Every year, Congress allocates billions of dollars in the form of free grant money to aid major projects that would ultimately benefit communities. Allotment for education grants alone reached an estimated $67 billion annually. Free grant money can be availed of from various government agencies. But this free grant money does not come without a price tag. This may sound ironic but free grant money is not exactly for free in the truest sense of the word. With free grant money come obligations, responsibilities and consequences. These are legally binding too because the use of free grant money entails use of public funds which must be properly accounted for. Free grant money is actually your compensation for accomplishing certain obligations. Free grant money is something you have to work for to attain. Free grant money does not just fall on your lap with a minimum effort. In short, free grant money does NOT come for free. There are various resources to be able to acquire free grant money from the government. President George Bush recently launched GovBenefits.com website which contains information on where can avail of free grant money. GovBenefits.com can give you valuable info the free grant money to avail. If you are an entrepreneur and would like to open a new business or improve an existing one, the government has free grant money program for you too. Economic development agencies that extend free grant money exist in the different states. Free grant money information can be found in Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Utah websites. The rest of the states do not have free small business grants but do offer financing and technical training services to individuals who want to go into small business through the U.S. government's Small Business Administration (SBA) program. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) also offers info on how to avail of free grant money. Their website http://www.cfda.gov/ gives valuable info on how to avail of free grant money from the Congress' approved funds. But CFDA is useful only to people who have insight into the grant application processes. Otherwise, it would be hard for you to understand the CFDA entries on each program. And you're grant application might be rejected because of that. For students, free grant money information could also be found on Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. The FAFSA is a seven-step guide that inquires about your personal details, financial status, school plans and many others. In 2002 alone, 6 million students have availed of free grant money through the FAFSA. Free grant money under the discretionary programs by the government such as those listed in CFDA requires going through a lengthy often grueling process. A formal application must be prepared and submitted. After that the concerned agency will consider and approve or disapprove the application. Then the implementation will be subjected to a lot of further requirements like accounting, disclosure and auditing of expenses to the last cent. Some organizations would even hire full-time staffs just to take care of the application and implementation processes. "Grantsmanship" is the term used to refer to the art and science of applying for grants. The government can be pretty meticulous on how it spends its money. The Grantsmanship to apply for free grant money takes a lot skills indeed! |
