Looking for and finding the perfect grant funding opportunity is the least of your concerns once you truly begin to consider the whole process of the Grant Application Process. For organizations or individuals who are entirely new to this process, it might seem all too overwhelming.
To ease your worries and show you a clear path, this article will give a simple overview of the whole process, with tips and suggestions sprinkled along the way.
Contents
Finding the Right Opportunity
Combining government and foundations, there are more than 80,000 funding opportunities across multiple categories. The search can seem highly complex, but the search grants page of the grants.gov site is very accessible and offers the option to search by keyword, —where you can type category or institution name—opportunity number, application status and date of posting.
The most efficient way to go about it is to search by making use of the keyword option to the utmost and use the category keyword—like education, research, etc.—or the institution—like NIH, NASA, etc.
To be able to search for not only the government or federal grants but also those offered by foundations—which are quicker to respond comparatively—you can check out the data base and guides at usgrants.org. They have a full combined database that is already sorted into categories and institutions, so you don’t have to waste any time in the search. They also provide video guides to the application process if you find it hard or any difficulties arise.
Once the search has been made easy, you need to focus on which grants out of the ones you shortlist. The processes are lengthy and will require time and effort, so it is best not to bite off more than you can chew. Apply to not more than five at a time and choose those five wisely, considering their deadlines and whether their mission and objective aligns with yours. The chances of getting a grant depend majorly on what they see in you and your project and whether that is synchronous with their objective.
Begin Application
There are various steps and requirements to be met before and during the application process.
Pre-application Considerations
Make sure you are registered at grants.gov and have a Workplace account created. Workplace is a platform where you can manage and fill out your form for government grants easily. For organizations, it makes editing multiple documents within the application easier as various people can access them.
When applying for state or federal grants, organizations need to have a DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) and SAM (System for Award Management) registration. Both are easy to register for but take a few business days to complete. Make sure you get it done well beforehand.
Make sure to be fully informed about the deadlines, the necessary documents required and any other information they provide before applying. Keep all documents like IRS, Tax Return, Budget, Budget to Actuals, etc. ready. If you need time to prepare them, begin the consolidation as soon as you apply.
The Application Package
The application requirements differ with different opportunities. They will require you to properly get ready all documents and additions in the application package. If an organization, do not give it to a single person to take care of. This is a process which will require contributions from various people within the organization. You might even want to take suggestions from outside people to make sure your summary and proposal are in order and sound convincing enough.
Before writing the proposal, discuss extensively exactly what approach is to be used. Ask yourselves questions like—what is our main aim? Who does our project help? How do we want to structure our requirements?
You must provide in the application the whole technical documents and proof of your organization. It is easier for individual grant seekers as they have less documentation to worry about and can focus entirely on the proposal. For organizations, it is best to involve the necessary personnel. You might want to discuss this with your Marketing Head, CFO, Development and Product managers, etc.
Post-application
Once the application is submitted—make sure you submit it well before the deadline—there is only the wait. Note the tracking number of your application and keep checking the status from time to time. The whole process is quite lengthy, and the confirmation may very well take around 6 months or so. Keep the timeline in mind and align it with your project timings.
Getting your application approved can be tiring and consists of a lot of technicalities. If you find it too stressful, you can get assistance from various agencies who specialize in grants and can help you get one.
Conclusion
Getting grants and funds for your project, research, or education is a stressful project if you go into it unprepared. There is no need to freak out, even as the whole process can seem quite intimidating. Remind yourself of your vision and get to know as much as you can about the process and the institution or agency you are applying to. Information is key when you find something unfamiliar. Get acquainted enough so that it isn’t unfamiliar anymore.
The process of grant applications includes various steps, from searching for the perfect grant, making sure you are eligible, pre-application preparations, documentation and necessary registrations, and then finally, the tracking. Each step requires you to be precise and clear in what you want and wish to convey. Once your application is sent, it goes through various levels of scrutiny. It passes from one department to the next for review, approval, issue, and finally release. Keep calm, and if the first try doesn’t work, there’s always the option of trying again.
But just so that it doesn’t come to a second try, make sure your review your application thoroughly before submitting. Do it yourself, and also get it reviewed by multiple people so as to be clear and avoid all mistakes.
