Sources of Grants For Individuals By Chataun Denis
The Foundation Center's website publishes an online database that is rich in information about entities or foundations that provide grant money to individuals. The Foundation Center's 'Foundation Grants to Individuals Online' is the name of the database and is a great place to start. There is a monthly subscription price of $19.95. For a one month's subscription you can log in, search your state, and download the list of companies that fit the criteria of providing grants to individual persons. There are over 8,300 foundation programs in the database.
If you are a graduate student or a medical student attending specific schools, this database may be helpful in finding support for your education. Another resource of the foundation Center is the Philanthropy News Digest (PND). PND is a weekly publication that publishes announcements and requests for proposals, or rfp's. PND is another great source if you are an artist seeking financial support for your work. Also, it often contains information on awards, prizes, and other grants by nomination.
PND publishes information and reports on a variety of topics and categories including: animal welfare, arts and culture, children and youth, disabilities, and education to name a few. You can sign up to be a recipient of their newsletter within which you will receive notices directly in your email inbox. Subscribing to this free source of information will keep you in the loop regarding local and national request for proposals.
Foundations are another good place to search for grants. The Foundation Center's 'Grants to Individuals Online', which we discussed earlier, is probably the best place to start. There is a nominal monthly subscription and the database is very user-friendly. Simply search the internet using the terms "Foundation Center Grants to Individuals" and you should find the website in no time.
USA.gov is a web resource that offers a warehouse of information about government assistance programs. The information is organized in such a way that someone like you and me can go to the website and not be overwhelmed. The programs are listed in alphabetical order by topic. And if you were to go to the website and click on college student loans and grants, you'd be connected to the federal government student aid website. Here, you can learn more about federal and state grants for education.
If you want to identify government grants, visit the Grant.gov website. If you click on the link "Student Grants" you will be linked to a page that offers information about studying abroad. Overall, USA.gov is an excellent resource. You should definitely familiarize yourself with the site to learn more about what's available. And not only that, but you'll be knowledgeable when someone tells you "you can just get a grant for this or that". You'll know where and how to validate the information yourself.