Get Grant Money

A grant is assistance given in form of funds to recipients such as organizations, governments or any entity that the sponsor’s finds appropriate. Grants are usually given to both profit and non profit entities. However, they are commonly given for non profit purposes. They are usually issued by governments, foundation or trusts.

There are various approaches involved in the issuing of grants. One can apply for a grant by writing a request otherwise known as proposals to potential sponsors. Another approach is applying for funds when the funding organization calls for proposals. Writing these proposals is also known as grant writing. Proposals can be written on behalf of non profit organizations or individuals who need help, like victims of disasters, or poverty stricken people who need the funds to better their lives through education or business.

Two of the most common type of grants are the intergovernmental and government grants. These are grants issued by one government to another government on a large scale basis. While the latter, are grants given by the government to its citizens for various purposes. Intergovernmental grants are issued by one government to another and they are used to carry out large projects like building roads. Both grants are however, acquired through writing grants applications.

There are currently many organizations applying for grants. Hence, potential grant donors usually have lots of applications. For this reason the standard of proposal writing keeps rising. This trend has forced many organizations to hire fundraising professionals to write proposals for them.

As a result, fundraising is now recognized as a profession in many countries. A good example is the UK where they even have a governing body known as The Institute of Fund Raising. This kind development has made proposal writing a specialty where one needs training to be able to write. A well written proposal increases the chances of an organization in getting grants; this is done by ensuring the proposal clearly demonstrates how the grant will help in effecting positive change to society.

Sourcing for foundations issuing grants is also another job that fundraisers do for an organizations. There are however online sources where one can find grants. Most are accessible upon subscription but there are also open source directories. One of the most popular open source grant directory is the UK based Grantsnet.

Grants for foundations and Trusts in the US are granted by government departments. More than $40 billion are distributed among 88,000 foundations and trusts each year. Most of these government grants are usually given to talented and bright students who qualify for college or university studies but lack the funds for fees. These grants are categorized according to the issuing agency and subjects where each grant has its own criteria for qualification.

European countries also have their own grant programs, which are run under the European Commission (EC). Whenever the European Commission wishes to give grants they call for submission of proposals after which they award grants. So far the commission is on the seventh phase of this program.

Europe also wanted to use grants to ensure that advanced education was accessible to all. In the year 2000 countries allied to the European council signed an agenda that would see Europe as a world leader both economically and technologically by 2010.

However, European countries have their own individual grants such as Ireland’s SFI and IRCSET both research oriented grants. Denmark has its own educational grant accessible to citizens who have attained 18 years of age and specifically those pursuing post secondary education.

The corporate sector also plays an active role in giving grants. Various corporations are known to have departments that handle social responsibility initiatives.  In the UK, the National Lottery has one of the biggest foundations. The renowned search engine Google also plays a big role in giving back to society through its Google Grants Program.