Substance and Style

Everyone wants grants, but most people don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars a year to search grant and foundation databases. Here are some places to look for free:

1. Your local government. Start at the town or city level, move on to the county, and then to the state. Most local governments have a website, and somewhere on there they have posted information about grants. Some places will only post grants for nonprofit organizations, but others will have grants for businesses as well. Local grants are typically less competitive than federal grants or foundation grants, so it’s always a good idea to check them out. 
2. Your local Office of Economic Development. Your local OED is a great resource for funding businesses, but they usually also offer assistance to nonprofits. Depending on your local government’s structure, they may be in charge of distributing money from other grants. For example, the federal government granted money to the states for covid relief. In some cases, the states then passed that on to local governments, which passed it on to even smaller entities. My local OED ended up disbursing covid relief funds to local restaurants, hotels, and nonprofit organizations. 
3. Grants.gov. The grants.gov website has a ton of opportunities for federally funded grants. Grants are available here for businesses and nonprofits alike, and you can apply for them right on the site. One caveat: most of them are extremely involved and time consuming. Federal grants also tend to require a lot more reporting than local grants, so make sure you have all your ducks in a row, and keep on top of reporting deadlines. 
4. Your local Chamber of Commerce. Though Chambers are not usually in the business of making grants themselves, they do tend to have their fingers on the pulse of the local business community. If there are little-known grants available in your community, your local Chamber probably knows about it.
5. Your local Small Business Development Center. The local SBDC always knows what kind of funding is out there for startups. While they focus primarily on for-profit business, they also provide plenty of resources for nonprofits. Aside from funding information, they provide a wealth of knowledge about all aspects of running a business.