Funding agencies can be a pain. Clearly it's a good idea to think of ways to be in a position to appeal to and get funds from grant making agencies. But it's so important to be what the organization can be and should be without always thinking of grant making organizations!

Michael Phillips wrote a book many years ago called "The Seven Laws of Money" a page with a list of the laws can be found here. This is the first law from that page:

1. Do it! Money will come when you are doing the right thing. The first law is the hardest for most people to accept and is the source of the most distress. The clearest translation of this in terms of personal advice is "go ahead and do what you want to do." Worry about your ability to do it and competence to do it, but certainly do not worry about the money.

Michael Phillips has lots of opinions I'm not so sure I agree with, but that insight about money and a project I really do agree with.

The way this project will come into being is if you guys are really doing what you want to do. And as odd as it sounds, your chances of getting some grant making body to cough up some money for what you do are enhanced very much by not only your vision of what you want to do, but by you're doing it.

Kasinja said something in his comment very near and dear to my heart:

getting the needy students writing about their text book needs...Or these students could assemble and we get a video of them...

Okay I'm leaving out some important parts of what Kasinja says; what is really important to me is making students producers of stuff--writing, videos, music, dance, inventions, and hundreds of other things limited only by their imaginations.