Elevator Grant Session at 8^th Annual NACCE Conference

The Coleman Foundation announces matching grant program to grow entrepreneurship education
in community colleges.

On Monday October 11, 2010, from 2:30 – 5:30 pm, as part of the 8^th Annual NACCE Conference, The Coleman Foundation will conduct a matching elevator grant session to support programs which establish or grow entrepreneurship education in community college settings. The session will provide community college faculty members with the opportunity to compete for grants of up to $12,500 to fund entrepreneurship projects. The Foundation is targeting awards totaling up to $100,000.

A goal of this grant program is to support the efforts of applicants to generate financial support from local entrepreneurs. Applicants may request up to $7,500 in base funding for their program and up to $5,000 in additional matching funds. Matching funds would be earned on a dollar-for-dollar basis by securing financial commitments (cash receipts, not pledges) of up to $5,000 from new funding sources not to include government or any part of the applicant's institution.

Elevator grant winners would have until December 1, 2010 to collect funds eligible for the match. A matching payment would be made by the Foundation upon receipt of documentation confirming receipt of funds from new funding sources by the grant awardee.

A second goal of the elevator grant program is to support three categories of activities which align with several programmatic tracks of this year's NACCE Conference. These categories are:

1. Effective Partnerships and Collaborations – Programs that build self-employment education which actively involve and engage partners both external to the college (e.g. other schools, community organizations such as SBDCs and SCORE chapters) and internal to the college (e.g. other departments/divisions).
2. Supporting Existing Entrepreneurs – Programs that serve existing entrepreneurs, including school alumni and other community members, through curricular or extra-curricular initiatives.
3. Specialty and Outreach Programs – Programs which target community niche markets including "Boomers”, "Unretirees”, displaced workers, disabled workers, returning military veterans or other non-traditional groups.

In an era of expanding and divergent definitions of the word "entrepreneurship”, funded programs will directly advance the Coleman Foundation's definition of Entrepreneurship.

The Coleman Foundation Definition of Entrepreneurship Self-employment through business ownership which has significant elements of risk, control and reward.

Eligible proposals may represent the initial effort by a community college or build upon prior work by introducing new program elements within the above categories. Proposed programs from returning grantees must not merely increase the numbers served through existing programs, but clearly reflect a leveraging of prior funded work.

The elevator grant method is based upon the business presentation model which involves describing a new business venture in a three-minute pitch that could be given to a potential investor during an elevator ride. Using these same concepts, the Foundation has conducted similar sessions for secondary, community college and collegiate educators over the past seven years, employing a rapid grant making process to award well-placed, small grants in support of entrepreneurship education.

Interested applicants must be NACCE members and must complete a short proposal which will be evaluated in advance of the elevator grant session. The Foundation will invite select applicants to participate in the session. At the session, the Project Director from each invited community college will present an overview of their proposed project, 3 to 5 minutes in duration, to a panel of representatives of the Foundation. Up to 2 minutes of questions from foundation representatives will follow. Base grant funds will be awarded during the NACCE conference and matching funds will be paid in December following the confirmation of receipt of funds described above. Presentations must be made by the Project Director. Winners may be invited to present their project at future NACCE events.

Registration materials consist of a completed Registration Form including a two- or three-page project description, a project budget and evidence of institutional support. Evidence of this support may include hard dollar contributions, and commitments of faculty release time or other dedicated staff support. Project descriptions will also characterize the potential for financial support from new funding sources. Registration forms are available below.

Registration materials must be received by Monday, September 13, 2010. Registration forms and project descriptions must be submitted as MS Word or Adobe Acrobat documents to The Coleman Foundation via e-mail at info@colemanfoundation.org.The Foundation will confirm receipt of proposals at the end of the workday via an e-mail to applicants who have submitted proposals that day. However, please send submittals such that a delivery receipt is returned to you to provide immediate confirmation of receipt (if your e-mail system allows this).

Download pdf registration form here

Download word registraton form here