Grants, grant proposals, and
grant projects come in all sorts of types and varieties. Name a project or a
research topic and there is likely a funding agency that makes grant awards for
that type of project or research topic.
However, in general, grants
can be largely divided into two broad categories:
- General utility or
ongoing operation grants
- Program/project
development or program/project support grants
This first type of grant,
the general utility or general purpose type of grant is fairly straightforward.
This type of grant is awarded to entities which are already in existence and
that already have ongoing projects.
Many types of non-profits operate this way
and rely on grant awards throughout the award cycle as their primary method to
meet their operating budgets.
These general purpose grant awards are intended
for ongoing operations expenses such as payroll, utilities, or other
operational expenses as well as for possible projects that fit within the
mandate of an existing organization.
The funding agency makes such grant awards
because it is familiar with the applicant organization’s mission and typically
supports the objectives and values of the organization in question.
However,
most grant proposals and awards fall within the other broad category. The
program/project development or support grant comes in a variety of forms which
consist of the following:
-
A Planning Grant: this is a type of grant that is awarded
specifically to fund the planning/research phase for a project that will
require yet another grant application. As you get more involved in the activity
of grant writing you will see that a significant amount of time is spent in the
planning and research phase of many types of projects and these often involve
access to financial resources that may not be present otherwise
- Research Grants: these are grants that a funding agency awards to an
individual or organization that is undertaking specific research in a given
field. The funds are to be utilized solely for the purposes of this research
project and not for any other purposes such as researcher living expenses or
similar non-specific uses
- Start-up or Seed
Grants: as the name implies, these
grants are for a start-up non-profit or similar organization in order for it to
get established. These types of grant awards are usually graduated or decrease
over several years until the full award amount is depleted. The original
funding agency is funding the start-up phase and intends for the new enterprise
to develop alternative sources of funding
- Technical Consulting
or Managerial Grants: these grants
are expected to not relate directly to an organization’s mission. These grants
support related projects or activities that are designed to assist the
requesting agency in its daily business. For example, a non-profit may seek
such grants to assist it with fund raising activities, managerial consulting
expenses, or a marketing or fund raising position salary
- Facilities/Equipment
Grant: these types of grants are
usually for a capital expense such as new equipment like a bus or even a new
building. The requesting agency in this case must indicate in the grant
proposal how such a purchase will further the organization’s long-term mission
and how it intends to budget the maintenance and care of the facilities or
equipment
- An Endowment Grant: an endowment grant is perhaps the most commonly
known type of grant award. In an endowment grant, and funding agency awards a
specific sum of money which is then invested by the requesting agency for the
interest earnings. The primary concern for both the funding agency and the
applicant is to ensure that the endowment remains in an interest bearing
account and not be misappropriated for ongoing operating expenses or other
unrelated purposes
- Program/Project
Related Investments: these are known
in the industry as PRIs and are common as well. While technically not a grant
because these PRIs must be paid back, they are a form of grant writing activity
because they are applied for in the same manner and the projects or programs
they are intended for must qualify for a traditional grant award
