For grant seekers eligible for federal grants, keeping on top of the grant cycle is key to make sure you don’t miss out on funding. If your grants calendar does not yet have a comprehensive list of recurring federal grants, get on it!
Here’s how:
Check Grants.gov. This is a public website database for all federal grants. The sheer number of grants listed can be daunting, so make use of the search bar on the lefthand side. You can limit the search to posted grants for which your type of entity is eligible. If you know the agency with authority over the grant funding you seek, you can even limit your search to that agency. For example, if you know that legislation passed allocating an amount of money to the Department of Transportation to doll out in the form of grant funding, you can limit your search to Department of Transportation grants. To check to see if any new funding has been released, set your search parameters and then hit search without entering any keywords. You can also narrow your search with keywords, but unless you have a sense of what you are looking for, you can miss out.
Set Google Alerts. Expanding on our previous example, how would you know the Department of Transportation is about to announce grant opportunities? Because you read it in the news! Setting Google Alerts to alert you about grant opportunities is a good way to make sure you get the drop on any grant money coming from the federal government.
Subscribe to Government Agency Newsletters. This is a nightmare for your inbox, but it is a great way to get leads on upcoming grants. Go to each agency’s official page and subscribe to their newsletters. Not every newsletter will have grant announcements, but many will. Just go down the agency list on the search bar on the lefthand side of Grants.gov and subscribe to their newsletters, then keep an eye on your inbox.
Look for grants on government agency websites. While you’re subscribing to newsletters, you can navigate through government agency websites to see past, current, and future grant opportunities. Always remember to check the date on the announcement – it might be past. However, even if you miss an opportunity, you can always put it on the calendar for next year.
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