National grants?

Question

i attened one of those national grants cofference should i sign up its about 1000 to get government grants

Answer 1

I wouldn't pay $1000 for that information.  Go to http://www.usagrantsinfo.com and learn about the many different grants that are out there and how to apply for them.

Answer 2

My concern with National Grants conferences is that they encourage the perpetuation of the belief that anyone and everyone can get grants -- which is absolutely false. True, grants given by the government are increasing, but whether anyone can get them for whatever purpose is highly debatable.

If you want information on grants, 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. Browse through the CFDA listings and see if you can find any grant that would support your purposes. Then apply for the grant at Grants.gov

Even if you buy books on "how to get grants" or list that supposedly has information on grants -- all of them are mere rehash of what CFDA has, albeit packaged differently.

Note though that these grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments. Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program. Individuals especially for personal purposes are not eligible for federal grants.

Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs.

Answer 3

You should not ever have to pay to get a grant. All of the information on how to apply is available for free on the internet, if you take the time to search.

You might want to pay a membership fee to the Foundation Center, to be able to search more effectively for grants, but I wouldn't bother unless you happen to run a non-profit.