Archive for October, 2008
Grants aren’t hard to FIND, but they can be time-consuming to obtain
You do NOT have to be a non-profit to get a grant, regardless of what others tell you … I’ve helped for-profits apply for grants.
Most of the Federal grants that are available for for profit organizations and businesses are Small Business Innovation Research grants.
http://www.sbirworld.com
Private companies sometimes help fund start-ups, especially if they think they will see some benefit from it. These are very difficult to find, but can sometimes be the easiest to get.
Great video about a grant for education that this guy Donald Sprangers got. 10K!!!
This is a great question about solar grants and grants for solar energy. Pools can pull a lot of resources and getting grant money to help pay to heat your pool is a great idea. Here is the question I found:
my pool is heated by gas.I cannot afford to heat the pool with the price of gas. also I would like convert the houses to solar energy.
I need to become totally energy efficient with solar energy with all my property especially the one with the pools.
I need direction as how to acquire these grants.
You can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) http://www.cfda.gov and Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.
Even if you buy books on “how to get grants” or list that supposedly has information on grants — all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently. But still the info is the same - hardly any grants for starting a for profit business.
Note, however, that hardly any federal grant exist to help people start a business or for personal needs - unlike what some people perpetuate.
Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program
Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women’s Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women’s business center that will train women entrepreneurs
For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center’s Foundation Grants for Individuals Online. It’s a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for “students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices.” Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don’t have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.
Great question from a music producer looking for Music Grants. All I can say is if you are in education or an education related field, there is grant money out there for you, especially for arts and music related things. The person who asked the question is obviously in line for some serious money:
UPDATE: read the comments for great answers to his question!
I’m a music producer interested in helping out young artist further there music knowledge from the Music Production side of things. Are there any possible grants out there available for such a program?
You can try to go it alone - check out if there are any available grants at http://www.grants.gov
But you might be better served by checking out any but well-established community service organizations or youth organizations that already have the staff and skills in place to obtain funding, and pitch a partnership. If you can find an agreeable partner, you will have a better chance of success, and as you gain experience, you will be more prepared to strike out on your own.but the
If you are a business major, your best bet for finding a grant is if you are a minority or disabled in some way. However, if you don’t fit this category, there is grant money for business needs, you just need to make some creative arrangements with a nonprofit who can work with you on getting the grant. This will give you a lot better chance to get grant money than if you try to apply for a business related grant yourself.
Also, grants for education are very common, whether they are business grants or not.
UPDATE: read the blog comments, there are some great answers to this persons question!
ORIGINAL QUESTION:
I need help paying for school and im not finding any grants for business majors! this is hard trying to find free money! does anyone know of any sites i can go to?
I would reccommend contacting your school’s financial aid department. They might know of local scholarships or scholarships restricted to certain schools. These are the ones you are more likely to get (provided you have good grades and/or meet other criteria).
National scholarships are difficult to get because they are highly competitive. Unless you have an amazing GPA and test scores I wouldn’t recommend spending your time on those. Although local scholarships are smaller they can add up. I only got scholarships given directly by my college (funded by alumni) but they helped!
You will likely have to take some student loans though. If you are not able to get government student loans be VERY careful when choosing a loan provider. Read all the information and ask lots of questions (what if I get ill and can’t finish school, what if i take a semester off to work…etc). Also look into information about loan consolidation. I know the laws are changing soon and I’m not sure how that would affect a new loan recipient.
Good luck finding money for school! It’s not “free” because you often work hard to earn the scholarships and hard to keep them (most require you to maintain a minimum GPA). Best wishes on your business degree!
This is a great video about education grants from ASB Community Trust. You can get a grant for education for yourself, there is a lot of money out there for this!
Let me know, post me a comment if you know anything about solar grants for private homes. I’d love to get some solar panels, are there solar panel grants?
I’m looking for $80,000 for a down payment for a farm. Does anyone know anything about farm grants? Please post me a comment below if you have any great resources to share!
Here is some background:
i am approved for a loan if i can get the down payment. the down payment is 80,000. i dont have that much money so im trying to get a grant so that i can pay the down payment. i want to buy a farm. i have already tryed everything i know of so this is the only thing i know to do now. i need as much help as possible. i realy dont know where to start. all i know is that i want this farm. if there’s any help out there i fealy need it!!!
Talk to a bank or go to a private lender, they will be your best resource.
I have a friend who is married to a girl from the Philippines. she wants to start going to school,but Im not sure where to tell him to begin looking for school loans for her.
I know you need more information about her Citizenship status to be able to answer this question, but could you give me some general tips about a grant for education for legal immigrants?
We have started a Theatre production club at my daughters elementary school. The district funded it, but it was difficult to get them to give it up. I’m wondering, is there an easier way? Who could we ask for donations, maybe some great fundraisers??
