Free federal grant money is never free.
Federal grant money is never free, no matter what they say on TV. Grants are awarded to help an organization, agency or individual do something the federal government wants done. It may be research, delivery of human services, an art project, data collection or testing of a new drug or weapons system. If you get one, you will be expected to do something with it the government believes benefits the public. Even receiving a Pell grant requires that you actually attend school.
Instructions
The RFP
1. Identify the project you want to do with your grant funding. This is the first and most important part. A good project, needed by the community and supported by community leaders has a very much higher chance of success.
2. Conduct stakeholder meetings. These are meetings of people who care about your project and want to see it happen. Stakeholder meetings help you collect good ideas and synthesize them into a plan.
3. Identify who will be the lead agency on the grant--who will handle the money, cut the checks and be responsible for the many detailed reports the government will ask for.
4. Write a project plan. This plan has pretty much all the same elements in it that a business plan has. You need budgets, staff lists, qualifications of key project leaders and organizations, certifications, licenses and permits needed to operate.
5. Find federal funding. To do this visit Grants.gov and sign up for their e-mail newsletter. This puts you on a list to receive announcements of requests for proposal (RFPs) from the various government agencies that award grants to projects like yours. Request a copy of any RFP for which you qualify.
6. Follow the instructions in the RFP closely. If you don’t understand something, call the federal agency’s contact person for help.
7. Collect the data, documentation and letters of support from the community that meets the requirements of the RFP. If there is a matching funds requirement (and for federal grants there usually is), raise the matching funds before submitting the application.
8. Fill out the application and attach the proper documentation. Send the application as soon as its finished. Don’t wait for the last minute.
9. Wait for the answer. Don’t call and pester the agency for information before it is scheduled to be released. You will only lose friends at the agency and they won’t tell you anything.
10. If you fail to get the grant this time, don’t despair. Most applicants fail to get an award the first time they apply. Call the agency, get copies of the grant reviewer’s comments and figure out what went wrong. Rewrite the grant as soon as the agency allows. If you won the grant, do what you said you would do with the money.
