Grants

Contrary to late night infomercials, federal government grants are hardly free and definite not easy to acquire. Federal grants are financial aid awarded to accomplish a project of public interest. Qualifying projects usually have a broad purpose to the public whether it’s for scientific research or charitable function. They are not awarded for the purpose of acquisition of services, scholastic degree or property. Normally, the agency awarding the grant provides no more involvement in the project than the standard monitoring and technical assistance. Anything beyond that requires the appropriate legal agreement or contract.

Federal government grants are awarded to public purposes of different types. There are Project Grants intended for research or scientific inquiry which normally lasts to 3 years. Another type is Formula Grants which are funding resulting from provisions of the law. Formula Grants can either be Categorical Grants or Block Grants. Categorical Grants are awarded to very specific and narrow in nature goals like financial aid in education. A combination of categorical grants is called Block Grants wherein most recipients are less restricted as to how the funding is spent. The last type is the Earmark Grant controlled by congress as part of government spending.

Federal Grants are categorized into 21 varieties such as: Agriculture, Arts, Business and Commerce, Community Development, Disaster Prevention and Relief, Education, Employment, Labor and Training, Energy, Environmental Quality, Food and Nutrition, Health, Housing, Humanities, Information and Statistics, Law, justice and Legal Services, Natural Resources, Recovery Act, Regional Development, Science and Technology. Social Services and Income Security, Transportation.

Eligible entities are mostly government organizations, educational institutions whether public or private, public housing, non-profit and for-profit organizations, certain small businesses and individuals. Individuals may qualify when applying for a federal grant on behalf of himself. Not all small businesses are eligible. They must fall within the qualifying size which cuts out most of the small retail businesses like family-owned stores. This, in turn gain granting agencies some criticism.

Due to the work involved in applying for federal government grants, many entities employ an individual for the purpose of acquiring and administering a grant. Unfortunately, many have made federal grants into an opportunity to profit by supposedly providing information on how to acquire one, in five easy steps available for a special offer.

While many organizations and individuals fail to qualify for a grant due to certain reasons, there are already thousands of groups that have benefited from federal government grants. Beneficiaries have offered and accomplished the equivalent work that made the grant worthwhile. Eligibility and properly planned use of a grant can be steep but it’s the only way to eliminate the risk of wasting federal money.

There are controversies revolving appropriations that are either due to the granting agency itself or the recipient entities. There are procedures that protect appropriations from going to waste which are fully enforced on any kind of federal grant. All eligibility and grant details are provided by the granting agencies and enforced only by the granting agency. Eligible organizations or individuals must undergo a process that is neither easy nor cheap. A large amount of funding involves an equivalent amount of effort that does not come from an easy to read and credit-card paid binder.

Grants Federal is a resource directory to help people learn more about obtaining federal grants