Sustainable Revenue Brainstorming by Meighan Hooper

meighanhooper — 2024-06-10 15:03:06 UTC

Is it possible to target groups that give us annual funding instead of one off amounts?

meighanhooper — 2024-06-10 15:05:23 UTC

What is our current process?

meighanhooper — 2024-06-10 15:09:32 UTC

Potentially we could create a guide on how to integrate our lessons, activities, StC materials into pre-existing curriculums?

kristinkweon — 2024-06-10 19:57:46 UTC

A potential idea is a service we can call a "classroom bundle." This is a group for a teacher (the admin of the group) and their students, which includes a discussion board where students respond to each other, quizzes (directly on our platform) based on our materials, etc! It would need a lot of development work, but a potential idea for the future to think about how we can grow our student users.

meighanhooper — 2024-06-11 06:23:36 UTC

Are there other events such as Giving Tuesday that we could participate in?

meighanhooper — 2024-06-11 06:27:56 UTC

It would be interesting to separate these into categories: (A) products that require accounts and (B)"products that don't require accounts"

meighanhooper — 2024-06-11 06:30:57 UTC

It will be easier to market a product that offers personalization. This would improve user engagement and retention. The ultimate personalized experience would be offered if they created an account and we could personalize their experience.

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 11:55:21 UTC

With our revised mission statement emphasizing climate change, justice, and action, would we qualify for federal funding under the Justice40 initiative?

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 12:03:30 UTC

Could we explore justice group funders? For example, the intersection between gender justice and climate justice is strong. Those organizations have a vested interest in seeing more climate action. This is one example but maybe if we did more research along these lines, we could find something that matches better:

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 12:05:57 UTC

Is getting funding for a service the same as creating a service to sell? I'm guessing there's a difference that I might not understand.

I think Level 2A could be a training that we could sell to districts with minimal effort on our part.

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 12:09:46 UTC

If we created a new education tech tool, could we get funding from tech world? For example, exploring digital learning in the climate space.

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 12:11:09 UTC

Would our new shift towards supporting student outcomes open up more funding opportunities for us to explore? Maybe along green careers?

nitaseng — 2024-06-11 12:12:33 UTC

Maybe we could turn the case study format into digital learning modules for students

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:45:12 UTC

Prioritizing recruiting folks from foundations/interested funders on our state Advisory Committees

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:46:29 UTC

Think about staffing needs - would it be worth hiring someone else full time to do development?

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:47:24 UTC

PD could be a good service to sell to districts or nonprofits that do teacher training?

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:47:56 UTC

Recruit board members for StC's board of directors and/or Advisory Boards that are also on the boards of high fit funders - might be hard to do...

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:48:45 UTC

Leverage alumni networks - many of our team members have powerful alumni networks and I think there is more possibility for funding connections than we are currently leveraging

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:50:41 UTC

I think that having a large amount of our expenses supported by donations from high net worth individuals/donations from family foundations that are recurring would be an ultimate goal - these are often nondiscriminatory (we can use funds for whatever we need), low effort in terms of reporting, and would not require us to continue soliciting new funding each year.

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:52:13 UTC

Is government funding a good option? Federal government grants are usually very high effort and very competitive, but sometimes have high payoffs. Similarly, state government funding can have a high threshold for reporting, and sometimes is not indefinite...

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:53:08 UTC

Network for Keeling curve - I feel like there is a lot of opportunity for funding & connections with being a finalist - should we explore more?

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:54:17 UTC

We need to also consider how this affects our mission - currently a big sell for our grant applications is that we are providing all of this for free - if that is no longer the case, will that affect our pull either for grants or in states who want Hubs?

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:54:54 UTC

Need to be intentional about how much we want to still provide for free to fulfill our mission, while at the same time being intentional about what the value add will be of whatever product(s) we are selling.

juliaturner4 — 2024-06-11 14:55:18 UTC

Could we leverage funding from venture capitalists if we are selling something? Unsure how this works - just throwing it out there

ElaineStC — 2024-06-11 18:14:09 UTC

Annual funding opportunities would be ideal - even if there is more lift to secure them in the beginning! Especially if this can be used to fund State Hub maintenance, as an example.

ElaineStC — 2024-06-11 18:19:44 UTC

From state to state, we are making many great connections for funding, but it's a slow process. State agencies move at a snail's pace, but have the potential to provide higher amounts of funding for teacher training, mentorship program, etc. With more State Leads on board, there is more potential to understand where to find the money!

ElaineStC — 2024-06-11 18:24:38 UTC

We are just beginning to tap into the knowledge of State Leads. I think as we look ahead, their state-specific ideas can help open up more funding opportunities.

ElaineStC — 2024-06-11 18:29:43 UTC

The three teacher training courses could be something that we could "sell" in the future. We are exploring this in NJ to cover internal costs, but this may be a place to start. Teachers receive a certificate and PD hours.

ElaineStC — 2024-06-11 18:33:00 UTC

State by state, there is potential to leverage PD offerings for funding. School districts, state agencies, other non-profits that have grants to share. Again, it will be about making the connections and outreach efforts!

2024-06-11 19:19:13 UTC

I like the idea of government funding or looking into that as an idea. I also think asking states/districts to pay for professional development or even some of our more specific lessons would be something to look into

jinahan — 2024-06-11 19:24:34 UTC

Having a student learning side where it has all the resources they need, games, news, lessons, places they can write, where a lot of teachers I think would utilize this in their classrooms. It would be a tech product that we would need to build but I can see it drawing a lot of attention as there's nothing really like it out there! To reach more students and teachers, it can be more about environment, state parks (I know my students LOVED everything about state parks), outdoor activities, etc.

elizabethward11 — 2024-06-11 21:58:38 UTC

When it comes to state hubs, I see the value in curating our advisory committee from the start. We can utilize our partners to identify highly connected folks to invite right away.

elizabethward11 — 2024-06-11 22:04:06 UTC

Could we do something like a "coaching package" that can be tacked on to the PD? Teachers/districts/schools could sign up for different packages - 1 session, 3 month package, 6 month package. We would coach the teacher on how to apply their learning and integrate the materials. Similar to the mentorship program in NJ, but more formalized and finished. The package could include a certain number of live sessions, a personalized curriculum integration guide, and access to their coach (by text) for the duration of the package.

nitaseng — 2024-06-12 08:20:05 UTC

There's research coming about about the video game community and how they are interested in identifying opportunities to engage users in climate science and solutions. Is it worth it to explore funding sources there?

2024-06-12 12:22:56 UTC

This has a number of links to funders. - Elizabeth Wade

2024-06-12 12:23:47 UTC

2024-06-12 12:25:11 UTC

The Research team and partnership/outreach individuals. - Elizabeth Wade

2024-06-12 12:27:29 UTC

We could sell responsibly produced items or offer responsibly produced items as "gifts" for donations of particluar amounts. - Elizabeth Wade

2024-06-12 12:33:19 UTC

Elizabeth Wade