What exactly are government grants?
Government grants are a particular type of funding source. They should not be confused with federal benefits and entitlements. A grant is financial resources distributed by a federal agency to individuals or organizations for specific purposes or to promote economic growth. Government grants are authorized by the United States Congress and are not loans.
Grants are not to be utilized for direct benefit to the federal government and so are dispensed through a network of 26 federal agencies.There are a wide range of grant programs in over 20 different categories.
What are Grant Categories?
There are thousands of federal grant programs. Browsing through the many grants would be almost impossible without some organizational structure. The grant agencies use Category specifications to help make specific types of grant programs much easier to find.
There are a total of 21 grant categories; Agriculture, Arts, Business and Commerce, Community Development, Disaster Prevention, Education, Employment, Energy, Environmental Quality, Food and Nutrition, Health, Housing, Humanities. Information and Statistics, Law and Legal Services, Natural Resources, Recovery Act, Regional Development, Science and Technology, Social Services, and Transportation
What Government Agencies Provide Grants?
Government grants are designed to promote a range of causes and policies. To effectively manage such a variety of initiatives the federal grant program utilizes 26 different agencies to dispense and administer funds. Some agencies provide grants in many categories while others are more focused.
The 26 agencies that run the federal grant programs are the Agency for International Development, Corporation for National and Community Service, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, Social Security Administration
Who is Eligible to Receive Grant Money?
The eligibility requirements for each grant program are different. There are a range of grant programs available and eligible groups include state and local governments, educational organizations including school districts and colleges, housing authorities, non-profit groups other than institutions of higher education, for profit groups, small businesses as defined by the size standards of the US Small Business Administration, and individuals.
In order to determine if you or your organization may be a suitable for public grant money you must review the requirements for the specific programs of interest to you.