Have you been looking for grants lately? Have you been seeking financial assistance from the government? If you’ve answered yes to both questions, then here are the most important things you need to know first before you move forward with your search.
First of all, it’s very important for grant searchers to understand the main difference between a grant and loan. A loan is something you need to repay, and frequently with interest, while a grant is something that’s provided to you so as to help you execute a public purpose of support that is authorized by a law of the United States. Thus, a grant is something that you will never ever need to repay.
The United States government has many grant programs that exist for the public. However, not very many of those grants are readily available for ordinary individuals.
Grants.gov is one the biggest websites that includes no less than 1,000 government programs from 26 different federal grant-making agencies in the United States. The majority of the grants that are found on Grants.gov are mostly for organizations and institutions, just a few of them are for individuals. It is also vitally important to know that Grants.gov will not offer personal financial aid such as student loans, medicaid loans, debt loans, and the like.
The eligibility requirements will significantly vary depending on the kind of grant that is available. In most cases, most of the grants that are found on Grants.gov are meant for:
a) Government Organizations such as State Governments, Local Governments, City or Township Governments, Special District Governments and Native American Tribal Governments;
b) Education Organizations including Independent School Districts, Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education, and Private Institutions of Higher Education;
c) Public Housing Organizations such as Public Housing Authorities and Indian Housing Authorities;
d) Non-Profit Organizations;
e) For-Profit Organizations aside from Small Businesses;
f) and Small Business establishments that meet the standards outlined by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for most industries in the economy.
If you belong to any of this organizations and institutions, you must register at the Grants.gov website in order to apply for your chosen grant.
It is vital that you take some time in reading the grant information and instructions before submitting your application. If you desire to proceed with your application, the process of acquiring a full comprehension of the grant requirements is impeccably important.
If you are, however, seeking personal financial assistance, you can find a couple federal government sites that could potentially accommodate your needs. You can visit them at http://www.benefits.gov/, http://www.usa.gov/, http://www.sba.gov/, or http://studentaid.ed.gov.
Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs.
She also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.