Minority Grant Money

According to a report recently released by the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, minority-owned businesses grew more than four times as fast as U.S. firms overall. Since 1992, these businesses have increased from 2.1 million to about 2.8 million firms.

Part of the reason for this unexpected growth is because government is making more minority grant money available.

Minority grant money is a type of funding given to deserving individuals belonging to a minority. The funds may be for the purpose of fostering minority education, benefiting a community where most of the population is made of minorities, and generally facilitating development of minorities in every avenue.

Minority grant money may also be given for projects, or for things like research, scholarships, or seed money. A project or a program is a creative plan of action that has a specific goal, usually community-based. Grantors generally want to fund new and innovative programs. So if you have a new program in mind that has never been done before and designed to help forward the cause of minority groups, then it’s possible for you to get government funding for that program.

However, if you feel that your idea is not innovative enough, take heart. There are instances where minority grant money is used to fund programs that have already been implemented. The only criteria, in this case, is that all previous programs similar to yours should have proven successful.

Minority grant money is allocated annually by the United States Congress federal budget process. Since it is the Congress that is responsible for passing laws that would make money available to the different government, it will ultimately be the one to decide how much minority grant money goes to which agency.

Once these federal budgets are approved, minority grant money are made available and made known to the public in the Federal Register. Minority grant money for the projects will be listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) at CFDA.gov.

Currently, the CFDA website offers several programs, offering you minority grant money. Foremost of these programs is the Minority Business Opportunity Committee (MBOC). Run by the Minority Business Development Agency under the Department of Commerce, the purpose of the MBOC minority grant money is to foster new minority business enterprises while at the same time, maintain and strengthen existing firms. The minority grant money is supposed to aid in increasing their opportunities to participate and receive the benefits of our economic system.

Applications eligible for this minority grant money program are Federal, State or local government entities or quasi governmental entities, American Indian Tribes, colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and for project organizations.

Competitive awards for the MBOC minority grant money are made based on a panel evaluation of the applications. This evaluation includes such factors as capability and experience of staff assigned to the project; techniques and methodology, creativity and innovation, resources and costs. MBDA publishes notices in the Federal Register, Grants.gov website and the MBDA website when seeking applications for this minority grant money program. Competitive applications are normally sought every three years, upon availability of funds and depending on the Agency’s priorities.