Tag: government grants

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Financial Government Grants

How to Search and Apply for Government Grants

Download your all-in-one guide written by our experts for everything you need to know about searching, applying for, and receiving government grants.

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If you’re disabled, unable to work, and don’t have a clue where to start, we are here to help!

In our free guide, we’ll show you:

  • Who is eligible for a grant
  • What the research process looks like
  • How to write a successful grant application
  • How to get approved
  • And more!

Grant opportunities can change the trajectory of your organization completely. Grants enable you to make big changes, build community capacity, purchase things for your organization, create opportunities for people, and more.

Opportunities can typically be broken up into three categories, Federal grants, State grants, and Foundation grants.

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Career & Education Education Financial Government Grants

What Is A Pell Grant? How to Get Your $6,495.

What Is A Pell Grant? How to Get Your $6,495.

The Federal Pell Grant program is the largest student aid program in the U.S. It provides grant money to the country’s neediest students to help them attend college. It also does not need to be repaid. With tuition constantly increasing, many students aren’t sure how to pay for college, but the Pell Grant can help alleviate those concerns.

If you qualify for a Pell Grant, you can receive up to $6495 to put towards your college education. Qualification is based on financial need. It also includes factors like your family’s assets, your college’s cost of attendance, and how many children in your family are attending college.

What are the requirements?

Before you can apply for a Pell Grant, there are a few basic requirements you must meet. You must:

  • Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen, such as a permanent resident
  • Hold a high school diploma, GED, or approved home-school certification
  • Have a valid Social Security Number
  • Be registered with Selective Service if you’re a male between 18 and 25
  • Be accepted to an eligible certificate or degree program

Federal Pell Grants are typically awarded to undergraduate students working toward their first college degree, but students in select post-graduate teaching programs may be eligible as well.

How do you apply?

Your first step toward seeing if you qualify for one is to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA. You’ll need to fill out your FAFSA every year to determine your continued Pell Grant eligibility, so make sure to fill it out as soon as you are able to.

How much student aid can you get?

The maximum award for a Pell Grant is $6495 per school year, but you may not receive the full amount. The Federal Pell Grant is not an all-or-nothing program, and you can receive anywhere up to the maximum award amount depending on how much you qualify for.

You can only receive one Pell Grant per year, and Federal law limits you to receiving six years of Pell Grant funding. This means that you can receive up to the full reward amount every year for a total of six years.

What can this money pay for?

Aid from a Pell Grant can be used to pay for qualified educational expenses. These include:

  • Your college tuition
  • College-related fees like health centers, computer labs, etc.
  • College textbooks and supplies such as paper, binders, safety glasses, etc.
  • On-campus room and board or off-campus living expenses
  • Costs for daycare or other dependent-care expenses

When will you receive your money?

Once your FAFSA has been processed, you’ll receive your financial aid award letters and can start to compare offers. Federal Pell Grants, if you qualify, are paid out through colleges, so your school will let you know when and how you’ll be paid. Some schools apply the money directly to your tuition, some cut you a check, and others do a little of both.

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Financial Government Grants

6 Steps To Apply For Medical Assistance Grants

6 Steps to Apply for Medical Assistance Grants

Apply for medical assistance grants.  Step by step tips, tricks, and strategies for approved grant applications.

There are many grant opportunities available.  Although, grant applications are highly competitive, most of the opportunities to receive medical assistance grant funding are right at your fingertips on the worldwide web. Here are some grant funding tips that you should consider in your search:

Plan and be alert.

Keep in mind grant organizations go through levels of analysis. The first level is to throw out as many proposals as possible.  Why? Because there is usually only one winner per grant, making the pre-selection stage a process of elimination.  Every medical assistance grant proposal does not make it to the end, and these organizations can receive thousands of applications. So carefully plan for your proposal, or your grant can be thrown out even for simple mistakes.

Find the right opportunity and ensure your eligibility.

Don’t do all that work for nothing. If you have not done your eligibility research beforehand, your grant proposal will likely be sent back to you. This is why ensuring you meet the requirements is an extremely important step in your search for Medical Assistance Grants. View Sponsored Listings.

Read the directions carefully and apply for the grant.

Follow the very specific grant application directions closely, as medical grant directions must be followed precisely to be considered for acceptance. Every grant type has its own set of special directions, so be sure to abide by those listed as you apply. Either keep the directions open in another window, or print them off to ensure you don’t miss anything.

Study other grant proposals that have won and been approved.

Locate this public information by searching for sample grant applications online. There are many great resources for Medical Assistance grants, and all you have to do is track them down online and study the writing approach of other winners in the field. Start by searching for “grant application samples” and then refine your search based on the results.

Don’t sweat the minor details.

If you do not have a particular requirement that the grant is asking for (e.g. you have 5 sq. ft. and the grant wants 10 sq. ft.) apply for it anyway. The reason for this is because one quarter of the people applying for the same grant probably do not have all the requirements either.  Nevertheless, they quickly find the needed support once the grant is approved.  This is especially true for bigger money grants.  If you do not have exactly what the grant asks for, don’t worry. You won’t necessarily be disqualified.

Find local support.

Go to your local organizations, including city and state entities, and let them know what your situation is. Often times they have access to databases, foundations, etc. that you won’t find in a normal Google search. They are there to help people in your shoes, so don’t be afraid to ask for help. That is what they do!

Types of Medial Assistance Grants

  1. Research
  2. Small Grant
  3. Scientific
  4. Academic Enhancement
  5. Exploratory and Developmental
  6. Clinical
  7. Small Business
  8. Education
  9. Philanthropic

Of the many medical assistance grant opportunities available there are some factors to process.  Here we have provided the 6 Major Steps to Apply for Medical Assistance Grants.  Apply for your medical grant with these step by step tips, tricks, and strategies and get your first approved grant application.

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Financial Government Grants

How to Write Grant Proposals

How to Write Grant Proposals

You can waste a lot of time trying to figure how to write a grant proposal. Finding the right grant is difficult in itself and when you do get it, completing the rest of the documentation process can be a difficult challenge. Whether you want a grant for an organization or a business – writing the proposals can be an easy thing to learn if you have the proper guidelines. Read on to get a better idea of the process involved in writing a grant proposal.

Getting Started

Once you have written down the list of all the activities, needs, and outcome of your program, you can use it as a basis for several applications, as the majority are in a similar format. You can also make minor tweaks to meet the needs of each funder. Start by studying other proposals and looking at all the different formats of major companies and organizations. Funders usually have specific format styles which include the font, text size and even page limits. So initiate your writing process by thoroughly reading the specific instructions of writing a proposal given to you by your funder. For example, if the funder wants 10 pages, make sure you give him exactly 10 pages. If you think you need an exception – get permission beforehand, if possible.

Developing Your Proposal

Next, you should study all the criteria. Grant programs are highly competitive. They are awarded to the proposal that best fits the criteria. Usually, the grant officer allocates points to different sections of the proposal. Try to use a checklist and ensure that you have everything in order before finalizing your proposal. This will also help ensure that you have not missed out on any section and that your application is complete. Also, make sure you add a table of contents to help the reviewers find the specific information they need, easily.

Finally, you must absolutely perfect those areas with the highest weightage. These areas are going to be the deal makers and don’t compromise on quality. If you find all this to be difficult, you can even hire a professional grant writer who is experienced in writing all sorts of proposals. Such professionals usually know what pleases the funder and are familiar with tactics which increase the chances of getting the proposal accepted. However, make sure to fill him or her in on all the nitty gritty details of you plan and project needs. Otherwise, your proposal might not reflect what you actually plan on doing.

Finalizing Your Proposal

Finally, once you’re done – review the whole document thoroughly. Consider having someone who has never heard about your proposal review the document and get their critique. They may also be able to detect shortcomings and errors in your document that you’ve overlooked. Edit and proofread all the text and make sure it’s aligned with the instructions of your funder. Once you are done with writing the grant you need to submit it on time or by the due date. Show your efficiency as much as possible in order to gain an upper hand over your competitors. We hope these tips and effective strategies will assist in your goal of writing a winning grant proposal, and we wish you the best of luck in securing your grant!

Categories
Financial Government Grants

How to Avoid A Grant Scam Online

How to Avoid A Grant Scam Online

What Is A Grant Scam?

A grant scam is an incidence of attempted online theft or identity theft.

Someone contacts you to say that you are eligible for a government grant. They ask you to give your personal details of checking account information over to that person so that you can receive the grant. However, this is not what will happen – instead, you will be scammed.

Grant scams can take a number of forms. By far the most common start when you receive an email stating that you’re eligible for a grant, usually due to an error on your tax return or something similar. You’ll then be prompted to send your details across to what you might believe is a legitimate institution. A number of these scammers use fake names such as “The Federal Grants Authority,” so be sure to research any institution that is asking for your information.

However, these aren’t the only form of grant scam. You might be searching for information related to your taxes and come across a website with fake information. You might even receive a phone call from someone claiming to be able to offer you a grant. Do not fall for this. We’ll supply the process below so you can understand what really happens with government grants.

Why Would Anyone Do This?

As a law-abiding citizen, it’s hard to understand why someone would do something like a grant scam. If you’re not overly technologically literate, like the victims of most online scams, then this goes doubly so.

A grant scam works on the basis of identity theft or compromising your bank account; the emails or phone calls follow a script. You’ll be congratulated on having received a sum of money, and then you’ll be instructed to hand over your bank details in order for the “grant” to be deposited. In fact, you will give over your personal information for use by the scammer so that they can withdraw funds from your account.

How To Avoid A Grant Scam And Other Online Tricks

The most important thing you can do is be vigilant with your personal details. Do not give out your details over the phone and do not email your personal details.

If you are in touch with someone who you believe to be a government agent, then do your due diligence and check that they are who they say they are. Most scammers will use official-sounding names for boards that do not exist, for example, the “Federal Grants Initiative.” Generally, all information regarding grants and governmental agencies can be found on the official government sites for the various agencies.

You can also put yourself on the Do Not Call registry. This will ensure that your number is kept private in many cases, and will thus not be available to scammers who access phone lists in bulk and ring constantly hoping to catch one naïve person.

There isn’t a Do Not Contact registry for emails, but the same applies – do not give it out unless necessary, and even then, makes sure it’s in the right hands. Most legitimate agencies and organizations will have secure online portals for collecting financial information, so never email this information to anyone.

If in doubt, you should always seek advice. Do not blindly accept anything an unknown entity might tell you. Any real government agency will understand your need for security, so make use of that.

Categories
Financial Government Grants

4 Steps for Successful Online Grant Research

4 Steps for Successful Online Grant Research

1.    Create a project outline:

To begin you need a general idea of the project scope.  Build an overall one-page synopsis that is as specific as possible for the project: Who is going to be helped? Main goals and objectives? How? What’s the timeline for implementation? Where? How much will it cost? Are there special populations? Do you have access to matching funds? Who is the applicant? Do you have a history of this or other awards?

All of these questions will allow creativity and guidance, and help you while filtering through your grant research!

2.    Create Key Terms:

From your synopsis pull key search terms: Region, Topic, General Scope, etc.  Be creative and think of anything that may make your project special.  Come up with as many as possible to use, and look at the list a few times before you request outside input.  The terms ultimately dictate your searches; the more you have the more successful you will be.

A good search should turn up 10-15 results in a database with 3-4 viable opportunities at different amounts to ensure a multi-pronged approach for success.

For example: Pennsylvania, Children and Family interventions, at-risk youth, matching funds, education, homelessness, prevention, trauma informed care, public housing, transitional living, collaboration, and partner based.

All-Star Tip: Be sure to have a few keywords with synonyms to try in different mixes and see what comes back.  Going for all search fields at once may over-limit your search.

3.    Choose your likely Funding Source:

Choosing what type of funding entity you’ll need for your project will dictate where to go. Some general examples have been listed here:

  1. Scholarships: Foundations, View Sponsored Listings
  2. Research: Grants.gov
  3. Contracts: Grants.gov, and State websites
  4. General Program Support: Foundations, Grants.gov, Federal/State Department Websites, View Sponsored Listings
  5. Project Specific Development/Pilot programs: Federal/State Websites, Grants.gov, and Foundations
  6. One-time events: Corporate Sponsorships, Donations, and Foundations

All-Star Tip: Be sure you think of your capacity for reporting measures. Federal grants are typically more competitive, require a longer history of success, and may require an outside consultant to write.  Some foundations might give you $1500, but the reporting alone may cost you $1500 of employee time – ensure balance and return on investment exist when conducting grant research!

4.    Track your research:

Many grants are released regularly, and in turn, save your information in a separate document to use later. If you are not sure, reach out to the program staff and ask for insight.

Excel sheets have been a personal favorite, but feel free to use any word processing software as well. Headings should include Agency, Grant Name, Maximum Amounts, Due Dates, Key Words, Ineligibility, Match Requirements, Reporting Measures, Website Links, and Internal Proposed Project.

Microsoft word also does well for a memo on each item, but you likely won’t need those specifics until you to take it to a higher authority. Excel creates an easily searchable list, without feeling overly cluttered, which grant research can tend to be. Just remember to stay organized and it will make your research much easier.

All-Star Tip: Create a google doc or sheet and encourage others to add their research in the same format!