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Federal Grants for New or Small Nonprofits

With the amount of federal money available through grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements ever shrinking, nonprofits are finding it hard to compete for this level of funding. We have considerable experience with federal grants and want to share our knowledge with you so that you understand the process and what it will take for you to be successful.

  • Federal grants fund programs or projects, not general operating support. Federal departments publishing funding opportunity announcements (FOAs) or other funding instruments want to fund new ideas to fix old problems. Your program or project must address the problem of the target population based on the purpose of the request for proposal (RFP). If you want to pursue a federal grant, let us review the FOA for you before you begin the application process.
  • The application can take 40 to 100 or more hours to complete. Government guidelines and application packages are quite lengthy and require extensive responses. The turnaround time for preparing the application package is usually 45 days after the release of the FOA.  Organizations best suited to pursue federal grants should have experience seeking and securing larger foundation or corporate grants.
  • Unlike foundation or corporate grants, you will not receive cash if you win a federal grant. All federal and government grants reimburse your organization for the costs associated with the program or project you are proposing. Your organization must have at least three months of cash reserves that will cover the expenditures associated with the program or project before submitting your application.
  • Federal grants are very competitive. For every published FOA, there can be potentially 1,000 or more proposals submitted from across the country. If there are only 10 awards available through the grant and 1,000 applications received, then the chances of winning are 1:100. If there are 100 awards, the ratio decreases to 1:10. Still, if your proposal scores 90 out of a possible 100 points and recommended for funding by the peer reviewers, there is no guarantee that you will receive the amount you requested.

We work with organizations to seek federal funding if they have the following:

  • Strategic plan to ensure that your five-year goals align with the purpose of the FOA.
  • Fundraising plan to answer the question of sustainability found in every federal FOA.
  • Financial audit from the previous fiscal year or two years prior.
  • Annual diversified funding sources with at least 60% or more from sources other than grants or state contracts.
  • Personnel that have the time and expertise to file the required progress reports.
  • Technology such as a specialized management information system to track participant data.

All nonprofits seeking federal funding must have a working knowledge of the following:

  • Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP)
  • Logic models and outcome benchmarking
  • Evaluation methodology including performance measures or indicators

We highly recommend your organization learn all it can about federal grants. One of the best places to start is the federal grants website grants.gov.

We also offer half-, full– and two-day workshop on federal grants. Learn more about the content on our Workshop Description page. Then visit our Workshop Schedule page to check the dates of our upcoming workshops and locations.

2022 Training Calendar

Mar
22
Wed
10:00 am Understanding and Competing for ... @ Webinar
Understanding and Competing for ... @ Webinar
Mar 22 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Understanding and Competing for Federal Grants @ Webinar | Vernon | Connecticut | United States
More than $5.8 trillion in federal grants were awarded in 2021. The bulk of the funds went to programs that help communities and the people that live in them including health and human services, education,[...]
Apr
26
Wed
9:00 am Grants from Foundations & Corpor... @ Webinar
Grants from Foundations & Corpor... @ Webinar
Apr 26 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Grants from Foundations & Corporations: Workshop #3 of the AFP Connecticut Chapter’s Principles of Fundraising Series @ Webinar | New Haven | Connecticut | United States
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Connecticut Chapter is proud to announce: Spring 2023 Principles of Fundraising Certificate Program Nonprofit organizations often seek grant support for their new or existing programs, capital campaigns, capacity-building efforts,[...]
May
17
Wed
10:00 am Introduction to Grant Writing @ Webinar
Introduction to Grant Writing @ Webinar
May 17 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Introduction to Grant Writing @ Webinar | Great Barrington | Massachusetts | United States
From developing the proposal idea to completing the details of the budget, this workshop provides an outline to use to prepare clear, concise, comprehensive, and competitive proposals. Participants will learn to develop measurable project goals,[...]
Jun
6
Tue
10:00 am Advanced Grant Proposal Writing @ Webinar
Advanced Grant Proposal Writing @ Webinar
Jun 6 @ 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Advanced Grant Proposal Writing @ Webinar | Boston | Massachusetts | United States
Nonprofit organizations often seek grant support but fall short in receiving an award. Competition for grants continues to grow as government funding dwindles. Learn how to present your case for support no matter the type[...]
Sep
27
Wed
9:00 am Grants from Foundations & Corpor... @ Webinar
Grants from Foundations & Corpor... @ Webinar
Sep 27 @ 9:00 am – 11:00 am
Grants from Foundations & Corporations: Workshop #3 of the AFP Connecticut Chapter’s Principles of Fundraising Series @ Webinar | New Haven | Connecticut | United States
The Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Connecticut Chapter is proud to announce: Fall 2023 Principles of Fundraising Certificate Program Nonprofit organizations often seek grant support for their new or existing programs, capital campaigns, capacity-building efforts,[...]
View Calendar

News from The Write Source

Philanthropy Massachusetts, the voice for philanthropic giving in the state, invited Diane Gedeon-Martin, President of The Write Source, to be among a select committee of 15 that will update and revise the Massachusetts common grant application and report forms.

We are proud to welcome our 300th client, the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission.

Recent Grant Successes

The Center for Civic Education (CA) won a three-year, $11.0 million grant from the Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) program of the U.S. Department of Education to provide civic education for under-resourced students in upper elementary and middle schools across the country.

mHUB (IL) received a $350,000 grant from the We Rise Together program at the Chicago Community Trust to support its new Catalyze Initiative to reduce structural barriers to entrepreneurship and innovation in manufacturing for women, Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

mHUB (IL) is one of 60 finalists of the $1.0 billion Build Back Better Regional Challenge from the Economic Development Administration (EDA), U.S. Department of Commerce. Their proposal for the 2025 Clean Tech Economy Coalition (CTEC) received a $500,000 Phase 1 grant.

MATTER (IL) received a $1.3 million, three-year Venture Capital grant from EDA, U.S. Department of Commerce to scale their Venture Acceleration (VA) program.

The Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless received a $115,889, one-year grant from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to scale its technology and create policies to serve 100 patients at three, high-need federally qualified health centers operated by the Community Care Cooperative.

The United Way of Connecticut received the only $1.83 million, three-year contract from the State of Connecticut, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) to develop the Statewide Adult Recovery Call Center for Crises.

Be sure to visit our Winning Grant Awards page for more information about these and other awards our clients received.

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