Shared grant writer outlines wins for New London Area Foundation and 2026 priorities

Peyton Lanier, the district’s shared grant writer under the New London Area Chamber Foundation, reviewed last year’s grant work and the foundation’s 2026 priorities at the March 5 board meeting.

Lanier said the foundation — a partnership of the school district, the chamber and the city — supported six community projects in 2025 and closed the year with more than $101,000 awarded. She told the board she wrote seven applications in 2025 and five resulted in awards, a 70% success rate. The largest award she highlighted was a $50,000 grant for Lincoln Elementary’s playground redevelopment.

Lanier described the grant-writing process as including research, relationship-building, writing, project management and post-award evaluation. She gave examples spanning foundation, state and federal grant timelines and said state applications can require 20–50 hours while federal applications can run 100–150 hours.

Looking ahead to 2026, Lanier said the foundation will prioritize placemaking and community gathering spaces, business retention and attraction, destination parks, and workforce development tied to cradle-to-career pipeline initiatives. She said the foundation evaluates potential requests for alignment, sustainability and bylaws compliance before submission and that grant ideas can come from the district, teachers, principals or the foundation committee.

Board members asked whether certain foundation grants have limited geographic eligibility; Lanier said she had identified the likely eligible communities during research and offered to follow up with more detail for building principals. The board also thanked staff and community partners who support events like the post-secondary fair, which Lanier said had about 95–100 exhibitors registered.

The board did not take formal action on Lanier’s presentation; she said she would provide updates to the superintendent and the board as opportunities develop.