Thinking of applying for a free government grant? This article will be of some help. Have a look…
For those who need financial help for any reason, be it education, business, housing, and so on, the federal government has made a provision of a number of grants. These are for individuals as well for organizations. You have to choose which one you need and apply for it accordingly. Free government grants are basically a financial helping hand extended to you by the government, albeit with some obligations. If these obligations are not fulfilled, you may be in a bit of a trouble. But that is another issue altogether.
Applying for Free Government Grants Online
With the Internet being an extremely convenient and easy method of any kind of transaction, it makes a lot of sense to apply for a grant online.
Point #1
The first thing you would need to do is to log in on the website (grants.gov). There you would be able to find all the information you want about the different types of grants available and the eligibility criteria for that. Check them out and see if you want to apply for free government loans or apply for free personal grants. Select the one which you think is the best for you. For example, government grants for small business may be of interest to you.
Point #2
Now, have you selected the grant? Great. Just take down the ‘Opportunity Number’ of the grant you want to apply for. This number is very important for all your transactions pertaining to the process.
Point #3
With the number taken, we move on to the next step, that is to register with grants.gov, the official website. Without registering, you would not be able to apply. For starting the registration process, just feed in the opportunity number in the box given.
Point #4
Once you feed in the opportunity number, you would be directed to an eAuthentication site for verification of identity and digital signature. What you have to do next is give in the required details. The details will the routine―name, address, birth date, email, and phone number. Once you are done with it and the information is accepted, you would be asked to create a username and password. The password has to be 8 characters long, having one special character, one upper case letter and a number. Level 1 credentials to apply for free government loans or grants.
Point #5
Get out of that site and again log on to grants.gov, with the help of your new password and username. Again, you may need to fill in some more details. The procedure is the same whether you want to apply for free college or student grants.
Well, you are almost done here! You would receive authorization after you register. Then you would be finally able to be done with your grant application. You might be asked for more information post completing the application. These applications typically take time between a couple of weeks to a few months to get processed.
Useful Tips
- If it is a grant for a community or an organization, always give a bit of thought about what the community or that organization would want.
- Even if you want a free grant, try applying and going through a foundation or an organization. That will increase your chances of getting it.
- Consider applying for specialized grants, which are available for minorities, for instance.
Last but not the least, apply for a grant only after understanding the clauses and obligations involved in it. All the best!