Government Grants for Women Owned Small Business
Fast-talking pitchmen will tell you they can sell you a special list of funders who give away "free money" to start a business. Don't believe the hype, the U.S. Small Business Adminstration warns. While there are some programs that help women who want to go into business for themselves, these are usually for education loans, development loans or tax credits rather than grants. Grant funders don't give money to for-profit business startups. The government won't do it, and the IRS won't allow private foundations to do it. So can you get a grant?
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History
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Federal, state and local governments encourage women to own and run businesses. One method of doing that has been to give extra "points" to grant applications from businesses or organizations that are owned or led by women. Businesses owned by women, minorities and people with disabilities are called "historically underutilized businesses" (HUBs) because they have, in the past, received a disproportionately low share of government business, grants or low-cost loans. No government agency gives grants directly to for-profit businesses no matter who owns them. So how can women find government grants for their businesses?
Funders
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Federal, state and local governments give grants to schools, charities and organizations to do things that government wants done. These include programs in health care, energy, science, education, historical and cultural preservation, social services, research, mental health, transportation and the arts. The 26 government agencies that make grants allocate those funds to meet local, state, national and international community needs. All 26 release requests for proposals (RFPs) throughout each year and take applications for grants. So do states, regional boards and councils of governments, counties and cities. Programs thus funded provide services, supplies, equipment, construction and other things communities need to improve the quality of life for their citizens.
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Search Tools
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Grants.gov is the federal clearinghouse for grant information on the Internet. Grants.gov releases requests for proposal (RFPs) as each agency reports a newly funded program. RFPs are information packets that tell you what kind of grant the agency is going to fund and how to apply for the grant. The RFP includes a downloadable application packet with all necessary support materials.
Grants.gov also has a place to sign up for free e-mail alerts. You can filter the alerts to include only RFPs in your area of interest. States have similar grant alert web pages that you should keep up with. Often it takes months or even years for an RFP to be released for which you are eligible.
Cities, counties and regional councils of government sometimes create development funds that target historically underutilized businesses (HUBs) like those owned by women. These are usually in high poverty, high crime or low resource areas needing infrastructure development. Spend some time talking to local officials to find out about these opportunities.
Also check out your area's funding library. These may be found at public libraries, United Ways or regional nonprofit management centers. Funding libraries offer access to online and hardcopy grant announcements, information about foundations and funders and friendly staff to help you find what you're looking for.
Eligibility
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Even if you do find a grant that offers consideration for woman-owned business, you will still have to meet the requirements of the grant. The RFP will specify the purpose of the grant. Grants are like contracts. They aren't free money. They pay for activities and facilities that provide for the general public welfare rather than benefit any individual business or organization. No government agencies offer grants directly to for-profit business. Instead, grants fund nonprofit charities or businesses that do educational, scientific, defense, research, human service, health care, historic or cultural preservation, medical, arts or infrastructure development work in the public interest. If a majority of your charity's board of directors are women or if your company is owned or run by women, it may make you eligible for extra consideration, but you will still have to meet all the requirements of the grant. The Small Business Administration advises that there are no government grants for vague ideas for some kind of for-profit businesses no matter who owns them.
Application
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If you find a grant you're eligible for, download the application from the funder's website or Grants.gov if it's federal. Read the whole application before you start working on it. You may have a choice of format for applications such as Word, RTF, PDF or TXT document format. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) and Federal Register have all downloadable federal RFP packets. Submit your completed application electronically if you can. It saves you the cost of packaging, copying and postage and gives you increased time to complete the application.
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