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Grants for Organizations and Individuals

A federal grant is financial assistance from a federal agency and the grant recipient must carry out a public purpose authorized by a law of the United States. Federal grants are not federal assistance or loans to individuals and may not used to get property or services for the federal government's direct benefit. There are 26 Federal Agencies that offer over 1,000 grant programs in different categories. 

Here are the 26 agencies that provide grants: The Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for International Development, Corporation for National and Community Service, Department of Agriculture, Department of Commerce, Department of Defense, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of the Interior, Department of Justice, Department of Labor, Department of State, Department of Transportation, Department of the Treasury, Department of Veterans Affairs, Environmental Protection Agency, Institute of Museum and Library Services, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, Small Business Administration, and the Social Security Administration.

There are infomercials and websites that advertise free money, however few are available to individuals and there are none available that provides personal financial assistance. You can find out if you are eligible to apply for grants on Grants.gov website and you can watch a tutorial. If you register as an Individual, you will only be able to apply to grant opportunities that are open to individuals. An individual cannot submit a grant application to a grant opportunity that is just open to organizations. 

Some examples of Organizations are: Government, State, Local, City, Township, Special District, Native American Tribal Governments, Education, Public Housing, and Non-Profit Organizations.

Small business loans and small business grants may be awarded to companies that meet the size standards that the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has established for most industries in the economy. The most common size standards are as follows:

* 500 employees for most manufacturing and mining industries

* 100 employees for all wholesale trade industries

* $6 million for most retail and service industries

* $28.5 million for most general & heavy construction industries

* $12 million for all special trade contractors

* $0.75 million for most agricultural industries

About one-fourth of industries have a size standard that is different from the levels above and they vary from $0.75 million to $28.5 million for size standards. This is based on average annual revenues and from 100 to 1500 employees for size standards based on number of employees. With some exceptions, all federal agencies, and many state and local governments, use the size standards established by SBA.

Visit the website: govbenefits.gov to get all the FAQs about grants and grant information for organizations and individuals.

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