How to Successfully Apply for
Free Grants

Applying for free government grant money takes a lot of skill. The art and science of applying for grant programs is called grantsmanship.

Grantsmanship is no walk in the park and no stroll at the beach. The application process alone requires a lot from you, namely, money and time. As a matter of fact, organizations seeking free grants from government employ their own full-time staff of employees whose responsibility is to overlook the application process and later on, administer the grant.

Those lucky few to whom government awards grant money are not exactly occupying a desirable position since they have to account for every penny they spend on the. In addition, there are specific obligations and conditions that you need to perform and comply with in order to accomplish the project.

Plus, it is also important to note that free government grant is not entirely free. The project proposal you need in order to apply for a grant requires effort on your part, knowledge about the project and certain specific skills. To get considered for a grant, your proposal must describe in detail the specifics of the project you have in mind. And when you do make a knock-out proposal, this will not even guarantee that your grant application will be approved.

Worse still, free grants that are legitimate and legal can be very difficult to locate. Unless you are extremely familiar with government grants and loan programs, finding a grant (let alone, applying for one) that meets your specific needs may be nearly impossible to accomplish.

Tips to Writing a Winning Grant

Almost as important as your business plan is your grant application. After all, the grant is essentially your source of capital. If you have no capital, then you have no business starting your business in the first place. Below are some tips to help you write that winning grant application:

• Make a difference in the world.

That is the point of grants after all. Keep this in mind even before you approach that agency and apply for a grant. Make sure that your project is something that is going to help them do that.

• Know the specific goals of your funding source.

Alright so the general goal is to make a difference, but you also need to know the particulars. Ask them. They will be all too happy to tell you.

Also, you can ask them if they give funding to your local area. It is possible that some of these agencies provide free grants to entrepreneurs operating in a particular area. If you are one of these entrepreneurs, you stand a better chance at getting a local grant than a national one.

Plus, the agencies may also tell you what institutions they fund for.

• Know the person who will be looking over your proposal.

Is he a person who knows nothing of your field? Or is he someone who knows a lot about your field and what is going on? If they know nothing about your field, you need to stay away from technical information that they may not understand. Write to their level of understanding. If they know your field, then it is acceptable to use more technical definitions. But the rule should always be to write simply. Use jargons only when absolutely necessary.

• Always follow their instructions.

They will give you clear guidelines to go by. Treat these guidelines as instructions that you must follow. If you want funding, do not deviate at all.

• Know your fund source.

It will help you to know how to sound and feel in your proposal. Always back things up with facts and a clear understanding of the need for the funding.

• Prepare a budget that is easy to read and clear on what it is you want to do.

Be as detailed as possible in your proposed budget. Always fully explain everything that is going to cost and include other match funding from other organizations. This is to allow your funding agency a clear picture of what your proposal entails.

• At all cost, never ever slop together a proposal and hope for the best.

It never works and they see this right away. In fact, the proposal is already half of grant, and it is the one half of which you have control over. Don’t mess it up.

• Do not spend a lot of money going all out on the presentation.

It almost never impresses the funding agency. Never sacrifice the content of your proposal for style of the presentation. If you must spend money, spend it on the amount of planning you need for the project, not on mere presentation.

• If you do not receive a federal grant, ask in writing why.

Just because you failed to get that grant doesn’t mean your project is worthless. Sometimes, it all comes down to planning. By asking the federal agency why you did not receive the grant, you will have some idea as to why your proposal got rejected. Maybe your budget was too high, or too low, or the manpower required seemed unrealistic. Whatever it is, the information you receive from their feedback will be indispensable to further applications you may have. It will help you do a better job redoing your proposal.

• Never give up!

If you are put on a waiting list or denied outright, don’t wait. Revamp and polish your proposal and hand it in somewhere else. Each time your work gets better.

Where do you begin?

So now that you know how to write a great grant application, where do you go from here?

Your grant application actually starts and ends with Congress. Congress passes laws that will make funds available (called appropriation of public funds) to the different government agencies to fund major projects that would help some specific sector of the public.

Now, you have to remember that the funds themselves are free. They are public money, collected from the public, to be used for the public. But as to who is the proper authority to approve the use of such public funds, the Congress has that authority. It’s even got a nickname – “the power of the purse.”

Congress decides how much money for government grants is allocated to each program. Anyone may apply for a grant, whether you are individual or the representative of an organization.

It should be noted, however, that individuals seldom get awarded grants by government since the projects required are essentially large-scale and must be community-based.

It is hardly doable for a single person to pave a street in a particular neighborhood or construct a new water-saving facility, and the like. As a result, most government grants are awarded to community-based organizations, such as schools, educational institutions, non-profit organizations, etc.

Upon approval of the federal budget, funds for free government grant are made available and announced in the Federal Register. The approved programs for free government grant application will appear in the Catalog for Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA).

The CFDA database can be accessed online at: CFDA.gov.

Entries include:

• How grant money should be used
• Application process
• Detailed contact information
• Criteria for reviewing and awarding of applications
• Expectations from successful grant applications

Free government grant application could be made to programs related to your proposed projects. For instance, Congress has allocated $20 million to the Department of Health and Human Services or HHS, specifically for projects that aim to prevent cancer. So if you or your organization has a project in mind that relates to the HHS free grant objective, then you submit your application directly to the said federal agency.

Where else can you apply for a free grant?

There are several other federal agencies with which you can apply for free federal grants. To inquire or submit your application, just access the websites of these different government agencies.

In addition, if you are a student and would like to avail of free government grant or student aid programs, then you can forward your free government grant application to Federal Pell Grants that extend financial assistance to students. You need to check on your eligibility first before making that free government grant application to Pell Grants.

The amount of Pell grants are based on financial need. Aside from that, the amount received by applicants would depend on the costs incurred to attend school, their student’s status whether full or part-time and their plans to attend the entire academic year or less.

You can also forward your grant application to campus-based aid programs. The amount received by the students who submit their application would also depend on need, other free government grant applications made and the total funds available.

If you want to avail of other student-aid program, you apply at the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). This student aid program not only provides free government grant (which you can apply for online or on paper) but also, loans and campus-based student aid programs. FAFSA can be accessed online through FAFSA.ed.gov.

How to Apply for an FAFSA

Before starting the application process, there are a few things you need to consider. More specifically, you need to get and organize the documents specified in the following checklist:

• Your Social Security Number (can be found on Social Security Card)
• Your driver’s license (if any)
• Your 2005 W-2 Forms and other records of money earned
• Your (and your spouse’s, if you are married) 2005 Federal Income Tax Return – IRS Form 1040, 1040A, 1040EZ, foreign tax return, or tax return for Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, or Palau
• Your parents’ 2005 Federal Income Tax Return (if you are a dependent student)
• Your 2005 untaxed income records – Social Security, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, welfare, or veterans benefits records
• Your most recent bank statements
• Your most recent bank statements
• Your most recent business and investment mortgage information, business and farm records, stock, bond, and other investment records
• Your alien registration number or permanent residence card (if you are not a U.S. citizen)

After procuring all the necessary documents, it’s time for you to print a FAFSA on the Web Worksheet. You can download a copy of the worksheet from the FAFSA website. Write in your answers and gather your parents’ information then transfer the data to FAFSA on the Web.

To sign your FAFSA, you have two options: sign it electronically with a U.S. Department of Education Personal Identification Number (PIN) or by mailing in a signature page. Application for PIN may also be done on the FAFSA website.

And finally, check your eligibility for federal student aid on the FAFSA website.

How to Apply for Free Grants at Grants.gov

Another good site to find and apply for free government grants is Grants.gov, a website that lists all available government grants. Grants.gov was created as part of the President’s Management Agenda (PMA) and related e-Government Strategy. It is only one of the 24 PMA initiatives devoted to improving services offered by the government over the Internet in partnership with the 26 federal agencies organized by the United States Department of Health and Human Services (the largest grant-making agency).

To apply, just follow the easy five-step guide below:

• Visit the site to find the right grant opportunity you’d like to apply for.

You can jump directly to this link (just copy and paste it to your browser): grants.gov/search/searchHome.do. The page contains specific information on grants available to you, including the criteria required.

Be sure you meet all the criteria in order to avoid wasting time making grant applications which may end up voided because of non-compliance.

Each grant opportunity is assigned a CFDA Number or Funding Opportunity Number. Just jot down the assigned number for your grant and then proceed to the next step:

• Download the application package.

Go directly to apply.grants.gov/forms_apps_idx.html for information on the application package for your chosen grant opportunity. A link is provided there for you to download the free software package called PureEdge Viewer, which is required to fill out the application.

After downloading and installing PureEdge, you are now ready to download the specific application package, using the grant’s CFDA Number or Funding Opportunity Number.

• Register with Central Contractor Registry (CCR)

Grants.gov uses e-Authentication so security is not much of a problem. Any information you send electronically in an application will be done via secure servers so they won’t get compromised by third parties.

In addition, Credential Providers (a part of the e-Authentication technology) helps ensure that you are what your credentials are saying you are. Operational Research Consultants or ORC is the credential provider of Grants.gov.

When you apply for a grant, you will be given a username and a password, which you will need in order to register with Grants.gov as an authorized organization representative. Afterwards, you will then be asked to validate your registration.

• Register with Grants.gov

Each Central Contact Registry (CCR) of an organization is assigned an e-Business Point of Contact (EPOC), so once you register with Grants.gov, the EPOC will send an email notification with your CCR, informing them that the grant applicant has registered to submit grants.

The EPOC will then need to log onto the EBiz section of Grants.gov and assign the “Authorized Applicant” status to the grant applicant. This will also automatically trigger the program to send an email notification to the applicant, designating him as AOR and able to start submitting applications through the site.