The Walton Family Foundation

Types of Planning and Startup Grants

Most independent school developers are eligible to receive up to four WFF public charter school grants – two of which are planning grants and two of which are startup grants.

Please review the following guidelines to determine the grant type that fits your situation. Then, download and complete the appropriate application.

ATTENTION - Before you attempt to complete either the Planning or Startup proposals, you will need to update your macro securities by following the below steps in Microsoft Excel, otherwise the information you type will not be saved properly:

  • WFF proposal documents are formatted for Microsoft Excel and utilize macros to run effectively. BEFORE opening the proposal, you must ensure that the proper Excel macro securities are in place.
  • In Excel, select the Tools Menu, then Macro, Security, and Security Level tab. Choose either the Medium or Low setting.
  • Once you have reset your security setting in Excel, you can proceed with opening and completing the WFF proposal.

Planning Grants

The maximum a school developer can receive in WFF planning grants is $20,000. The maximum amount can be awarded in a single grant under certain conditions. However, to encourage developers to begin their planning as early as possible, we often break the planning grant into two parts:

Phase I: Business Plan Grants

  • Purpose: To help school developers create a business plan for a new, quality public charter school serving low-income students in one of WFF’s targeted school districts.
  • Amount: Up to $10,000.
  • Timing: Six to twelve months before submitting a charter petition to an authorizer.
  • Application Requirements:
    1. A completed WFF Public Charter School Planning Grant Proposal (Excel spreadsheet - 191 KB) with all required attachments;
    2. A positive consumer credit report (for groups without 501(c)(3) status under the IRS Code); and
    3. An endorsement from one of our grant partners or a WFF staff member.
  • Deliverables:
    1. Formal charter school business plan (Word document - 514 KB) with financial projections (Excel spreadsheet - 50 KB); and
    2. Report summarizing grant-related expenditures, as required by IRS (Word document - 47 KB).

Phase II: Charter Petition Grants

  • Purpose: To help school developers draft and submit a charter school petition and begin implementing their business plans.
  • Amount: Up to $10,000
  • Timing: One to three months before submitting a charter petition to an authorizer.
  • Application Requirements:
    1. A completed WFF Public Charter School Planning Grant Proposal (Excel spreadsheet - 191 KB) with all required attachments;
    2. An acceptable business plan (Word document - 514 KB) with financial projections (Excel spreadsheet - 50 KB);
    3. A positive consumer credit report [for groups without 501(c)(3) status under the IRS Code]; and
    4. An endorsement from one of our grant partners or a WFF staff member.
  • Deliverables:
    1. A submission-ready charter school application for a suitable authorizer;
    2. Formal charter school business plan (Word document - 514 KB) with financial projections (Excel spreadsheet - 50 KB); and
    3. Report summarizing grant-related expenditures, as required by IRS (Word document - 47 KB).

If qualified school developers become aware of WFF planning grants late in their planning process (usually two to four months before submitting a charter application to an authorizer), they may combine the Phase I and Phase II planning grants into a single proposal and request up to $20,000 in support. For these combined grants, the Application Requirements are the same as those for Phase I, Business Plan Grants, and the Deliverables are the same as those for Phase II, Charter Application Grants.

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Startup Grants

The maximum a school developer can receive in WFF charter school startup grants is $230,000. The full amount can be awarded in one step, but WFF does provide some schools with startup funds before their charter application is formally authorized.

Phase III: Pre-Authorization Grants

  • Purpose: To help school developers begin school startup activities while awaiting final approval from their authorizer.
  • Amount: Up to $30,000
  • Timing: Usually within one month before or after submitting a charter application to an authorizer.
  • Application Requirements:
    1. A completed WFF Public Charter School Startup Grant Proposal (Excel spreadsheet - 251 KB) with all required attachments;
    2. An acceptable business plan (Word document - 514 KB) with financial projections (Excel spreadsheet - 50 KB);
    3. A positive consumer credit report [for groups without 501(c)(3) status under the IRS Code];
    4. An endorsement from one of our grant partners or a WFF staff member; and
    5. A strong charter school application that has a high probability of being approved by the authorizer.
  • Deliverables:
    1. Proof of SIS adoption and early implementation;
    2. Report summarizing grant-related expenditures, as required by IRS (Word document - 48 KB); and
    3. Proof of charter approval from an authorizer.

Phase IV: Post-Authorization Grants

  • Purpose: To help school developers with startup costs after a charter petition is approved by an authorizer.
  • Amount: Up to $220,000.
  • Timing: After receiving authorizer approval and within one year of opening a school.
  • Application Requirements:
    1. A completed WFF Public Charter School Startup Grant Proposal (Excel spreadsheet - 251 KB) with all required attachments;
    2. An acceptable business plan (Word document - 514 KB) with financial projections (Excel spreadsheet - 50 KB); and
    3. An endorsement from one of our grant partners or a WFF staff member.
    4. Proof of charter authorization.
  • Deliverables:
    1. Data extracts from your student information system (SIS), as outlined in the grant terms;
    2. A report summarizing grant-related expenses.

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