We have developed a list of potential playground grant opportunities. We have also written an article specifying how to write your grant letter. Below we’ve built out a sample grant request for a playground. It shows how to tell the narrative of your project to improve your chances of receiving the grant. The goal is to show how your project is helping the grantors achieve their organization’s mission.
Executive Summary
Lifelong Friends is a national non-profit focused on helping children build deeper friendships through play and intentional playground design. We have researched-based playground designs that help promote communication and relationship building for children of any age. We are applying for the Tennessee Playground Grant to help fund our community playground in Nashville Tennessee, which will directly benefit the children of Nashville.
We have designed and developed 20 playgrounds in different metropolitan areas across the United States. These playgrounds have been used as researched by behavioral psychologists. We have found that through intentional design children are 45% more likely to interact with other children. This increased rate of interaction is proven to improve social skills and physical exercise.
We would like to use the Tennessee Playground Grant to help construct a playground that will directly benefit the children of Nashville. The playground will host 5,000 children a year and give the East Nashville a public space to exercise, meet new people, and build relationships.
Introduction
Lifelong Friends is a national non-profit focused on helping children build deeper friendships through play and intentional playground design. We have designed and developed 20 playgrounds in different metropolitan areas. These playgrounds have shown to improve children’s interactions by 45%. We are applying for the Tennessee Playground Grant to help fund a playground project in East Nashville. This playground will directly benefit the community of East Nashville and host over 5,000 children a year.
Statement of Need
We are fundraising for the East Nashville Playground Project and will utilize the $100,000 grant to help purchase playground equipment and have it installed. This will help cover $30% of our estimated budget of the playground and help create a safe public space for the community.
East Nashville has seen a lot of social and demographic change over the past 30 years. It is home to 30,000 individuals and 5,000 children under the age of 12. Currently, there isn’t a public park or playground within 10 miles of the neighborhood. The East Nashville Playground Project will help construct a local community space intentionally designed to help children build relationships.
Project Description / Plan of Work
Proposed location: 700 Woodland St, Nashville, TN 37206, United States
This location is 7 square acres and in the heart of East Nashville. The site itself is under contract for $120,000 and will need $15,000 of site preparation and grading.
The design below will cover 3 acres of the park. It consists of poured rubber surfacing and a series of equipment all tied together into form one large continuous playground. There are integral shade structures, multiple slides, and climbing pieces. The poured in place surfacing installation will cost $75,000. The proposed pieces of playground equipment are estimated to cost $90,000. The design is below.
Timeline:
January 2020: Break ground on the property. January-February we’ll clear the land and prepare it for the playground.
February 2020: Install poured in place surfacing.
March 2020: Install Playground Equipment.
April 1, 2020: Opening Day to the public.
Budget
The total budget for the East Nashville Playground Project is $300,000. We have already raised $200,000 from the community and the YMCA of East Nashville, so the Tennessee Playground Grant will help finish our fundraising for this project.
Site Purchase: $120,000
Site Preparation and grading: $15,000
Playground surface installation: $75,000
Playground equipment: $90,000
Total: $300,000
Background/Organizational Information and qualifications
Tom Designer, Playground Architect. Tom is the lead architect of Lifelong Friends and works with Kimberly Therapist to design all of our playgrounds. He has been a licensed architect for 26 years working on dozens of government and commercial projects. He is the co-founder of Lifelong Friends and has helped design and construct over 20 playgrounds nationwide!
Kimberly Therapist is a licensed ABA therapist and has over 22 years of experience working with children. She works with Tom to design the playgrounds in a way to improve the interaction of the children. The playgrounds designed by Lifelong Friends has shown to improve children interaction by 45%
Conclusion
As you can see, with your generous grant, we would be able to improve the social and physical ability for 5,000 children in the East Nashville neighborhood. Your grant will cover 30% of our budgeted cost and finish our fundraising round for this project. Thank you for taking the time to review our application. If you have any further questions please contact us at info@lifelongfriends.com or call us at 888-384-4958.