Talk or Live Chat With Somebody Who REALLY Knows About "Federal Grants"

I'm always on the prowl for the truth about grants, and visit other advice sites to see if their stuff is real.  I stumbled on a site that purported to tell about "federal grants" for funerals.  While that is pure baloney, they did lead me to a federal toll free number that would tell me all about the federal funeral grant, and I called it.

The number (1-800-333-4636) lead me to a person who quickly reassured me that there was NO federal grant for funerals--she told me (correctly) that this is usually handled by the state or county public welfare agency.  This number is reachable with a real live person between 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Eastern Time Monday through Friday, who can send you to the right federal agency if the feds are indeed in charge of your problem or issue, or suggest a state agency if it's not a federal issue. 

You can also get to their website, Answers.USA,  24/7.  They offer the option of a live, online chat from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Friday.  When they aren't staffed live, you can leave an email message.  Or you can check out their list of subjects, or you can search through their list of FAQ (frequently asked questions).   

There's a great federal benefits site that you can search, but if you feel better about talking to a real human, the toll-free number and website (during the hours in which they offer live chats) give you a great chance to communicate with one.

How Do You Find Money for Individuals on Grants.gov?

It’s not as easy as it should be, but there are some strategies to mine grants.gov, the search engine and information center for federal grants, in order to find programs that individuals and for-profit businesses can apply for.  When you go to grants.gov, choose “find grant opportunities” in the red area on the left-hand side of the page.  When you get there, you have several choices; click “advanced search.”  At the next page, you have lots of options, but DO NOT enter a keyword in the keyword search box.  Why?  Because you cannot use it with the other search options, like “search by eligibility.” 

This last option is important to remember, because not every entity is eligible to get a grant: in every grant opportunity, it is spelled out who or what constitutes an “eligible applicant.” Most grants can only be successfully applied for by nonprofits or state or local governments. Only a relatively small fraction can be applied for directly from the federal government. So, look through the list of eligible applicants in that box: it will include state governments, Native American tribal governments, and more. Among the list are: individuals, small businesses, and for profits other than small businesses. Pick the one that applies to you, highlight it, and look at the other search boxes. Narrowing down to grants that you are eligible for will save you lots of time and frustration.

If you know what agency you want to look for, highlight that agency. If not, go to the box that says: search by funding activity. It will list broad categories, like housing, community development, business and commerce, etc. You can highlight one of these if you wish. You can choose a few boxes to highlight before you click the search button.

Here’s something to remember: you must choose if you want to search in open, closed, or archived opportunities. The default is open opportunities; that is, things that can be applied for right now. You can stay with that if you wish, but it might be worthwhile to also check the closed and archived opportunities. These are opportunities that have closed, but they are worth looking at for a couple of reasons. One is that the opportunity may periodically re-open (say, a grant opportunity that comes out once a year, each February), and you may prepare in advance for it. Another is that there may be agencies that fund grants in your field, but simply don’t have anything open now. Knowing that they provide this funding should lead you to checking out their website to see the funding chances that become available in the future.

For instance, if you choose small business eligibility, in the funding field of agriculture (not the agriculture department), you will find a handful of open opportunities. If you include closed and archived opportunities, you find many more that may re-open in the future, and in departments that you never thought of. Try it and see if it helps. And, as I said before, DON’T use keywords in the advanced search.

P.S.--These tips will mostly help private businesses and researchers.  Individuals looking for help with heat, homebuying, etc., are still most likely helped by their state and local agencies and nonprofit groups, who receive federal money and create their own programs.

A Quick Overview of Money the Government DOES Want You to Know About

Want to find legit financial help from the federal government? Here's the rundown on FREE, LEGITIMATE sites:

First.gov Benefits--Arranged by type of beneficiary or activity that the government helps with (disability, adoption, employment training assistance, etc.).

Benefits.gov--an interactive portal where you answer questions to pinpoint benefits based on your needs.

Business Finance--answer the questions, and find out what kind of business assistance you may be eligible for, and where to ask, depending on your state, what kind of business you are financing, etc.

Money Owed--a site where you can check each issue (mortgage, bank failure, pension) to see if you are owed money.

Federal property auctions and sales -- of seized property, HUD property, government property auctions.

Unclaimed funds from the federal and state governments.

And they are all. for. free. Don't pay a dime, just see what you qualify for.

Is a Federal Grant Right for Your Business?

Sometimes I get tired of feeling like the lone voice in the wilderness, probing patrons with nosy questions about their chances of realistically getting a government grant. Now the Idaho Department of Commerce is keeping me company. They have come out with a great web page, "Is a Federal Grant Right for You," written for for-profit businesses that are contemplating going for a federal grant. It asks--and answers questions about federal business grants with clarity and rigor.

They point out that many federal business grants are for innovative research ideas that need money to be taken to the next level, rather than things already developed, and that they should solve an important problem that the government has an interest in solving. Furthermore, they stress that such grants are highly competitive, and take place over a fairly long time. If you need quick cash, you should seek another source. Finally, they list Idaho state government resources that can help you develop your idea. But if you are an innovative business in another state, you should seek out the agency in your state that helps develop business opportunities. But the page itself is a great reality check for businesses anywhere in the U.S. that think they are candidates for a federal grant.

Psst! Wanna find out about billions in free money? Without paying anyone a penny?

Here's how: those websites that tell you how to find free money don't tell you that the federal and state governments give out the information for FREE, too. Here's some federal websites that will give you free information about money:

Grants clearinghouse
This website will give you all the grants announced by the federal government, without costing you a penny! Here's the trick that "free money" people don't tell you: you can't apply for it. That's because most grants are earmarked for nonprofit organizations and state and local governments. It's the nonprofits and government agencies that create programs from the grant money for you, and most of THOSE are not outright grants.

Here's a way of finding out what's for individuals on the federal level. Go the the Clearinghouse, and click "find grant opportunities." Then click on "advanced search." Go to the part of the page that says, "Search by eligibility." You see, there is "beneficiary eligibility" (the groups of people the government wants to ultimately help) and "applicant eligibility" (the people who can actually apply for the money). Highlight the groups that apply to you: individuals, small business, for profit organizations other than small business. Then put in your keyword at the box at the top of the page. Also, in "search by funding instrument type," be sure to highlight "grant."

Bet that cut your list down short. The truth is, most "grants" for businesses are not for start-ups, but are contracts to do work. On another post, we will get into the *few* kinds of outright grants that are available for business.

See these, too:
Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid
This simply gives an alphabetic rundown on financial aid and benefits available through the federal government.

Gov.Benefits: State Benefits
Click on your state, and see what's available to you.

Government Sales and Auctions
Roundup of federal land and property sales.

Government May Owe You Money
Don't go to people who can help you find money the feds owe you for a fee. Find it for free--yourself--on this website. Old pensions, bank failures, FHA/HUD insurance refunds. It's all here!

Missing Money
See if your state owes you money, too. Links to all the states that have searchable databases listing money owed to people.