All About Grants (And No, President Grant Didn’t Invent Them!)

Grants are gifts of money that are given to the recipient mostly based on the merit or the need of the recipient. There are many types of grants and all are used for the greater good. Many are given out by the government as aid or as a way to “feed” a lackluster economy and in so doing raise the tax revenue for the government. One can think of both purposes as investments by the government because in both cases the stability or boost given to the recipient will get them back on their feet and being productive again which is better for the government than that area becoming a perennial drain on the economy.

Governments aren’t the only institutions that give out grants. Private organizations can give grants out as philanthropic sorts of gifts to the community in which they are located. The great thing about the grant for the recipient is that they are under no obligation to pay back or “work off” this money. The only requirements come on the front end in the form of eligibility requirements. There is generally a certain list of things that are considered appropriate uses for the money and will not be given out unless the benefactor of the money is sure that they will be used in this way. This whole process is carried out through applications.

People seeking grants will write a grant proposal or fill out an application detailing their eligibility and in many cases making a statement concerning their specific needs. There is often a certain form in which the benefactor expects these to be written, and in lieu of this there are often special positions held by employees of certain types of institutions that are responsible for all of the grant writing in that area.

The most common types of grants are student aid. These grants subsidize the cost of education for students who are either very talented or very needy. The idea is that the institution will only benefit by making a relatively small investment in the student’s future productivity. Other grants include public educational grants, research grants, product and technology development grants, relief aid grants, small business grants, and on and on. Again don’t think of these as free gifts that the government gives out of the generosity in their hearts. Rather this is money that the government is hoping will by helping its recipient on the front end reap major savings and/or profits on the hind end.

How To Find Government Grants

Each year, the federal government gives out over 150 billion dollars in Government funded grant programs to businesses and individuals. These grants are provided to assist businesses in growing and providing jobs, and to help individuals raise funds for education or other personal needs. Despite the abundance of grant programs available, many businesses and individuals are finding it difficult to locate grants. The system can be very confusing. Luckily, there is progress being made. The federal government actually has a website, Grants.gov that you can visit and you can search by agency, category, or browse the available grant opportunities. Now, this is a step in the right direction, but as you will see, their site is still hard to use and the search function is well, somehow lacking. Also, this is not a complete list of all grant programs that are available. You will likely need to employ additional research methods to uncover many government grant opportunities. When researching for Government Grants, one of the best resources for research is the Internet. Try searching for the type of grant that you are hoping to apply for. Try putting the type of grant in quotes - ex. "grants for single mothers", and search with the quotes. This instructs most modern search engines to search for the exact phrase. This will often times narrow down the results to a more manageable size for research. If this fails you, you may try visiting another government run website, cfda.gov - The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. You may try searching this for related government grant programs. There is a third government run website that may help as well, located at firstgov.gov. If you still cant find information on the type of grant that you require, there are many commercial products available that maintain private databases of grant opportunities. Usually, this costs money, but the small fee might be worth it if it saves you time and helps you find the grant that you are searching for. Once you have found information on the grant that you hope to apply for, it would be a good idea to contact the funding organization and verify the details of the grant. Alot of times, information is out of date and you want to make sure that you have the most recent data before you attempt to apply for a grant. A phone call or letter to the group that funds that grant could save you a great deal of time and aggravation later on if you wind up with out dated information. There are numerous government grant programs available. Locating them can be tricky, but is often times well worth the effort. With diligent research, you should be able to uncover some good opportunities for federal government grants.