Grant (money)
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Grants are funds dispersed by one party (Grant Makers), often a Government Department, Corporation, Foundation or Trust, to a recipient, often (but not always) a nonprofit entity, educational institution or business. Such application processes, generally require some form of "Grant Writing" often referred to as either a proposal or a submission. For more information regarding successful grant submissions see Grant Writing.
Many Grant Makers require Grant Seekers to have some form of tax-exempt status, be a registered nonprofit organization or a local government. Most grants are made to fund a specific project and require some level of reporting. The Grant Writing process involves an applicant submitting a proposal (or submission) to a potential funder, either on the applicant's own initiative or in response to a Request for Proposal from the funder. Other grants can be given to individuals, such as victims of natural disasters or individuals such as people who seek to open a small business.
Intergovernmental grants facilitate:
- Tiered funding to other levels of government (state, local government) from various taxes collected at federal and state levels. These grants provide the main source of general revenue for lower levels of government. Examples of this are found in the US, Australia and Kenya.
- Program related funding (e.g. federal education funding for activities administered by state governments) are often recurring grants, providing the main source of revenue for programs.
- Project related funding (e.g. combined federal and state funding for a freeway) are very large grants negotiated at Government policy level. However smaller grants may be provided by a government agency (e.g. municipal government).
Project related funding to governments, business, communities and individuals is often arranged by application either in writing or on-line.
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[edit] North America
[edit] USA
In the US, grants most often come from a wide range of Government departments or an even wider range of public and private trusts and foundations. According to the Foundation Center[1] these trusts and foundations number in excess of 88,000 and disperse in excess of $40 billion every year. Government grants can be searched on www.grants.gov. Trusts and Foundations are a little more complex to research and can be found through subscription based directories, such as the Foundation Center Directory Online, FDO. Subscription fees vary - the most basic Foundation Center Directory will cost you $240 for one year, however the search capabilities of this entry level subscription are somewhat limited. More functional versions begin at $480 for one year.
Due to the complex and evermore competitive nature of grant seeking, many grant seekers engage the services of professional grant research and Grant Writing services.
Most often, grants are issued by the government to students through attending post-secondary education institutions. In certain cases, a part of a government loan is issued as a grant, particularly pertaining to promising students seeking financial support for continuing their educations.
There are grants-related sites For US Grants Search:
[edit] Europe (EU)
In March 2000, the European Council created the Lisbon Agenda—the aim was to ensure that Europe becomes the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. The success of the agenda depends, in part, on the strategic and targeted use of technology.
Many source websites exist to publicise EU grant information for SME's and public sector organisations - an example is European Union Grants Advisor.
[edit] Ireland
There are quite a few grant giving organisations in Ireland, but IRCSET and SFI are the best for Research Grants.
[edit] Denmark
[edit] SU
SU is the States Educationsupport (Statens Uddannelsesstøtte) and is available to all students, including students as young as 16 years of age. This is available to all age groups currently under courses. There are two systems of SU.
- Youth Education (Ungdomsuddannelse)
Available to all students in pre-college educations.
- Post-Secondary Education (Videregående Uddannelse)
Available to all students in post-secondary or higher educations. This system is a clip card grant good for 5 years and 10 months.
[edit] UK
Grants are made available in the UK for a variety of business, charitable and research purposes. The biggest grant distributors are government departments and agencies which offer grants to third party organisations (often a charitable organisation) to carry out statutory work on their behalf.
Other major grant distributors in the UK are the National Lottery, charitable trusts and corporate foundations (through Corporate Social Responsibility policies). For example Google contributes to the grants process through its Google Grants[2] programme, where any charitable organization can benefit financially from free AdWords advertising if they share Google's social responsibility outcomes.
Grants are time limited (usually between one and three years) and are offered to implement existing government policies, to pilot new ways of doing things or to secure agreed outcomes.
Over the years the discipline of writing grant bids has developed into a specialised activity. Many organisations employ fundraising professionals to carry out this work. In the UK the fundraising profession is governed by The Institute of Fundraising. The grant writing process generally includes search, proposal and accounting for competitive grant funds. Traditional search methods - for example refering to the Charities Aid Foundation Directory of Grant Making Trusts - are quickly becoming replaced by online fundraising tools. Nevertheless the proposal writing process remains much the same with the onus on the applicant to demonstrate how a grant will make a positive difference. There are a number of online grant directories available to UK fundraisers. Many are subscription based, but the most popular free to use UK search directory is Grantsnet[3].
