Researching Grant Opportunities Government Grants and Program Assistance Conference Federal Funds Information for States

Overview Understanding how federal funds are distributed – Budget breakdown – Types of federal aid Looking for grant opportunities – Useful websites and ways to search Finding out more information about a program – Priorities and selection criteria, rules and regulations, funding history and previous grantees Deciding whether to apply for a grant – Eligibility, MOE and matching requirements, staff infrastructure, deadlines

Where the Money Goes: Pieces of the Federal Budget Pie

Where the Money Goes: Type of Assistance Type of AssistanceTotal Funding Block Grant $14,580,561 Formula Grant 690,536,050 Project Grant 181,183,450 CO-OP Agreements 51,858,133 Specified Direct Assistance 540,373,751 Unspecified Direct Assistance 773,924,060 Direct Loan 21,770,712 Guaranteed/Insured Loans 428,407,311 Insurance 845,305,270 Other 631,586 Total $3,548,570,884 Source: U.S. Census FAADS Data, 2009 U.S. Financial Assistance (dollars in thousands)

Where the Money Goes: Type of Assistance Source: U.S. Census FAADS Data, 2009 Project grants make up only 5.1% of total assistance

Where the Money Goes: Program Area Composition of Major Federal Grants, FY 2011

Types of Federal Aid Mandatory Spending – Spending that is not subject to annual appropriations – Spending levels dictated in authorizing legislation Discretionary Spending – Funded through annual appropriations process – Programs created or authorized through legislation

Types of Federal Aid, cont. Formula Grants – Noncompetitive awards based on a predetermined formula – The amount distributed depends on various factors (i.e. population, amount of tax effort, per capita income, housing density, rate of infant mortality, etc.) Project Grants – Awarded on the basis of competitive applications for fixed or known periods of specific projects, or the delivery of specific services

Researching Grant Opportunities Looking for grant opportunities – Searching Grants.gov and the Federal Register Finding out more information about a program – Using agency websites and the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Deciding whether to apply for a grant – Meeting eligibility guidelines, MOE and matching requirements, staff infrastructure capabilities, deadlines

Grant Notices Where to look for grants – Grants.gov: Database listing all federal grants (formula and competitive) Links and information about the application process – Federal Register: Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFA) Opportunity to comment on priorities/selection criteria – Agency websites Updates

Using Grants.gov to Find Opportunities Glossary of terms – Search for grants by keyword, category, agency, funding opportunity number (FON), CFDA number, etc. Grant Alerts

Grants.gov: Ways to Search (Basic)

Grants.gov: Ways to Search (Advanced)

Grants.gov: Alerts and Notices RSS feed Updates Daily notifications of new grant opportunities Receive notices based on criteria or FON ption.jsp ption.jsp

Grants.gov: Applying for a Grant Download the application and apply direction from the funding announcement Check software requirements for online application

Grants.gov: Tracking Applications “Track my application” – faces faces – Track up to five grants using application tracking numbers

Federal Register Published NOFAs, grant priorities, and criteria – ollectionCode=FR ollectionCode=FR – Sign up for daily Table of Contents – Opportunity to submit comments

Agency Websites: Grant Listings Some agencies provide comprehensive grant listings – Education: l l – Health and Human Services: Others separate listings out by office or department – Energy Science and Technology: Energy Efficiency: – Transportation FTA: PHMSA: NHTSA:

Agency Websites: Press Releases Searching an agencies’ press releases is another way to find grant opportunities – Ex: Department of Agriculture List of latest releases: TEST_RELEASES TEST_RELEASES Funding opportunity example: Housing Preservation Grants

Agency Websites: Press Releases Example: Housing Prevention Grants

Agency Websites: Press Releases, cont. AgencyPress Releases Agriculture avid=LATEST_RELEASES Commerce Education Energy HHS Homeland Security HUD ss_releases_media_advisories Interior Labor Transportation

Getting More Information: Agency Websites Additional information about grants can be found in agency guidance documents and reports – Often provided at the program or office level – Can include: Program overviews Rules and regulations for a given program Reports on best practices Summaries of previous grantee projects for existing programs Audit findings and OIG reports

Agency Websites: Funding History Overall budget tables – Annual appropriation levels – Ex: Department of Education Budget Tables ( html?src=ct) html?src=ct Previous grant awards and grantees – Ex: HHS Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS)

Searching for Awardees allows you to see how much organizations have received for grants in the past

Agency Websites: Congressional Justifications Program overview Performance measures Proposed program changes – Ex: Round II of Race to the Top competition proposed in president’s FY 2012 budget

Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) CFDA ( provides additional background information on grantswww.cfda.gov – Type of grant – Previous award levels – Agency contacts – MOE and matching requirements – Eligibility Look for upcoming announcements in print edition – “Applicant Eligibility Index” provides grants by eligibility

CFDA: Applicant Eligibility Index

Things to Keep in Mind Are you eligible? – Eligibility can be found in the funding announcement – Read priorities and selection criteria carefully; sometimes preference is given to previous grantees Does the federal program meet your needs? Do you have adequate resources to manage the grant/meet the requirements? – Staff/infrastructure – Matching and MOE requirements – Project deadlines/post-award management

Questions?