You’d love to have Author & Award-Winning Storyteller Dianne de Las Casas visit your school, library or venue but you don’t have the funds. Here are some creative ways to find funding for Dianne’s visit to your venue.

Schools & Daycare Centers

Ask Your PTA/PTO for Help

Parents love helping their children’s schools and often do so through PTA/PTO fundraising. Why not support literacy and the arts by funding a visit for a live performance? Dianne’s storytelling programs meet benchmarks in Drama, Language Arts, Social Studies, Science, and Math! Her storytelling programs also encourage character development and citizenship. So ask for support from your parent/teacher organization and give the students the gift of a live, interactive storytelling performance.

In-School Field Trip

Why hassle with scheduling busses and coordinating an offsite field trip when you can have an in-school field trip? Bring Dianne in for a fun-filled day of live performances. For less than the cost of a movie per student, you can expose them to literature and world cultures. A per-student-cost of $3 to $5 can cover some or all of Dianne’s fees, depending on the amount of students participating.

Title 1 Funds

If your school qualifies for Title 1 funds, you may be eligible to apply some of your funding towards special programs to provide additional academic support and learning opportunities to help low-achieving children master challenging curricula and meet state standards in core academic subjects.

Visit the U.S. Department of Education for more information.

Libraries, Schools, Daycares and Other Organizations

Write a Grant

There is a lot of funding available to support the arts and arts education. If you wish to apply for a grant, Dianne will help by providing all necessary information and supporting documentation. In addition, Dianne can guide you in writing your narrative. Here are some grant sources.

• Louisiana Decentralized Arts Funding – Through the Louisiana Division of the Arts, nonprofit organizations in Louisiana can apply for matching grants to cover activities that promote the arts. Visit the Louisiana Division of the Arts website for online grant applications and more information.

• Airborne Teacher Trust Fund - Airborne, Inc., has developed the Airborne Teacher Trust Fund program to help school communities across the nation revive ever-important learning programs such as arts education activities.

• Target Community Grants - Target stores support a variety of arts and cultural experiences in their communities, giving local schools and arts organizations resources for outreach and education.

• Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club Grants – Wal-Mart and Sam's Club awards Community Matching Grants. Grants are awarded locally through the retail store as part of their Good Works Program.

• 3M Community Giving – 3M supports projects and activities in reading, education and the arts.

• State Arts Councils – Many state arts councils across the United States fund programs by visiting artists. Check with your state’s art council for more information. Find your state arts council using the State Art Agency Directory.

• National Endowment for the Arts - The National Endowment for the Arts is committed to providing leadership in arts education. The arts are an essential component of education, and all children, not only those with specific artistic talent, benefit from an education in the arts including opportunities to create, perform, and communicate through various artistic media.

• The Foundation Center – The Foundation Center has an information-filled website for individual and nonprofit grant seekers. The Foundation Center can help you locate and connect with grant funding sources.

• National Endowment for the Humanities - The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) offers a number of grant programs that support the arts and humanities. Grant guidelines and deadlines can be found on the NEH website.