3 Responses to “Can an individual apply for and be awarded government grants?”

1. rtfm on August 13th, 2010 11:09 am
   

   What you have been told is completely untrue. The truth is almost the exact opposite — there are NO government grants for individuals except in a select few cases. One legitimate government grant is the Pell Grant, which is for educational purposes. Other than that, you’re out of luck. Anyone who tells you that individual grants exist is probably trying to rip you off by selling you a book or CD that supposedly lists these grants.

   Here’s the REAL story about government grants:

   http://www.grants.gov/
2. Derek on August 13th, 2010 11:34 am
   

   Not just anyone. You must have a valid reason.
3. imisidro on August 13th, 2010 12:02 pm
   

   You may first want to read the warnings FTC has issued against these “grant” companies:

   http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2004/03/grantresources.htm
   http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/alerts/alt134.htm

   Here is also one of the warnings issued by the Better Business Bureau http://www.concord.bbb.org/tips_timesharescams.html

   The government is NOT in the business of giving away free money for the sake of giving away money. There are no grants for paying bills, no grants for paying off credit cards, no grants for getting out of debt and no grants for simply fattening your wallet.

   Grants are free, but it means OBLIGATION. You will be obligated to do as the grant sets out to do. Grants have objectives, and your purpose must fit the objective of the grant.

   For one, you have to write the grant application and the grant application is not a simple document – you have to explain how your purpose for applying for the grant fits well with the objectives set out by the grant.

   There is a stringent review process through a committee. You will compete with other applicants for the grant money, and this grant review committee will evaluate the merits of each proposal. Only those that they feel exemplifies the objective of the grant will be approved.

   You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov – these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes.

   Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

   Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT – Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

   Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs

Feel free to leave a comment...
and oh, if you want a pic to show with your comment, go get a gravatar!