There is a lot of free information on small business grants out there to help research which grants are available to you. Take advantage of these resources to make the most informed decisions possible. Here are some places for you to start looking for free information on small business grants.

How to Find Out About Available Small Business Grants

There are many places that you can turn in order to find free information on small business grants for you to apply for. Here is where I will list them all. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is a major provider of grant money for businesses. This is even in spite of its decline in funding for social services and health and welfare programs during the years. Most federal agencies have some type of grant program.

You can also check out the Federal Register for free information on small business grants. In order to keep current with the continually changing federal grants that are being offered, you may wish to keep on checking the Federal Register, the government's daily newspaper which you can also find at the Superintendent of Documents and lists notices of legal rules and regulations, and application deadlines for new grant programs from federal agencies.

FedBizOpps is another great resource for finding free information on small business grants. Besides awarding grants, the federal government also awards contracts to some businesses. It’s a mechanism that you can use to support a project whereas an actual contract is an instrument that you can use to get a project. FedBizOpps is a great resource for finding federal government grant opportunities that are higher than 25,000. All federal agencies must use FedBizOpps as a means to tell the public about contract opportunities over $25,000. You can find it online at http://www.fedbizopps.gov.


Finding Out About Private Grants

Private grants come from both foundations and corporations. There are more than 65,000 private grant foundations in the United States. Every year, they award more than $20 billion to those people who ask for it. Federal law mandates that foundations must give away 5 percent of their market value assets or interest income each year, whichever of these amounts is greater. Foundations must follow the 5 percent rule or they risk losing their tax-exempt status.

Right now there are about 15 percent of the private foundations that actually maintain websites that offer grant-related information, and that number is slowly growing. There are two major Web sites that maintain links to these particular foundations. One of them is maintained by the Foundation Center: http://fdncenter.org. The other one of them is maintained by the Council on Foundations: http://www.cof.org. Foundations award grants to businesses and groups that are presenting a convincing case that they will help the foundation reach its long-term goals.

Some foundations make their money available for specific purposes, such as building funds, operating support, equipment, or seed capital. Some foundations make their money available for specific businesses. Of course, others have their own specific priorities and interests, which determine the types of programs they are willing to support. I would suggest your researching this to be sure you are eligible first.

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