What is a grant?

A grant is a monetary award given by grantor to a grantee to fulfill a cooperative agreement. The grantor publicizes a "request for proposal" (RFP) or "request for application" (RFA) stating the purposes for the funding and the requirements to receive it. Potential grantees apply for the funds by writing grant proposals that tell what they plan to do if awarded the grant.

What do grants pay for?

A grant can pay for anything a funder wants to fund. Most grants are offered for charitable projects that contribute to the common good in a community or region. These projects may promote education, science, health, technology, agriculture, literature, culture.

Here are just a few examples of projects that could be funded by a grant:

- helping people with disabilities prepare for employment
- establishing community breastfeeding center
- providing after school programs for schoolchildren in impoverished neighborhoods
- preserving natural wildlife

Contrary to what late night infomercials and some internet ads might suggest, grants are not a form of welfare. They do not help individuals fulfill personal financial obligations (pay household bills, pay off credit debt, or purchase a new home). Also, grants to start new businesses are extremely rare.

A grant can pay for anything a funder wants to fund. Most grants are offered for charitable projects that contribute to the common good in a community or region. These projects may promote education, science, health, technology, agriculture, literature, culture.

Here are just a few examples of projects that could be funded by a grant:

- helping people with disabilities prepare for employment
- establishing community breastfeeding center
- providing after school programs for schoolchildren in impoverished neighborhoods
- preserving natural wildlife

Contrary to what late night infomercials and some internet ads might suggest, grants are not a form of welfare. They do not help individuals fulfill personal financial obligations (pay household bills, pay off credit debt, or purchase a new home). Also, grants to start new businesses are extremely rare.

Who awards grants?

Most grants in the United States are awarded by the U.S. government, state and local governments, public foundations, or private foundations (including corporations).

Am I eligible to receive a grant?

A majority government and foundation grants are given to the following types of organizations:

Non-profit organizations: Charitable organizations that have a 501(c) (3) status with the IRS, faith-based organizations.

Government organizations: State, county, and city government agencies, as well as Native American Tribes.

Educational organizations: Public schools, school districts, public and private institutions of higher education.

Where can I find out about grant opportunities?

A large percentage of grant opportunities in the United States can be found using one of two websites:

Grants.gov: a clearinghouse for information on grant opportunities for all grants offered by the United States government.
Foundationcenter.org: a similar resource for information about grants from public foundations, private foundations, and corporations located in the United States.

In addition, you might check the websites of your state and local governments for more grant opportunities.

Are grants available for for-profit businesses?

The U.S. government does not offer grants for for-profit businesses directly. Foundation grant opportunities for for-profit businesses can be very hard to find (only a few corporations offer them).

If you are a for-profit business with a strong philanthropic mission, it is in your best interests to form a non-profit organization with 501 (c) (3) status. This will tremendously increase the number of grant opportunities you are eligible for.

How many pages long is an average grant proposal?

The length of a grant proposal will depend upon who you are applying to and the amount of funding you are applying for. To estimate, the average government grant narrative is probably between 20-30 pages. The average foundation grant narrative is a bit shorter, between 5-10 pages. These are estimates of the number of pages of narrative you need to write, and does not count cover sheets, signature forms, letters, resumes, or other documents a particular funder may require as attachments.

How long does it take to receive a grant?

Grants are not a source of quick money. Once you submit a proposal, the time it takes to hear back from the funding agency can vary. For state and federal grants, a wait of 3-6 months is typical. The wait may be 6-12 months for foundation or corporation grants, but you may receive a letter in the meantime saying that your application is pending. In the case of some corporations, you will not receive anything if your proposal is rejected – so taking the initiative to follow up is wise.

How do I initially approach a funding agency? Do I write or call?

Most foundation grants require a letter of inquiry before submitting a full proposal. A letter of inquiry is 1-3 page letter that provides an overview of your project idea. After reading your letter of inquiry, a foundation may invite you to submit a full grant proposal. In the case of government grants, you submit a full proposal without writing a letter of inquiry beforehand. Some government grant opportunities require a letter of intent, which is usually a 1-2 line statement stating that you intend to apply and the topic of your proposed project.

What is 501(c)(3) status and why do so many funders prefer it?

501(c)(3) is non-profit status with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Agencies who award grant funding to 501(c)(3) organizations receive a full tax deduction for their contributions. For this reason, some grant makers only give to organizations with this non-profit status.

Can I apply for more than one grant?

There is no law that limits the number of grant applications you can submit to fund a project. It is relatively safe to ask for small, one-time contributions ($5,000 - $25,000) from multiple sources. If you are applying for a large, multi-year grant ($100,000 or more per year) to fund an entire project, do so with caution. To be safe, you should submit your proposals to funding sources that are not highly familiar with each other or, as a courtesy, include a list of organizations you are applying to in your application. You don't want potential funding sources to get the idea you are trying to double-fund your project.

What is the hardest part of grant writing?

The hardest part of successful grant writing is reading the grant application and carefully following all of the instructions. Grant applications, also known as "request for proposals" (RFPs) or "request for applications" (RFAs) can be very long, documents with many tedious, detailed instructions to read through and understand. A careful reading of the RFP or RFA before the grant writing process begins is critical. You don't want to spend 50-100 hours writing your proposal, only to be disqualified because you did not include a required form or signature.

Should I hire a professional grant writing consultant?

There is no easy answer to this question. There are both advantages and disadvantages to hiring a professional consultant to do your grant writing.

Here are the advantages:

A professional consultant can focus on the writing without other responsibilities.
You will benefit from the consultants' prior grant writing experience.
A consultant will get the job done by the deadline.

Here are some disadvantages:

A consultant will not know your organization, mission, and projects as well as you do.
You might hire someone who does a bad job.
You might end up paying too much (and not even get the grant).

What should a professional grant writer cost?

Our grant writing fee at Educational Resource Consultants is $5,000 per proposal. This figure may be low for a company with our experience a track record. You might expect to pay between $7,000 to $10,000 for a quality grant writer. (These estimates are based on multi-year grants for at least $100,000 per year).

What is the best way to learn grant writing?

You could take a university course. The problem is, university courses require a lot of seat time over a long period of time – and the professor may have limited real world experience in competitive grant writing.

You could attend an intensive grant writing seminar. The problem with this is, you will often be learning with so many people that you won't get the personal attention you need - or have time to apply the concepts to a specific grant proposal.

The best way to learn grant writing (and the way I learned) is by experience - being mentored by an expert as you write a real grant proposal. This allows you apply what you learn to a specific grant application. You'll also receive valuable feedback as you write each section. When you learn by writing a real grant proposal, you also might wind up with some real money!

This is why we at Educational Resource Consultants teach grant writing in an applied context through small group telephone seminars and one-to-one mentoring.

Click here to learn grant writing as you develop and write a real proposal!

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