northern Colorado through hundreds of individual charitable funds. The Poudre School District Foundation works as a partner to PSD to support programs and fulfill needs that positively impact student achievement through private community donations.

After reading the instructions below, please click here to download the grant application document. After completing the grant application document, return to this page and use the form below to upload your document to the grant review committee.

Due Date: Your completed PDF file must be uploaded using the form below by September 3, 2010 at 3:00 pm.

Funding Requests Must:

  • Be submitted by individuals or teams of individuals employed by the Poudre School District.
  • Contain unique or novel instructional approaches or projects designed to be implemented during the school year and summer school
  • Be important to learning, practical, innovative and new (you should not seek funding for something already completed.)
  • Seek funding of $5,000 or less.

Funding request must not seek funding for:

  • Salaries or stipends for PSD employees
  • Transportation costs, including trips to conferences, competitions or contests
  • Projects that are designed for professional development of staff
  • A project that is focused on the same concept as a project submitted by another applicant from the same school
  • Projects that will supplant, rather than supplement, existing school building and department budgets.
Selection Criteria:  The grant committee will consider the degree to which the funding request:
  • Addresses a specific need in your school’s improvement plan, and/or departmental objectives for non-school based staff.
  • Demonstrates sufficient need by Poudre School District students for the proposed program or service.
  • Represents a creative or innovative approach to the accomplishment of objectives.
  • Describes sound evaluation procedures.
  • Provides clear and logical information, including: (a) specific objectives; (b) clear instructional procedures, and/or methods; (c) evaluative procedures which measure objectives and (d) itemized breakdown of how monies will be used.
Special Notes:
  • Funds that are to be used to supplant not supplement existing school building and department budgets.
  • Proposals may be resubmitted during subsequent grant cycles if not funded, but applications should reflect suggestions recommended by the committee in the previous review.
  • Projects which were previously received funding may be resubmitted; however, please be aware that the majority of funding will be reserved for new projects/programs.
  • All materials and equipment purchased with SPIE/E3 grant funds are intended to remain at the school site where they were initially awarded. Under special circumstances materials and equipment may follow a teacher to a new campus with advance approval from the principal and the Foundation.
  • The number of awards will depend on funds available from the Poudre School District Foundation.
  • Grants will not be made to grantees and schools that have not completed evaluation reports on previous projects. 
  • Click here to download a list of the 2009 grant awards.
Questions?  Please contact Mike Demma, Executive Director of the PSD Foundation, at  490-3292.
After completing the grant application document (see link at top of page), use this form to upload your document to the grant review committee. 

First name:
Last name:
Name of School/Site:
Email address:
Amount requested:
Name of project:
Click the “Browse” button to upload your completed application (PDF file)