Grants
There are many and varied government grants, and almost as many Internet sites where you can search for them. Keeping up-to-date on government support at all levels is important because new programs become available all the time. And don’t wait until the last minute to start a government application. Many agencies require you to prequalify before you can apply by filing forms with particular agencies. The preapplication procedure for federal grants can take several weeks for approvals.
State and Local Grants
Finding local and state grant opportunities might be as easy as going to one of their websites and searching for “grants.” A handy website for locating state and local government agencies is statelocalgov.net. The resources you’ll find on different official state websites vary greatly. At minimum, you should find access to the websites of state agencies and in many cases county and city government sites as well.
PHILANTHROPY FACT
An Internet search will turn up dozens of vendors claiming to get government grants for you for a fee of a few hundred dollars. At most, you will receive a list of grant opportunities you could have easily found yourself. So beware of anything that sounds too easy—in the grant world as in any other.
On the Illinois site (illinois.gov), a search for “grants” returned more than 7,000 links! Although you’ll never get through all of them, this might still be easier to deal with than the different ways each state agency organizes its information. The links included a number of actual grant programs as well as a grant proposal a local fire department used to get a grant for new equipment and had posted for other fire departments to copy. There were also links to listings of nongovernmental grant resources various agencies (for example, the libraries) had put together.
The Oregon state website (oregon.gov) came back with more than 45,000 links when I searched for “grants.” Noticing a number of listings for “watershed” grants, I went to the agency listings and under the watershed department also found the details on grant programs for watershed restoration.
On the Texas site (texas.gov), a search for “grants” returned 45 million links(!), but after the 200th link, the results were not relevant.
When reading about a grant opportunity, always jump down to the eligibility requirements, especially when looking for government grants. Many of these grants are made only to other government agencies, so save yourself some reading time by checking one of the shortest sections first.
Even if your web searches prove successful, you’ll also want to be in contact with the agencies that most closely reflect your charity’s purpose, whether that’s child welfare, education, senior services, the arts, or prison reform. Ask the agency to put you on its mailing list for any grants or RPFs that come up. It can also pay to look outside your sector because services for at-risk youth, for example, could be provided by an educational organization, a health service, or even an arts group.
Although the following section on federal grants dwarfs the preceding section on state and local grants, this doesn’t mean the federal government will be the primary source of public money for your charity. Local and state programs are so varied, it would be impossible to give specifics on any programs or agencies here. Much of what you need to know about the ins and outs of federal grants applies equally to local and state grants, so please read on.
Federal Grants
Federal grants come in two flavors: formula and project.
Formula grants essentially reimburse your charity after you perform a service. Local or state agencies might offer their own form of formula grants. Formula grants are awarded based on your charity’s ability to provide a service and a mathematical formula that, for example, might multiply the number of your clients by the average cost of providing a service in your city by some percentage the government has decided upon. Note that the majority of formula grants are restricted to other government agencies.
Project grants, on the other hand, are competitive. Your application will be judged against every other application from across the country. Examples include grants to help preserve America’s jazz heritage, grants to operate or plan public service programs, and community projects to provide high-quality food to low-income families. In a random check, 64 project grant RFPs had been posted in the past 14 days alone.
A lot of competition exists for project grants. If you’re grant writing for an organization that’s been around for less than three years or has a very small staff and budget, you probably shouldn’t waste your time seeking a federal project grant. If, however, you believe your charity might be able to compete nationally, by all means apply.
Many federal grants require that their grant be no more than half the project’s cost, meaning you have to raise the remainder elsewhere—and not from another federal agency, which isn’t allowed. Also remember that you might not get as much as you asked for, so be prepared to present a scaled-down program if necessary.
The main site for searching for federal grants is (what else) grants.gov. This site provides listings of all grant opportunities in all agencies, as well as instructions for the lengthy, multileveled process you must follow to apply for grants online—the only option in many cases. Checking websites of the specific agency that deals with the same issue as your charity might be easier, but by using grants.gov, you’ll be less likely to miss a funding opportunity offered by more than the obvious agencies.
PHILANTHROPY FACT
In mid-2010, the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance listed 413 grant opportunities in health, 225 in agriculture, and 172 in education.
You can also research federal grants in the Catalog of Federal and Domestic Assistance (cfda.gov). This site even offers a guide to writing government grants written in classic
“bureaucratese.” Look up grants by category (for example, agriculture, health, or environmental quality) or by whom your project will serve (for example, youth, senior citizens, or the mentally ill). The General Info section provides a user-friendly guide to seeking federal grants.
If you’re really convinced that there’s gold for you in the federal grant coffers, you can also check the daily Federal Register online at gpoaccess.gov/fr/index.html, order a print version, or use the one at your local library. Information on new grant programs appears here first, but you’ll have to sort through dozens or hundreds of meeting notices and legislative details to find them. This will be a fruitless labor for most charities. Another useful federal site is FirstGov (firstgov.gov), the U.S. government’s official web portal.
Here are a very few of the federal agencies that make grants and their contact information:
FEMA assists in recovery from natural disasters such as floods and hurricanes, and unnatural disasters like terrorist attacks. FEMA has an office in every state, the addresses of which you can find on its website.
The NEA mostly makes grants to arts organizations, although writers and folk artists can get grants, too.
The NEH gives grants for research, education, preservation, and public programs in the humanities.
The NSF is a portal for locating government grants in science and engineering. It provides 20 percent of federal research support to academic institutions.
The SBA makes loans to for-profit businesses but offers limited grant programs to nonprofits and other levels of government to provide technical assistance to small businesses.
The U.S. Department of Education gives a wide variety of grants, mostly to schools, sometimes to nonprofits in partnership with a school, and sometimes to nonprofits all by themselves.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
dhhs.gov
200 Independence Avenue S.W.
Washington, DC 20201
dhhs.gov
This is the government’s biggest grant maker.
The EPA’s grants assist communities with environmental issues and environment-friendly development.
WORDS TO THE WISE
When you receive the verdict on your government grant, call the program officer to get the comments of the people who evaluated your proposal. The comments are just as helpful when you’re successful as when you aren’t. The Freedom of Information Act requires them to give you this information, which is critical for preparing your next grant application. Some agencies will require you to request the comments in writing; others will share them with you over the phone.
After you’ve found a grant program that seems to be a match for your charity, give the guidelines and application materials a thorough read. Afterward (and only afterward), don’t be shy about calling for answers to any questions you might have. These civil servants have always been more than civil anytime I’ve needed help. A two-minute call can save you hours of work. Don’t be surprised if you get an answering machine. Budget cutbacks mean fewer staff, but they will call you back.
Most government grant applications begin by asking for basic information about your charity, including when it was founded, tax status, employer I.D. (like a Social Security number, but for a corporation), budget size, mission, and a short statement about your project. The example of a government grant in Appendix G includes a cover page similar to those found with many federal grant applications.
Virtually all government applications are now accepted online only, although a few local ones may provide a downloadable form for you to complete. (I review online applications in Chapter 19.)
Covering the Bottom Line
Normally, federal grants and contracts allow little or no overhead, called indirect costs. If you plan to work with government agencies on a number of projects, you should apply for an indirect rate. An indirect rate is the percentage of your general operations you can consider part of the project budget without itemizing it.
The process for obtaining an indirect rate is a lot of work, but after it’s established, you can use it with other federal agencies. You can find instructions for establishing an indirect rate in every RFP or grant application. The process takes some time and will involve some back-and-forth with the agency, so begin the application procedure several months before the application deadline.
When it’s completed, you’ll receive a “negotiated rate agreement” form. A copy of this is all you’ll need when applying to other agencies.
Spend Now, Get Paid Later
Most federal programs will only reimburse you for actual expenses after they’ve been paid (or for only a very short time in advance). If cash flow is a chronic problem at your charity, talk with your finance person to be sure this won’t create a hardship for your group. This is 180 degrees from the foundation or corporation practice of giving you all the money up front.
RFPs and Contracts
The forms for applying for government grants and RFPs can look very much alike, so what’s the difference?
• Grants offer greater opportunity to get your charity’s project funded.
• RFPs offer your charity an opportunity to carry out a government program.
If you’re lucky, you’ll have a program that parallels one the government is anxious to have carried out. But mostly, you’ll find yourself applying for RFPs that lie somewhere in between: projects that will help your charity serve its constituents, even if the program isn’t exactly one your program staff would have designed.
WORDS TO THE WISE
RFPs are not just issued for your charity to perform a service to the public. They’re also issued to provide a service for the government, such as creating a manual or other product the government can use or offer to other charities. There’s some prestige in performing these services, but don’t expect to make a lot of money performing them. Despite what you might think about government spending, some agencies are very good at keeping out overhead beyond your official indirect rate.
A successful response to an RFP results in a contract to perform the services described in your proposal. It will include a restatement (and possible revision) of the budget, a time line you must follow, and the name of the person at the government agency to whom your program leader will report.
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