An Overview of U.S. Government Grants

You probably already watched several infomercials telling you that free money is available in the form of U.S. government grants. While it is true that the United States government allocates millions to fund federal grants, it is not true that you can easily get them.

There are lots of documentations to accomplish and obligations to meet in order to qualify for a government grant. You must take note also that majority of these federal grants are applicable only to organizations, state agencies, and accredited businesses.

Here is a basic overview of the United States government grants program so you can understand how to benefit from it.

The Basics of Government Grants

Federal grants are not financial rewards or entitlements. These are the most important things you need to understand about federal grants. A grant is an award provided by a US government federal agency to a specific proponent.

The grant money given has a specific use and should be spent solely for that purpose. Essentially, you cannot treat a government grant as a business loan or assistance to meet your individual needs.

There are other agencies that provide assistance for individuals. So if you are planning to use federal grants as lunch money, then better forget your plan and look for other sources of financial assistance.

Who Are Entitled to Receive Grants

Not everyone is entitled to receive federal grants. Specifically, individuals cannot take government grants if they will use it for personal purposes. If you want to get personal financial assistance from the U.S. government, a federal personal benefit and assistance program would be best for you.

For official U.S. government grants, beneficiaries could be state agencies, city or township agencies and organizations, and Native American tribal governments.

Educational institutions are also entitled to receive federal grants as well as local public housing authorities, agencies, or organization. Non-profit and For-profit organizations are also eligible to receive federal grants.

For small businesses, financial assistance and grants can be provided as long as they meet the official standards set by the U.S. Small Business Administration. If you want to get a business loan for your small enterprise, the U.S. SBA would be in a better position to help you.

Individuals can also get federal grants as long as they meet all the requirements and documentations set by the federal agencies awarding the grant. However, you can only get grants allocated specifically for individuals. You cannot apply for grants allocated for state agencies and organizations.

There are millions of dollars allocated by the U.S. government for public grants. Every year, some of these funds are being returned to the Treasury because they remain unused.

If you want to get a comprehensive listing of available federal grants, you should look at the Federal Register and browse the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance for approved grant projects.

These sources are free and you can get a copy of them from your local library or from the official U.S. government portal. That is why you do not need to purchase advertised listings of available government grants because these are public documents that you can easily get for free.