Grants are not easy to come by. My wife and I have both been writing grants since '96. I am a professional community developer that provides such services (among other things.)
Grants come with eligibility requirements. In particular public/gov't monies. Most require that you not only possess 501c3 status, but that your organization have several audits on file. Especially when you are applying for anything over the $10,000 mark. In fact, you can't be considered low-risk by either the federal gov't or the IRS until you have passed two high-risk audits and your operating budget is over $500,000.
- over 90% of public and private grants can NOT be used as start up money for new agencies.
- those grants that can be used as start up money require a full business proposal, a monetary match of up to 50%, proof of collateral and a full program description for every service you offer, of course you also have to provide resumes that show that every staff person you intend to hire has been identified and is proficient in the preferred area.
- federal and state grants are on a minimum of a one year turnaround. for example, Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention Act Formula II Grant is due on Aug 1. If you apply, you will receive notice of success around late Sept/early Oct. You will receive you first check NEXT Aug. and guess what - most federal grants work on reimbursements. So you have spend YOUR OWN MONEY UPFRONT and then get send in invoices each month.
Again, I been doing this since '96. My wife, she only writes grants. In fact, she writes grants for the largest midwestern human service delivery systems there is.
While I encourage people to see the value in grants. Preparation is key.
Private grants are no easier to obtain. Operating costs, capital campaigns (building rehab/acquistion/leasing), equipment purchases -- all the big stuff is off limits in most grants.
Most tech grants are given to large school districts or administered through local library networks and city governments.Its not that you can apply - you just wont get it, because you can possibly provide an equal return on investment (ROI) yes, grantmaking is now taking a corporate turn, and for the better! Numbers served is no longer valid - they want "impact measures" (a qualitative measurement squared against another, which shows savings, or gains in spending either by preventing a problem or creating an opportunity)
Where tech grants service exclusively grassroots orgs (federal gov't defines this as any group with an operating budget below $50K) you will be getting mostly refurbished machines, which i advise ALL my clients to say "thanks, but no thanks." because they require several hundreds and thousands of dollars to be made current.
New orgs should focus on board development and self-reliance. They should also pursue a fiscal agent. A fiscal agent gets an adminstrative fee for being your financial front. You apply for the grant, but use their years of service and their audits as assurance to that private or public funding source that their money wont be squandered.
I could go on..but only if you all are interested. But again, grants are not easy to get. I have friends with 20 and 30 years in this thing - and none of us are average at this - this is how we pay our bills. Even when I call someone I know, I still have to prove my client is the BEST option for a funder.
stop listening to the guy with the suit covered in question marks.
again, i would be willing to discuss further and in greater detail.
Grants come with eligibility requirements. In particular public/gov't monies. Most require that you not only possess 501c3 status, but that your organization have several audits on file. Especially when you are applying for anything over the $10,000 mark. In fact, you can't be considered low-risk by either the federal gov't or the IRS until you have passed two high-risk audits and your operating budget is over $500,000.
- over 90% of public and private grants can NOT be used as start up money for new agencies.
- those grants that can be used as start up money require a full business proposal, a monetary match of up to 50%, proof of collateral and a full program description for every service you offer, of course you also have to provide resumes that show that every staff person you intend to hire has been identified and is proficient in the preferred area.
- federal and state grants are on a minimum of a one year turnaround. for example, Juvenile Justice and Delinquincy Prevention Act Formula II Grant is due on Aug 1. If you apply, you will receive notice of success around late Sept/early Oct. You will receive you first check NEXT Aug. and guess what - most federal grants work on reimbursements. So you have spend YOUR OWN MONEY UPFRONT and then get send in invoices each month.
Again, I been doing this since '96. My wife, she only writes grants. In fact, she writes grants for the largest midwestern human service delivery systems there is.
While I encourage people to see the value in grants. Preparation is key.
Private grants are no easier to obtain. Operating costs, capital campaigns (building rehab/acquistion/leasing), equipment purchases -- all the big stuff is off limits in most grants.
Most tech grants are given to large school districts or administered through local library networks and city governments.Its not that you can apply - you just wont get it, because you can possibly provide an equal return on investment (ROI) yes, grantmaking is now taking a corporate turn, and for the better! Numbers served is no longer valid - they want "impact measures" (a qualitative measurement squared against another, which shows savings, or gains in spending either by preventing a problem or creating an opportunity)
Where tech grants service exclusively grassroots orgs (federal gov't defines this as any group with an operating budget below $50K) you will be getting mostly refurbished machines, which i advise ALL my clients to say "thanks, but no thanks." because they require several hundreds and thousands of dollars to be made current.
New orgs should focus on board development and self-reliance. They should also pursue a fiscal agent. A fiscal agent gets an adminstrative fee for being your financial front. You apply for the grant, but use their years of service and their audits as assurance to that private or public funding source that their money wont be squandered.
I could go on..but only if you all are interested. But again, grants are not easy to get. I have friends with 20 and 30 years in this thing - and none of us are average at this - this is how we pay our bills. Even when I call someone I know, I still have to prove my client is the BEST option for a funder.
stop listening to the guy with the suit covered in question marks.
again, i would be willing to discuss further and in greater detail.