How to Apply for a Small Grant
A small grant is an award of financial assistance from government agencies or private foundations under the amount of $5,000. Applying for a small grant does not have to be a lot of work. Not all grants have to be complicated, with a lot of paper work. Depending on the grant project in need of grant money, there are small grants available to groups, organizations, and individuals doing community projects that are not time consuming. For the most part, small grants have a smaller turn around rate and can be obtained in a shorter amount of time then a larger grant.
If a organization is trying to raise large amounts of money in a short amount of time they may decide to apply for several small grants instead of a time consuming large grant.
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Instructions
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Only apply for a small grant when you know that you qualify. Competition is very high for small grants so you do not want to waste your time in a application that you have no chance in winning.
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Be competitive. One of the biggest mistakes grant applicants make when applying for a small grant is to just fill out the information without much thought because they feel that it does not matter. WRONG, it does matter. While you do not have to go into much detail as you would when applying for a larger grant you still must complete the application in a professional manner.
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Never send in a handwritten grant application. While this may seem obvious, I see it time and time again when looking through grant applications for small amounts. Even if the grant application was given in paper format, it should be scanned in the computer and information should be typed in. Many times the grant application it self will give a web address where the application can be found in digital format.
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Keep the need statement narrow for a small grant proposal. It is okay to apply for a small grant to fund a small project within a larger project, but make sure you keep you project inline with what you are asking for. Make sure you show why the small project is needed and how it will contribute to the overall solution of your mission statement.
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Back up your budget. Do not just state how much money you are asking for and give a general list of what it will be paying for. Be specific on what the grant is for. Give the exact amounts of grant money needed to fund the project and give data supporting how you came up with the numbers. Quotes from the vender attached to the grant application or mini grant proposal will work great.
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Tips & Warnings
Not all small grants have a fast turn around time.
