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There are many different types of grants. The United States Government offers over 1,000 grants and a total amount of $500 billion dollars is available for these grants. Grants are awarded to people who have demonstrated that there is a public benefit for their project or research.
There are twenty one different categories that government grants fall into. There are environmental grants, educational grants, energy grants and many others. For a full list of the categories, you can go to www.grants.gov.
Grants are available to companies or organizations and to individuals. There are more grants available to organizations than there are to individuals. The government website lists 27 grants for individuals and hundreds of grants available for organizations.
One example of a grant for individuals is offered by the United States National Fish and Wildlife Service. They want to promote interest in conservation, and ecology. There is $5,000,000 available to be awarded for this project and they will give 40 awards out. The highest amount awarded can be up to $500,000 and the lowest amount awarded will be $1,000. So what does this grant require you to do?
They are looking for people interested in natural resource careers and would like to provide individuals with guidance and training by professionals. You will be working in wildlife refuges, fish hatcheries, and ecological services offices as an intern. You will be assigned seasonal work sometime between June 1 and Sept. 30. Award recipients need to be willing to administer a program for identifying and recruiting people for assignments at various stations in the United States.
After you have found a grant that fits your expertise and interest, you will need to go through an online application procedure at www.grants.gov. There are multiple steps involved in applying, however there are videos to help you walk through the entire process.
You first will need to register with the website and then you need to apply for the grant you want. This procedure can take time to do, so plan on several weeks for this process.
Writing a successful grant proposal can be very challenging and competitive. You have several options. One is that you can hire someone to write it for you or you can train yourself to write a good proposal. There are classes you can take that can prepare you for this.
If you are going to write the grant yourself, you will need to summarize your project in two or three paragraphs. You will need to communicate important information about your organization that shows that you can be trusted to use their funds wisely. You’ll need to state what your organization’s track record is with similar achievements. One thing to remember when writing your proposal is to describe the problem you are attempting to solve with the same magnitude as the solution you provide.
Although the procedure for applying is lengthy and requires you to write a very good proposal, you should try your best and see if you qualify. A federal grant could be just what you need.