What You Need To Know About Grants.Gov

by: Iola Bonggay

Have you been looking for grants lately? Have you been seeking financial assistance from the government? If you've answered yes to both questions, then here are the most important things you need to know first before you move forward with your search.

First up, it is very much essential for grant seekers to know the difference between a grant and loan. A loan is something that you need to pay back, and often with interest, while a grant is something that is given to you in order to help you carry out a public purpose of support that is authorized by a law of the United States. Thus, a grant is something that you won't ever have to repay.

The United States government has a lot of grant programs that are available for the public. However, only a few of those grants are available for ordinary individuals.

Grants.gov is one the largest websites that features at least 1,000 grant programs from 26 different federal grant-making agencies in the United States. Most of the grants that are found on Grants.gov are mainly for organizations and institutions, only a few of them are for individuals. It is also very important to know that Grants.gov does not offer personal financial assistance such as student loans, medicaid loans, debt loans, and the like.

The eligibility requirements will significantly vary depending on the kind of grant that is available. In most cases, most of the grants that are found on Grants.gov are meant for:

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What You Need To Know About Grants.Gov
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About The Author Iola Bonggay is an editor of TopGovernmentGrants.com one the the most comprehensive Websites offering information on government grants and federal government programs. She also maintains Websites providing resources on environmental grants and grants for youth programs.

Additional Resources

category - Applying for a Grant

Small Business Grants - Support for Veterans
The SBA is dedicated to lend a hand to the service people in America and directly links with the Patriot Express Loan for veterans who desire to initiate their own business and want to start commercial activities. The SBA also plays a role in encouraging growth and job creation during the process, which is an indispensable part to support economic prosperity.

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National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences
NASA has recently established the Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Sciences (ROSES) program for the year 2011, which encourages interested institutions to submit proposals that involve ground-based research and technology investigations that seek to comprehend naturally occurring phenomena, both in the Earth and in space.

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Department of Agriculture: Value Added Producer Grants
The Value-Added Producer Grants program is geared towards helping the Independent Producers of Agricultural Commodities, Agriculture Producer Groups, Farmer and Rancher Cooperatives, and Majority-Controlled Producer-Based Business Ventures in developing techniques that would create marketing opportunities and establish business plans involving viable marketing opportunities that involve the production of bio-based products from agricultural commodities.

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Minority Business Enterprise Centers for Minority-Owned Businesses
The The Minority Business Development Agency has recently constituted the Minority Business Enterprise Centers (MBEC) Program wherein it aims to support minority-owned businesses by providing them with electronic and one-on-one business development services for a reasonably nominal fee.

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