TIP OF THE MONTH FOR JULY:

Applying for a grant is hard work and it’s never guaranteed you will receive a grant award. There are generally strict guidelines that must be followed to apply for discretionary federal grants. These application guidelines vary between federal agencies and opportunities. Discretionary grants posted on Grants.gov are highly competitive. A sure disqualifier for your application is to not include all that is asked for by the grantor agency. There may be many applications submitted to a single opportunity and those with the best chance of funding all include exactly what is requested by the grantor agency, presented in clear, simple language.

A good grant proposal addresses the need and significance of the project, quality of project design and methods to accomplish it, adequacy of resources (budget), quality of project personnel, evaluation methods, and project services to be provided. To ensure you are able to provide all that is required to apply for a particular funding opportunity, research, sufficient planning and preparation is key. Research is the primary element to every proposal and determines the overall quality of it.

To apply for grants on Grants.gov you must be registered. If you have not registered, visit the Get Registered page, to begin the registration process.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR JUNE:

Grant fraud is an ever emerging issue, and there are a lot of people trying to cash in on the lack of knowledge about federal grants. We have all seen them; late night infomercials, websites, and reference guides, advertising "millions in free money" Don’t believe the hype! Although there are many grants on Grants.gov, few of them are available to individuals and none of them are available for personal financial assistance. To find an alphabetical listing of federal personal assistance visit USA.gov website’s Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid page. There are many groups of organizations that are eligible to apply for government grants. Typically, most grantee organizations fall into the categories listed on the Eligibility page. Find out if you are eligible to apply for grants on Grants.gov, watch this helpful animated eligibility tutorial. If you are eligible and would like to apply for a federal grant, you must be registered with Grants.gov. Visit the Get Registered page, to begin the registration process.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR MAY:

Remember to check your Central Contractor Registration (CCR) registration status (Step 2 of Grants.gov registration). Grants.gov registration is a one time process; however CCR registration must be renewed yearly. Grants.gov does not maintain records on your CCR registration status. You must maintain an active status in order to satisfy Grants.gov application guidelines. To check your CCR status, visit: http://www.ccr.gov [EXIT Disclaimer]. Use the Search CCR link: https://www.bpn.gov/CCRSearch/Search.aspx [EXIT Disclaimer] to find information pertaining to your CCR registration. To update or renew your CCR registration information, visit: http://www.ccr.gov/Renew.aspx [EXIT Disclaimer]. If you are not registered with Grants.gov and wish to apply for a grant, visit the Grants.gov Get Registered page: http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp to register today.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR APRIL:

Looking for Recovery Act Information?
Check out the Recovery Act page to get the most complete information on Recovery Act grant opportunities. On this page, you will find out Grants.gov’s role in the Recovery Act, the type of funding available for the $787 billion stimulus package, a timeline for Recovery Act activities, and links to funding information by agency. Search Recovery Act Opportunities now!

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR MARCH:

New Grants.gov Profile - Complete Your Profile Today!
The credential (username and password) portion of the registration process has been updated; click here for details. Now you will be able to complete a Grants.gov profile and choose your own username and password. You will also be able to retrieve or reset your username and password by using the “secret question and answer” you create for your profile. If you have a username and password, you will be prompted to complete a profile upon login to Grants.gov. If you are new to Grants.gov follow the steps to register and complete your profile at that time. To view a helpful Organization Registration tutorial, click here.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY:
Submit early to ensure your application package is received by the closing date. During high application submission periods, such as February, there may be delays while submitting your application package. If you experience a delay, be patient; sometimes it can take up to 20 minutes to finish processing a large application package. Contact the Grants.gov Contact Center if you are experiencing a delay of 20 minutes or more, as there may be other issues with your application. The Grants.gov Contact Center is available via email: support@grants.gov or telephone: 1-800-518-4726 Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time. Help can be found 24 hours a day for technical issues on the Troubleshooting Tips page.

TIP OF THE MONTH FOR JANUARY:
Keep up with what's new at Grants.gov by checking out the Grants.gov Blog. The blog is updated regularly to keep you in the know about everything grants; from new grant opportunities, meeting announcements, to system functionality, the blog covers it all. Get first hand information from the Grants.gov team and other members of the grant community. The blog is an additional resource to the Grants.gov site. Access the Grants.gov blog from the homepage or visit: http://grants-gov.blogspot.com/.