$100,000 in Grants Available from Coleman Foundation at 8th Annual NACCE Conference in October in Orlando

Springfield, MA, August 11, 2010 --(PR.com)-- Once again, the Coleman Foundation will conduct an elevator grant session with the potential to award $100,000 at the 8th Annual Conference of the National Association for Community College Entrepreneurship, being held in Orlando, FL, October 10-13, 2010. Individual grants of up to $12,500 will be awarded to support programs that establish or grow entrepreneurship education in community college settings.

In an exciting new development, this year for the first time, the Coleman Foundation will provide additional support to applicants who generate financial support from local entrepreneurs. Applicants may request up to $7,500 in base funding for their program and up to $5,000 in additional matching funds. Matching funds would be earned on a dollar-for-dollar basis by securing financial commitments of up to $5,000 from new funding sources not to include government or any part of the applicant’s institution. Grant winners would have until December 1, 2010, to collect funds eligible for the match.

“The Coleman elevator grant competition is always a conference highlight, and the matching funds aspect of this year’s competition is particularly exciting,” says NACCE Executive Director Heather Van Sickle. “It is important for community colleges to build ties with local entrepreneurs, who can serve as role models for entrepreneurship students and bring a ‘real life’ aspect to the classroom. And, of course, if they lend financial support to entrepreneurship education programs, that can be extremely beneficial as well. So we’re thrilled The Coleman Foundation is using the elevator grant program as a tool to encourage NACCE members to reach out to this important constituency.”

Also new this year, some of the elevator grant winners from 2009, who have been writing blogs about their projects on the NACCE Web site, will be showcased in a conference session. NACCE members will participate in selecting the projects they’d like to learn more about by voting in advance of the conference. The top vote getter in this “People’s Choice” voting will be invited to present at NACCE. The Coleman Foundation will fund the conference registration fees of the winning Program Director.

The elevator grant method is based upon the business presentation model that involves describing a new business venture in a three-minute pitch that could be given to a potential investor during an elevator ride. Using these same concepts, the Coleman Foundation has conducted similar sessions for secondary, community college and collegiate educators over the past seven years, employing a rapid grant making process to award well-placed, small grants in support of entrepreneurship education.

Application Deadline
The deadline for applying to participate in the NACCE competition is September 13, 2010. Registration materials may be found at http://www.nacce.com/?ElevatorGrants. Applicants must be NACCE members and must complete a short proposal that will be evaluated in advance of the elevator grant session. The Coleman Foundation will invite select applicants to participate in the session.

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