| Benefit from Free Grant Money | | Print | |
| Written by annie | |||
| Wednesday, 11 October 2006 12:13 | |||
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If you are in need of financial aid for your business or education, you can apply for free grant money from the government. There are several agencies of the government where you can acquire free grant money. All you have to do is apply for one, or get “grantmanship”, the term used to refer to the art and science of applying for grants.
Every year, Congress allocates billions of dollars in the form of free grant money to aid major projects that would ultimately benefit communities. Allotment for education grants alone reached an estimated $67 billion annually. President George Bush recently launched the GovBenefits.com website, which contains information on where you can avail of free grant money. GovBenefits.com can give you valuable info on the free grant money available.
But this free grant money does not come without a price tag. This may sound ironic, but free grant money is not exactly for free in the truest sense of the word. With free grant money come obligations, responsibilities and consequences. These are legally binding too, because the use of free grant money entails use of public funds which must be properly accounted for.
If you are an entrepreneur and would like to open a new business or improve an existing one, the government has free grant money programs for you too. Economic development agencies that extend free grant money exist in the different states. Free grant money information can be found in Kansas, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Utah websites. The rest of the states do not have free small business grants, but do offer financing and technical training services to individuals who want to go into small business through the U.S. government’s Small Business Administration (SBA) program.
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) also offers info on how to avail of free grant money. Their website http://www.cfda.gov/ gives valuable info on how to take advantage of free grant money from the Congress’ approved funds. But CFDA is useful only to people who have insight into the grant application processes. Otherwise, it would be hard for you to understand the CFDA entries in each program. And you’re grant application might be rejected because of that.
For students, free grant money information could also be found on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) website http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/. The FAFSA is a seven-step guide that inquires about your personal details, financial status, school plans and many others. In 2002 alone, 6 million students have benefited from free grant money through the FAFSA.
Free grant money under the discretionary programs by the government, such as those listed in CFDA, require going through a lengthy, often grueling process. A formal application must be prepared and submitted. After that the concerned agency will consider and approve or disapprove the application. Then the implementation will be subjected to a lot of further requirements, like accounting, disclosure and auditing of expenses to the last cent.
Because of this complicated work and process of free grant money, some organizations would even hire full-time staff just to take care of the application and implementation processes. The government can be pretty meticulous on how it spends its money
Free grant money is actually your compensation for accomplishing certain obligations. It is the money you have to work for to attain. Free grant money does not just fall in your lap with a minimum of effort. In short, free grant money does not come for free, so when you are finally approved to get one, use it wisely.
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