How to Apply for Grants

• Author: Bryan Miller
• Posted: 2022-11-23

During the height of the COVID pandemic in 2020, there were billions upon billions of dollars in grants floating around. The federal government funded individual states through the CARES Act, and states got billions of dollars each and decided to create grant programs for people to financially survive. Of course, most of these grants were needed because the government forced over 80% of all small businesses closed in America, with only large corporations being able to stay open. This especially hit restaurants and small delis hard, and so most of these grants were aimed at the food industry. That was 2020, obviously, and now two years later, many people are wondering if there are any more grants available. The truth is that these pandemic grants were a fiasco, and the government faced too much backlash over their programs. If you want to find any grants now, you're going to have to seek them out yourself.

Other than the odd American-American-specific or Native American grant talked about in the news, most grants are kept under wraps with the implied standard of people having to search for them on their own. This can actually be more beneficial for you, however, if you need some monetary grants to help you make it through the holiday season. By having to seek them out and apply yourself, you're far less likely to run into a lot of competition. This means that you're far more likely to be considered for the grant. Grants are still very hard to get, and the businesses and charities that operate these grants seem to be allergic to handing them out. Though if they're going to be handed out at all, having less competition is a boon for your cause.

Here are some different ways you can go about applying for grants.
 

First, Locate the Right Grant Program

You have to start by physically locating the grants. Sure, you may have seen about one in the newspaper or on some news channel, but if you really want to find grants for which you're eligible, you're going to have to physically search for them. You can do this by using some combination of the keywords "available grants" followed by your state, city, or reason for applying for a grant. For instance, you can search for grants by race, socioeconomic status, gender, etc.

You're going to find one of four types of grants here. These grant types are competitive grants, continuation grants, pass-through grants, and formula grants. Unless you're a scientist or doctor, a student, or have received just a small part on an ongoing grant program, then you will be looking for and applying for a competitive grant.
 

Put Your Best Foot Forward

Since you're going to be applying for a competitive grant, you really have to put your best foot forward here. The application process for grants is very strict. You have to consider the fact that the people in charge of the grants are about to hand out money to people. Therefore, they want to make sure the right people get it. You're going to have to think long and hard about what gives you a leg up on the competition when you apply. Unfortunately, this is how it has to work when people are handing out money. If you're applying for a poverty grant, for instance, then you're likely not going to get the grant unless your story of financial hardship is compelling. Yes, poor people have to compete to be viewed as the poorest.

There are other types of competitive grants, of course. You can find writer grants for stories and even songs. You can find a range of business start-up grants. The general idea here is that you have to seek out and apply for these grants. They're not going to fall into your lap.
 

Don't Get Your Hopes Up

It's also important here that you don't get your hopes up too much. In other words, you shouldn't be relying on these grants to pay your bills or fund your holiday season. You're likely just going to be disappointed if you expect to receive the grant. If you truly need a grant, and you're qualified, your odds are pretty good. Though there's always the likelihood that someone else has a story or a situation that comes across as more deserving of a competitive grant.

You can improve your odds by finding and applying for multiple grants online.