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Getting Your Share of Government Funding
Part Three
Last week, I gave you an overview of the foundation climate in the U.S. and offered a quick sketch of the benefits and drawbacks of pursuing funding from foundations. Because of the variety of foundations available, I concluded that organizations would do well to pursue diverse types of foundation funding. This week, we move away from foundations to take a closer look at the support available through the federal government.
Government Grants: Where Do You Find Them?
Almost every democratic government throughout the world accepts grant requests and makes grant awards. In the United States, there are 26 federal grantmaking agencies that can be researched using the federal listings on GrantStation or Grants.gov.
In Canada, the Canadian Assistance Programs Directory maintains a useful website called Can-Grants that provides Canadian federal government grant and loan information, as well as information about grants available through the provincial governments. There are over 900 governmental loan and grant programs available in Canada.
You can do research on both Canadian and U.S. government grants online fairly easily (check out the links above), but in order to actually apply for a U.S. government grant, you need to be registered, which can take three to four days. If your organization is not already registered, you should register now so you are in the system in case you decide to apply for a federal grant.
If you are located in a country other than the U.S. or Canada, you should be aware that there are more than 80 U.S. embassies or missions throughout the world, some of which have active grantmaking programs. You can review a complete list of USAID missions here. You should also check out the U.S. Embassy list at: http://www.usembassy.gov/. Again, some embassies have grantmaking programs, and some do not. Check your resident country to see what might be available.
U.S. Federal Grants
Applying for U.S. federal grant awards can be a daunting task unless you break it into the following simple steps:
- Research and identify the appropriate grantmaking program for your project.
- Download the application package off the agency website.
- Complete the grant application package in its entirety.
- Submit the completed grant application package online.
- Track the status of the grant application using the Track Your Application webpage.
Be sure to keep your eye on application deadlines. Applications often must be submitted as early as 15 days from the date of their announcement. That isn’t much time, so you need to make sure you’ve done your homework before you decide to apply. Of course, some grant deadlines might be as far out as 120 days. In addition, because federal grants are tied to the availability of funding, some deadlines frequently get moved up or back.
The funding matrix developed by the Funding Exchange, Inc. (GrantStation’s sister company), can help you decide whether or not your organization should pursue a particular grant opportunity. If you want someone to help you apply the matrix, you can contact Sharon Gherman at the Funding Exchange.
About the Federal Review Process
Grants.gov recently posted a fairly comprehensive and easy-to-read publication called “Tracking Your Application Package: What to Expect After Submission.” You can download a PDF of this document through the Grants.gov website.
After submitting your grant application you will receive four emails:
- Submission receipt
- Submission validation (or rejection with noted errors)
- Agency retrieval
- Agency specific tracking number (if the agency issues tracking numbers)
Print off copies of all four emails and keep them in a file for easy reference.
Advantages of Federal Funding
- Generally federal grants are much larger than foundation grants.
- You don't have to know anyone at the agency to be successful.
- Agency staff members are (usually) quite helpful.
- The application process forces you to organize the project. (Even if you are not awarded the grant, you come away with a detailed guide to move forward with the project.)
Disadvantages of Federal Funding
- Federal grants have inflexible deadlines (Once a deadline is set, it’s set; unless of course the government changes it!)
- Improperly completed applications are almost always eliminated from consideration.
- A complex reporting system means funds can be unavailable for months.
- You almost always need to designate someone to manage the grant and deal with quarterly reports, financial audits, and other management aspects of the award
A Note on State Grants
Every state in the U.S., and every provincial government in Canada, offers a number of grant awards. If you are a Member of GrantStation you can go to our State Grants section, select your state, and hyperlink to every agency at the state level that offers grant awards. If you’re not a GrantStation Member, you can go to your state website and check out each state department. In Canada, you can visit the provincial government website and use the government directory to search for provincial grantmaking agencies.
Next week we’ll hit you with a barrage of government grant writing tips -- tips you can use for both federal and state government applications.
Tracks to Success is edited by Katy Mulcrone.
Questions, comments, suggestions, and useful tips for other Tracks readers
can be sent to her at katy@grantstation.com.
If you would like to suggest a topic for a future Tracks
to Success series, or if you are interested in writing
a series for us, please email
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