Grants

March 10th, 2010 Leave a comment Go to comments

CNN Story on Grants Quoting Kate Lister

Grant Story Quoting Kate Lister

The loud-mouth huckster on TV who claims the government will give you free money is wrong. But there are grant programs that, if you can deliver, will pay for specialized products and services.

While the large majority of grants are available exclusively to non-profit organizations, a number of charitable, government, and corporate sources offer grants to small businesses as well.

Federal Grants for Small Businesses:

The largest federal grant program open to small business is the Small Business Innovation Research Award Program (SBIR).

SBIR grants are awarded in two phases:

Phase I grants are available to evaluate the scientific merit and feasibility of an idea. Awards are for periods of up to six months in an amount of up to $100,000.

Phase II grants are available to expand on the results and further pursue the development of the Phase I project awardees. Awards are for periods of up to two years in amounts of up to $750,000.

The following agencies participate in the SBIR Grant Program:

  • Department of Agriculture
  • Department of Commerce
  • Department of Defense
  • Department of Education
  • Department of Energy
  • Department of Health and Human Services
  • Department of Transportation
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Science Foundation
  • Nuclear Regulatory Agency

Each agency, of course, solicits proposals from small businesses that addresses its own specific opoortunities and needs. Some agencies will also accept unsolicited proposals. A brief description of upcoming solicitations is published quarterly in the SBA Office of Technology SBIR Pre-Solicitation Announcement. Firms interested in submitting proposals can contact the appropriate agency for their solicitation package. Each agency solicits proposals at least once a year, approximately three months prior to the deadline for proposal submission.

Here are some examples of projects from a recent SBIR solicitation:

Department of Defense:

  • Image and Data Management System
  • Visor-Mounted Display for Landing Signal Officer
  • Spoken Language Interface to a Mission Planning System
  • Electrochemical Stripping of Aircraft Coatings

Department of Health and Human Services:

  • Development of New Technologies to Treat Drug Abuse
  • Drug Prevention Research
  • Prenatal Drug Exposure and Child Development
  • Noise Induced Hearing Loss in Children and Young Adults
  • Household Exposures to Hazardous Substances

Department of the Navy

  • Micro-Turbojet Engine
  • Simulation of Fire in a Virtual Environment
  • Virtual Environment Training for Trauma Management
  • Recycling Ships’ Plastic Waste
  • Standard Database User Interface
  • Encyclopedic Browsing

Department of the Army

  • Compact Infrared Zoom Lens Design
  • Acoustic Sensor for Helicopter Health Monitoring
  • Video Compression Routines
  • Efficient DC-DC Power Converters
  • Rapid Mapping
  • Neural Network Limit Avoidance System for Rotorcraft
  • Virtual Test Range

A proposal preparation handbook is available from the SBA. To order the handbook or to be included on the Pre-Solicitation Announcement mailing list call the SBA Small Business Answer Desk at 1-800-827-5722.

Beyond the SBIR program, hundreds of  grants are available from various government agencies. Fortunately, most are listed on the federal government web site: Grants.gov and at Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. Using the advanced search function, you can find grants by agency, category, and type of organization that qualifies. You can even sign up for email alerts based on your specific interests. While SBIR grants are covered on Grants.gov, we recommend that you sign up for alerts from each agency as well.

Here are links to the major grant programs within the federal government:

By the way, there’s a fine line between government grants and government contracting. In either case, you’re expected to work for the money. The American Recovery and Revitalization Act (ARRA) has created an unprecedented number of government contracting opportunities. Many actually require small business participation. The U.S. SBA has a really excellent Government contracting video on the basics. The presentation is focused on ARRA, but its content is relevant to all types of government contracting and in some cases, to grants as well. For example, it covers getting your business certified as a small business, disadvantaged business, minority owned business, or disabled veteran owned business—something you’ll have to do if you want to apply for government grants. It points you to the other resources to help in your search. And it offers an very good overview of what the SBA can do to help you succeed in obtaining a grant or contract.

Other Government Grants for Small Businesses:

In addition to federal grants, many states have programs that are aimed at fostering the development of technology or solving local social or economic problems. Others support community interests such as education, the environment, and the arts.

Many of these programs are funded with flow-through dollars from federal programs. States and local governments apply for federal funds to support their special community needs.

Examples of local initiatives include grants to hire disabled workers, train and equip your employees to work from home, lower your energy bills, expand your workforce, modernize your plant or equipment, relocate to an economically-distressed area, paint a mural, or hire a consultant.

Some of the more active small business grant programs include the Benjamin Franklin Partnership (Pennsylvania), the Maine Technology Institute, and TechColumbus (central OH). Check the state, county, and city websites that cover your area for information about these kinds of opportunities. A Google search on your state or city and the terms “economic development grants” or “small business grants” should produce results. Be careful that the links you follow lead you to legitimate agencies (they’ll typically have a .gov or .org extension) as there are plenty of companies that use the word “grants” to draw desperate business owners into their scams.

Other Grants:

Though not as plentiful as government grants, corporate and charitable organizations sometimes offer grants to small businesses as well.

For an extensive list of these kinds of grant sources, look up the following publications at your local library or online: The Foundation Directory (361.058) published by The Foundation Center and The Annual Register of Grant Support (001.44) from Reed Publishing.

Creative Thinking About Grants:

While most grants go to non-profit organizations and government agencies, that doesn’t mean you can’t participate. Let’s say, for example, that you recently read that the local hospital won a grant to build a new wing. Well, the nurses and doctors aren’t going to build the building so if you’re an architect, construction company, or even a public relations firm, there may be an opportunity for you to ultimately share in the proceeds of the grant.

Taking that one step further, suppose you’re an environmental consultant. You run across a federal grant for an environmental study but it’s only available to government agencies. Again, that doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the project. You can call the contracting officer (listed on most grants) and give them your qualifications as a subcontractor on the study. If it’s appropriate, they may pass that on the agency that wins the award. At Grants.gov, you can make your expertise known to all bidders by adding yourself to the interested-party list. You can also sign up to be notified when anything happens on the grant. You could even propose a relevant project to the appropriate city, county, or state agency, and suggest they apply for a grant to pay for the project.

The Grant Process

The competition for grant dollars can be fierce and sorry to say, there’s nothing simple about it. The grant application and approval process is so complex that large organizations have entire departments dedicated to it.

Having said that, there’s no real magic to the process either and, thanks to the web, there’s no end to resources that are available to help you in your grant application process. You can (and should) download entire grant proposals to see what others have proven to work. For federal grants, the Freedom of Information Act can be a great way of seeing what others have submitted. While some information, such as pricing, may be redacted (removed to keep it confidential), the format and content of the proposal will go a long way toward helping you craft your own.

Getting Started With Grants:

If you’re up to the task, here are the things you need to do to get started:

- Go through the small business certification process.

- Sign up for email alerts at Grants.gov, the various SBIR agencies, and your state, county, and local web sites. Some have RSS feeds too.

- Note the dates that the various grants are offered. Most government grants will follow the federal fiscal year (Oct to Sept) so keep an eye out in late summer for requests for proposals from the various agencies.

- Get to know the contracting officers at your target government agencies or the assigned person at other grant-giving organizations. Talk to them on the phone or email an introduction. Try to maintain a dialog with them throughout the year.

- Scour the web for sample grant applications. Read them thoroughly.

- Take a course in writing grant proposals, but beware of online scams and consultants that promise to find you money.

- Sign up for email alerts from federal agencies that are likely to initiate legislation that could lead to grants. The sooner you know about it, the sooner you can begin to start to lay the groundwork for a successful grant proposal.

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