Finding Grants - How to Do It And More

What is a grant?

A grand is a non-repayable fund disbursed by grant makers, often a corporation, trust, a foundation or government department, often - but not always - a business, individual, non-profit entity, or an educational institution, according to Wikipedia.

Finding grants

You have to write a proposal or an application to get a grant, and you need to give your grant maker some level of reporting and compliance. It is important to submit your application by yourself or wait for the funder to ask you. You do not have to repay the money you get in a grant even though some considerations about how to spend your money might apply, along with some other contract obligations, but there is no need to pay the money back in a grant, according to Valerie J. Mann, in her book, Getting Your Pie´s Share.

Now I am going to talk about the different sources of grants:

1. Directories of foundations. You have to submit a letter of inquiry throughout the year. They will make their decisions mostly based on your personal conditions, and they will not give you large grants most of the time. It is important to know that foundations make grants mostly to nonprofit organizations.

2. The government. You just have to go to grants.gov, or to the websites of the Small Business Administration, the IRS, the Department of Commerce, and other government entities. Read all the information you need about getting a grant from a government department in its website.

3. Corporation directories. These directories will offer you information about companies that make grants to businesses, individuals, nonprofit organization, and other types of entities.

4. City, state, and county directories with listings of grants for individuals, businesses, nonprofits.

5. The "Government" section of your local telephone book is another potential source of business start-up grants, home buying grants, or any other type of grant.

How to apply for a grant

1. Decide that type of grant you need. The grant you want might be for research, training, development, or education. You have to make up your mind about the type of grant you need because your efforts will be wasted if you do not know what you want.

2. Find the potential grantors. Write up a list of potential grantors and the more there are, the greater your possibilities of getting the grant you seek.

3. Go to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) and get your tax-exempt status if you want to get grants from some foundations. You will not get a grant for a business from a foundation.

4. Write up your grant proposal. You will need to use the form of your grantor if it has one. It is important to type each entry of the form. You have to avoid preparing a handwritten application.

5. Submit the proposal to each one of the grantors of your list, if you are allowed to make several grant applications, just do it. It is essential to deliver the proposal the way the grantor wants it - email, fax, postal mail.

6. Keep a positive attitude. If your proposal is rejected, keep your positive attitude because you just have to submit the proposal to another grantor.

7. It is essential to deliver more than you have promised in the proposal.

at 11:27 PM
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