What Is A Grant And How Do You Get One

What Is A Grant? How Do You Get One? A grant is a sum of money that is used for a specific purpose. Grant makers are people and organizations that give grants. Grants are given away by the government and charitable organizations called foundations. The sole purpose of a grant foundation is to give away money. These organizations vary in size and type from large national and regional corporate funders, to community and public foundations serving one cause or community, to small local family foundations. In addition, the U.S. Federal government also gives away billions of dollars of grant money every year for many reasons, including supporting and encouraging economic development and small business growth. Each has a specific organizational structure and operates in a different manner with respect to grant seekers. Most corporations, foundations and government agencies only give grant money to nonprofit organizations that have a 501(c)(3) designation from the IRS. The most common grants given to individuals are in the form of scholarships. Private Foundations are the most common type of foundations. They are generally endowed, usually from a single individual or family. Private foundations frequently are also considered family foundations if relatives of the original donor are still active on the board of trustees or in the operation of the foundation. Grant decisions may be made by the original donor, by members of the donor's family, by an appointed board of directors or by a bank trust officer acting on the donor's behalf. The geographic and interest areas of these foundations are often limited by trustee decision or the will of the donor. Private foundations with no connection to the donor family are informally known as independent foundations. Corporate Foundations are also private foundations. They are independent grant making organizations whose originating donor is a corporation rather than a family or individual. They may have an actual endowment, or they may receive annual funding from the corporation. Grant making decisions are usually made by a board of directors consisting of top corporate management, local corporate officers, employee committees and sometimes outside community members. Geographical range is often limited to areas where there is a corporate presence. Corporate Giving Programs are similar to corporate foundations, except that they are not legally foundations and therefore are not required by law to grant a certain percentage of assets or to publicly disclose their grant making activities. Many corporations run both a foundation and a giving program, coordinating the grant making activities of the two. A corporate grant making budget is usually determined by the company's economic health and is sometimes set by a formula related to profits. Often the giving program works closely with their company's marketing and public relations departments. Public Foundations are publicly supported charitable organizations that receive much of their financial support in the form of contributions from the general public. There are many types of public foundations including community foundations. Public foundations support a variety of interest areas with or without geographic limitations as defined in their organizing charter and/or by their governing boards. The public foundations included in this directory primarily make grants to multiple beneficiaries and derive the majority of their funding revenues from a single source, usually an endowment built from charitable gifts.

Community Foundations are public foundations made up of a considerable number of individual endowments managed by a single administrative body with all the funds pooled for greater investment return. As their name implies, community foundations usually have a very distinct and limited geographical area. Some of the individual funds are general purpose and discretionary; others are quite narrowly focused and may offer funds only for a scholarships or a certain group of organizations. The trustees are chosen from the public for a specific term. The board typically has full discretionary responsibility over some funds while some funds may be donor-advised and others directed to a particular agency or organization. Other Giving Vehicles There are many other types of philanthropic entities, such as federated funds (United Way), giving circles (these can be formal or informal), and organizations that don't fit into any of these other categories, but make grants (Junior League, Comprehensive Health Education Foundation). Personal Debt There are no federal assistance programs for paying off personal debt. Instead, you need to seek the assistance of a debt counselor at a local bank or savings and loan. About Credit and Debt Management site can also help you out. Student financial aid refers to funding intended to help students pay tuition or other costs, such as room and board, for education at a college, university, or private school. Tip: Always look at Home First No matter what kind of assistance you need, always look locally first. The fastest and easiest-to-get sources of help are often found at your city hall, county offices, local colleges, hospitals, churches, large corporations and private foundations. Many of these local organizations receive federal and state grants to assist citizens in need.