The government has been providing a lot of money of financial assistance which can be taken advantage of through grants. The feral government has 26 Federal agencies and about 1000 grants available to different organizations every year.
Grants are provided by the federal government so that different organizations would be able to continue the services they render to the public, whether it is an art, education or research institution. Contrary to what people usually think, federal grants are not free money. It is a financial obligation that the recipient should fulfil or else face legal issues.
If you think that you and your organization is ready for a grant then you can start applying for one. Applying for a grant is completely different once your granted with it. There are responsibilities that come with the grant. So you have to be forward in your way of thinking, are you ready to handle the obligations if your application becomes successful?
Once a federal grant is already awarded, you have to have an ability to monitor the funds allocation and expenditure. The federal agency who rewarded the grant will be conducting auditing and monitoring on a regular basis. Any changes on the program, may it be the phasing of the project requires you to inform the agency at once.
Once you have identified that you are ready for the grant, then research and look for grants applicable in your field. There are different resources you can check to look for grants. There are public libraries which have listings of grants, these books are updated yearly. Make sure to be prepared in copying the grants listing since these books cannot be taken out of the library.
Aside from public library books, there are great online websites that you can check to look for federal grant lists. But not all of the federal grants can be found in the internet, though some can be found in it. Most of the grants that can be found in the internet, also have the application process included.
When you already have the lists of grants that you find suitable for your organization, identify which one is the best match for your needs. Rank it according to the most suitable to the least. The idea here is that you would identify what would be best suited for your program and have higher possibility of grant approval.
When identifying grants you want to consider the following factors:
• A grant is an obligation. It is important to fulfil this obligation without sacrificing the goal of your institution or organization.
• Is the grant covering the program or project that need the financial assistance.
• Is your organization able to meet the requirements asked by the deferral agency.
You also have to follow the application process. When completing the paperwork, there would be guidelines on how to, you have to follow them exactly. Be concise and exact when answering the application questions. You can provide additional information as attachments for reference.
You can ask somebody to read the application process to be sure that it is understandable and all together informative. They can also help in proofreading the application form and other answers which are out of place. Writing a grant somehow is similar to writing a business plan.
If you are having difficulties writing grant papers, there are books and articles which can help you in writing good application for grants. There are some who would hire a grant writer to make sure that their grant application would be written in a professional manner and follow the agency guidelines.
Check the application deadline, you do not want to spend too much effort on something which you cannot finish and submit on time. If you have inquiries, usually there re numbers where you can call and ask questions. When you call, just make sure that you have the questions on hand.
You do not want to waste your time and also other people’s time with small talk.