What we will fund

The Swift Fund was established to support senior projects / thesis projects with extraordinary expenses and or grand ambitions. We envision most grants will be $500 or less, although exceptions may be made for extraordinary projects.

How we will fund

Funding will be provided in the form of reimbursement upon submission of receipts (this can take 30-60 days to process from the time receipts are submitted).  It is important to keep all receipts related to your project purchases. 

Please keep all original receipts.  Electronic receipts from online purchases are acceptable.  Avoid using cash apps such as Venmo, Apple Pay, etc.  We cannot guarantee reimbursements for cash app transactions.  Avoid payments to individuals, as these cannot be reimbursed.  Reimbursements can only be made to the student who made the purchases.  In the case of a team project, the team lead can submit one reimbursement form and distribute the money from the award to other team members, or each team member can submit their own reimbursement form with their own receipts for purchases they made.     

Reimbursements cannot be made for personal expenses such as rent for an apartment, car notes, health insurance, tuition bills, personal loans, etc. 

If you have questions about the type of transactions that are reimbursable please call or e-mail us in advance at 215.895.1834 or tiajames@drexel.edu. 

Awardees will be notified by the end of the Winter Term.  

Deadline

Sunday, February 18, 2024

Any applications received after the deadlines will be deferred unless/until future consideration of project funding is undertaken. Any future consideration of late materials would be undertaken at the sole discretion of the funders, and only if there are any funds still available – so BE ON TIME.

How to turn in your application

Please turn in all funding applications electronically through the Drexel University Funding Portal. The Swift Fund application is listed under the undergraduate section and is titled Swift Fund Grant for Westphal Senior Projects.

The Drexel Funding Portal requires you to enter your Drexel One credentials to create an application. Please note that you can save your application and return to it later before submitting. Please use the save function and only submit your application when you have all the required components. Incomplete applications will not be funded.

Formatting

How much should you apply for?

The answer to this depends on many factors, such as: how many people apply for the funding and how well the application is written. Obviously, the more people that turn in quality applications, the less money that will be available for each individual project.

Our advice is to request as much funding as you need, and let the committee review your request on the basis of the factors listed above.

Components of a successful application

A successful application will consist of a correct presentation of three essential components: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY, NARRATIVE, LETTER OF SUPPORT and ATTACHMENTS. What follows is a description of each.

Executive Summary

The EXECUTIVE SUMMARY should include, BRIEFLY and NUMBERED, the following material in this order: (keep to one page)

1. Application date
2. Student’s full proper name (as on U.S. tax form), or names (if a team project), and contact information (full address, including mailing address if different, telephone, email, and Web address)
3. Dollar amount requested of the funders
4. Total project budget amount
5. A chronological summary of when the money will be needed, when it will be used.
6. Brief description of student or team members’ previous accomplishments (attach resume(s) for further details)

Narrative

The NARRATIVE should include the following key components:

What are the goals and objectives of your project?

Systematically walk us through how you intend to do your project. Include a specific timeline in this section, or refer to an attached specific timeline if more appropriate. If you're project is a film, include a synopsis.

How will you know the project was successful?

• Estimate all expenses by obtaining costs estimates as necessary, and specifically explain how the estimate was achieved (including the name of the website or vendor that supplied the number or base number).
• Estimate the dollar amount of donated goods and services you expect to use (remember to include these both under expenses and income).
• Estimate other funding sources, as well as anticipated earned revenue for the project. (The other funding sources could be yourself and/or parents.) When you estimate what income your project might produce, make sure to specify how you arrived at your estimate.
• Check that the budget as a whole makes sense, and that all the numbers throughout the application are consistent. The budget should also be in line with the objectives and methods of the project to be funded.
• Also, include specific details (what specifically will the money you receive be spent on) and numbers (how the money you are applying for will be used). For example, $50 of the money will be spent on marketing material that I intend to buy online at www.marketingmaterial.com, and $50 will be spent renting mics at Bob and Joe’s World of Mics. This information can be in sentence form as above, or in an easy to understand spreadsheet.

Letter of Support

Include a letter of support from your respective Program Director.

Attachments

The ATTACHMENTS could include any relevant attachments you think are necessary to anyone considering the funding of your project. Highly recommended attachments are listed below:

• Resumes of all key people involved in the project.
• Specific project timeline
• Letters of agreement from any collaborating agencies/groups or other individuals.
• Letters of support and/or recent reviews or articles
• Any drawings, photographs, multimedia, etc. materials that give a visual representation of your project.