Although there are billions of dollars available every year in grant funding, these awards, unfortunately, are not appropriate for many projects.
Why?
Grant funding is mostly meant for non-profit organizations. More specifically, grants are intended for those organizations whose projects have a wide benefit (such as a community, field of knowledge, or underserved population). Unfortunately, this greatly narrows the field of eligible organizations and projects. Although there are many businesses that provide a community benefit, regular business operations are not typically eligible for grant awards.
For-Profit Business Grants
In addition to non-profits, there are a small number of grants awarded to for-profit businesses. These heavily favor those in agricultural pursuits (not just growing crops, this is a widely diverse grant funding pool). Other areas include rural development, high technology, medical advances, and research, such as medical devices addressing a specific disease, or an alternative fuel project. In our experience raising over $20 million in funding, other for-profit businesses, even those with great ideas, do not meet eligibility requirements.
Grants for Individuals
There is a very small number of grant funding available for individuals. These are almost always instances of high technology, research, and advanced medical concepts. In nearly all instances, the ideas must be past the ‘conceptual’ stage to be considered competitive.
Business Funding vs. Grant Awards
Grant funding is not available for businesses or individuals involved in multi-level marketing, home-based businesses, startup businesses, childcare services, etc. These activities are viewed as normal business operations. Although they may offer community benefits, they lack the qualities that appeal to funders. However, there are some nationwide programs, typically through large corporations such as FedEx, that engage in a competitive process to award money to small businesses. Although they are often called “grants”, they are not actually grants in nature. They usually do not require information on Project Scope, a budget, or much of the typical material funders require. These applications are usually straightforward and do not require a grant writer.
Bottom Line
Funders decide which projects they want to fund, including eligible applicant type and all details associated with the award. In our experience, we have encountered many worthwhile ideas that provide a significant benefit, but they are not always appropriate for grant funding.
