What Is Grant Writing?

Reasons to Apply for Grants

• Make a difference: Writing successful grant proposals can bring much-needed attention and funding to the causes that you care about most. It can be a powerful tool for effecting change in a particular community or throughout the world.
• Obtain free money: Unlike a loan, grant money is awarded without requiring the recipient to pay the money back down the road. As long as you follow the guidelines that the granting institution provides regarding proper use of the grant, it’s yours to keep.
• Diversify: Becoming too dependent on any one source of funding is a recipe for disaster for individuals and organizations. Using grant writing along with pledge drives, annual dinners, and other funding sources provides more financial stability over time.
• Boost credibility: Winning grant money can help your public image and encourage other organizations and individuals to contribute to your cause. People like to give to an organization that others have deemed worthy of support.
• Encourage self-discovery: The lengthy, involved grant-writing process forces you to document your mission, challenges, and funding needs in detail. This valuable exercise can help you view yourself and the organization you’re a part of in a new light.
• Promote accountability: Once you’ve obtained grant money, you are responsible for using it in the manner you described in your grant application or proposal. This requirement helps organizations and individuals follow through with their stated plans rather than use funds for other issues or initiatives that may arise.
• Expand your network: Grantmakers are often active participants in the communities that they serve. Foundation staff members can become valuable resources for you and help you better serve your constituency.

Who Applies for Grants

• Nonprofit organizations: Community and faith-based organizations can apply for grants to start women’s business centers, facilitate self-help home-ownership programs, run HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention programs, or accomplish pretty much everything else under the sun that benefits communities.
• Students: Grants for students include scholarships that cover tuition, room, board, and other necessities, as well as fellowships that encourage scholarly development through research and travel opportunities. Money is available to help undergraduates boost foreign language proficiency, develop new technologies, and pursue a host of other experiences and fields of studies.
• City, county, and state governments: Municipalities themselves can win grants for initiatives ranging from public safety enhancements to studies measuring racial and ethnic discrimination in healthcare delivery.
• Small businesses: Though grants for for-profit enterprises are less abundant than grants for nonprofit organizations, small businesses that address problems facing agriculture, host scientific conferences, or launch in underserved urban areas can be eligible for federal aid.
• Colleges and universities: Institutions of higher education are eligible for grants to support research on everything from the economic impact of cooperatives to border security and immigration issues.
• Private landowners: Grants are available for private landowners who want to restore wetlands, protect ivory-billed woodpeckers on their property, and so on.

Who Awards Grants