How do I apply for Grants?

Question

I have my own drill team/dance team and I do a lot of positive things with them such as helping with homework, mentoring, big sister/little sister type roles, teaching them dances, taking them on road trips and local field trips. We practice in the hot sun all summer long and during the winter we are forced to put things on hold because we don't have anywhere to practice. Nobody is willing to give us a place to practice that will allow me to continue to run my program. I love working with the youth. Let me give you a little more background:

I work with youth (both boys and girls) between the ages of 5 and 20 years old. I teach them dances and just mentor them.

We have discussions about picking positive friends and for the older ones choosing positive relationships and making smart choices throughout those relationships. We deal with peer pressure and family issues such as being helpful to parents by helping out with chores and helping younger siblings.

During the school year and the winter the kids are forced to find other things to do, mainly negative things, because I cannot run my program. I really need some one to help me write for grants to continue to run my program year round. I am looking to get enough to pay the rent for a building, buy supplies to help with homework assistance, arts and crafts supplies, and field trips.

Everytime I see my kids perform, I can just feel the pain the releases from their bodies. Some of their parents have never even seen them dance before. The kids study Hip-Hop, Jazz, Tap, African, Ballet, Modern, and Praise Dancing.

Can someone please help me with this. I really need this because it breaks my heart that when we go on break for the winter, by the time summer comes around another team member is pregnant. It just kills me. PLZ HELP!!

Answer 1

Your best bet is to seek for private grants or grants from private foundations.

The best resource for this is Foundation Center http://www.fdncenter.org . They have a very good database covering all organizations giving grants and you can find foundations that are interested in supporting your type of cause. However, it's a subscription based website ($19.95 per month I think is the cheapest subscription price). But it certainly is worth the fee. You can subscribe one month, and make sure you get all the info you need and then stop the subscription.

If you want to try federal sources, 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.

CFDA has several ways to search for grants. I suggest you search by beneficiary and select Private Non Profit Organization and you can find listings of grants available http://12.46.245.173/pls/portal30/CATALO...

However, to be able to get grant awards, you need to be 501C(3) certified from the IRS http://www.irs.gov/charities/charitable/...