Dear Camper Families,

We receive a lot of questions about scholarships each year and we want you to know that we understand the trials that exist for many Maine families to find the funds to send their child to any program during the summer.

At the moment, USM STEM Outreach has limited funds available for scholarships, but we want to give you a better understanding of why.  Quite literally, it takes a dollar to raise a dollar, so for every one dollar we want to give away, we also need to raise another dollar to pay for the time and expense of raising the first dollar… USM STEM Outreach is a small non-profit and we try very hard to spend our time and energy to maximize getting the programs out there.  We dream of a day when we have the staff and resources to get the scholarships we know you need, but for now, we are limited to the Robin K Fund scholarships.

We also wish we could make the program less expensive, but know that as a non-profit, all of the money goes to running the programs.  Between the high cost of our equipment, travel all over the state, and our high quality staff during the summer, it just isn’t possible to offer the camps for less.

Helpful tips for raising funds:

  • USM STEM Outreach’s programs are academic summer programs, and that makes them much more likely to gather local support.  
  • We highly suggest that you draft a letter to send out, consider hand delivering them along with your child.
  • Try to coach your child into being their own spokesperson.
  • Work with your child to put together an ask (that’s what they call it when you go to a business or person and ask for money).  
  • You should check with your employer, your bank, your grocery store, and any other large (or small) business in the area.
  • If there are any technology companies in your area, don’t leave them out.
  • If you let folks know how much money you need (and how much you can put towards it) that helps. If you can show that you are willing to take on some of the costs, it shows that YOU think it is important too.
  • If you keep the ask low, it is more likely to fall within a local manager’s personal discretion (so maybe the local branch manager can give away $100, but not $300).  No one knows those limits but the company you are asking.
  • These camps are all economic development and workforce development programs (even though they are great fun for the child) so don’t forget to mention that this is a great way to start your child thinking about the IT, engineering, computer, and science fields.  All of these fields are currently listed by the state and federal governments as workforce shortages and chances are the businesses you are talking with know it too.
  • These camps are also great opportunities for social interaction for children who may be having difficulty socializing at school.  A lot of engineers and computer programmers started out as children who didn’t understand how people worked, but rather understood how things worked.  If this is true in your case, it might be good to ask for help from your school/PTO/PTA/GT program, etc.
  • These camps also help combat a phenomenon called summer learning loss, where children drop back several months of learning during the summer.  Any activity is better than none, but programs that keep the children thinking are better, and that is what we aim for with all of our programs. 
  • Almost no one will get everything they ask for, so it may be important to ask more places than you would normally think possible.  So if you need $200, and want to ask for $50 from each donor, then consider asking 6 or 8 people/businesses.
  • Some folks will let you know immediately, others will need to get back to you.  If you haven’t heard within a week, give them a follow up call.
  • Don’t leave out relatives as a possible source of funding.
  • Make sure any letter you submit includes several ways to get in touch with you (phone, email, and mailing address).
  • Keep track of who you talked to and how to reach them.
  • If any group/business needs to donate the money to a certified non-profit, then they can send the funds directly to USM STEM Outreach, 221 Science Building, University of Southern Maine, 70 Falmouth Street, ME 04101 (or have them call us at 207-780-4513).  It is critically important that they let us know who the money is to cover.  Every year we get a couple of checks without any identifier and it takes us a bit of work to figure out who it is for.
  • And of course, don’t leave this to the last minute.  It can take a while to piece together the money this way.
  • Write thank-you letters.  And if any one place coughs up all the money for a camp, consider both  writing a letter and letting the local paper know of the good deed (although check with the donor first, they may or may not want that kind of publicity)

Good places to seek out help, and ones we’ve seen checks from in the past:

  • Employers
  • Local banks, grocery stores, etc.
  • Parent Teacher Associations/Organizations
  • Gifted and Talented programs from your school/district
  • Special education programs from your school/district
  • School in general
  • Social agencies that work with children living with special needs
  • Veteran’s organizations
  • Civic organizations like the Kiwanis or Rotary
  • Professional organizations that you might belong to

Example letter

Make sure to adjust this letter to your needs, and add any info that is relevant to your story. Make sure all pronouns and names match as well.

<Date>

Dear <local store>,
My son, Tony, is seeking support to attend the academic summer program that is offered in our area.  Tony’s excited about the possibility to attend the USM STEM Outreach camp this summer where he will be learning about engineering and computer programming while building working robots.
Our school doesn’t offer anything like this and we are also excited about seeing Tony doing a program that is so important to him.  It will also help Tony stay engaged during the summer and allow him to return to school in the fall with less summer learning loss, a common problem for families that cannot afford summer enrichment programs.
As a family we’ve seriously looked at our budget and have figured we can contribute $____ towards the $____ cost of the program.  But that still leaves $____ that we have to raise before Tony can attend this summer.
We ask you to consider helping Tony get into this great summer enrichment program, where he can start learning about engineering and programming.  We know it will make a difference to Tony and to his future endeavors.
Every bit of support we can gather will help and we hope you can let us know of your support.  If you need to pass this on directly to a non-profit, USM STEM Outreach can take the funds directly as long as Tony’s name is on it so they can credit it correctly.
Sincerely,
<your signature>
<Tony’s signature>
Your name and contact information
USM STEM Outreach contact information
<attach copy of the camp brochure>

Remember:

  • If you don’t ask, you won’t get.
  • Don’t expect to get everything you ask for.
  • Even going through this process with your child is an educational experience and will be good experience as they go forward towards potential scholarships if they head to college.