Frequently Asked Questions

What does it take to get involved with IGNITE in an event or program?
All it takes is your desire to make some ‘soup’ (Start or fund your own educational program). Please visit our Get Started page to learn more.

What does it cost?
The cost for this program is your time, enthusiasm, and desire to make something happen! We will work with you and do our best to help you find enough ‘ingredients’ to make a tasty soup. Our partners work with us to provide support so that programs are very low cost. When there is a cost involved, we work to minimize the expense. In some cases when guest speakers are involved, if there is a cost for travel, we try to combine groups to share the expense.

Does it have to be a project that involves space, weather, or ocean science? No, but to date these have been the themes used by IGNITE to stir the imagination of the students/programs is has supported. We have focused most heavily in the content areas of science, technology/engineering, and math to date, but we cross the curriculum to include other areas as well. How do I apply for this program? You can seek our help by using our visiting our Get Started page and/or click here for our Quick Inquiry.

Do I have to write a grant?
It may not be necessary, but if the program you wish to design is large-scale, we may partner with you on a grant to help get the program off the ground. Most of our programs are funded through local funding (local to the location in which they occur). In many cases, PTA/PTO organizations fund school programs, while some small corporate funding can be found within your local community for non-school events. Larger events require a different approach that includes corporate sponsors, and if we support the event, we will do our best to help write proposals. More information can be found on our Fundraising page. 

Can anyone do this? Yes anyone is eligible, but some fundraising programs require an organization with a 501c3 (non-profit) status. We seek to partner non-profits with for-profit companies and government funded resources for the benefit of all who participate. We like to identify what exists already and work with it before looking further. We also aim for excellence in all of our programs so we prefer to start small and grow with time. I don’t see the type of program I am looking for on your Events or Programs pages. Do you have a list somewhere? We are a grassroots organization that has been growing
since 2000. Unfortunately we do not have examples of all of our programs to date on our website, but we are working to redesign the site for better ease of use. In the meantime, if you don’t see what you are looking for, please Contact Us and we will do our best to answer your questions.

Images on this page graciously provided by Cassandra Sampas, used with permission.