Each year the Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation provides grants to music programs for the purchase of instruments to help serve the students in that program better. This year, we received one of those grants at Lakeview Elementary, which enabled us to purchase nearly $15,000 in instruments. In this article, I would like to show you how to apply for this grant.

If you decide you would like to apply, you will need to go to the Mr. Hollands Opus Foundation Web Site and click on Apply for Grant. The process for application now includes a Pre-Qualification Form to determine if your program should be invited to participate in the grant process. The Pre-Qualification Form asks you questions about your music program, such as the longevity of the program, the full or part-time status of the teacher, whether the school is a Title 1 school, what percentage of students participate in the Federal free/reduced lunch program, and budget information.

Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation Grants Require Proof of Financial Need

If you are chosen to participate in the grant application process, you will have an opportunity to show the need for the proposed instruments in your program. This is where you can win your program a grant. When we received the grant this year, we were visited by a member of the grant committee who talked to me about why our grant application was accepted. He told me that our grant stood out because we showed a financial need along with the ability to take care of and use intruments well.

In our application, we discussed the financial hardship caused in our community by the closing of a major factory and how a large percentage of our students live disadvantaged lives as a result. We used support letters from parents in the community that acknowledged that, through those tough times, the school, and specifically the band, remained a point of pride for the community.

Caring For and Maintaining Donated Instruments

We also discussed the successes of the program in our application. The committee member who visited with me said that those successes showed that the instruments would be put to good use and would be taken care of properly. To further illustrate the proper treatment of the instruments, we discussed our policy for getting maintenance on our instruments through our local music company.

I hope that these pointers help you if you decide to apply.