There are a few first steps you need to take to get free cash grants. While the state and federal governments offer grants to help with various endeavors such as starting a business, owning real estate property, and getting a college education, there are foundations and charitable organizations that also offer free cash grants to worthy individuals. There is hundreds of millions of dollars available as grant money for people who know where to look for these cash grants. While there is plenty of competition to get these free cash government and foundation grants, for most people the biggest hurdle is finding lists or databases of the grants available. Read below for free or low cost ways to fimd free cash grants.
Step
Read the CDFA. The "Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance" has an extensive list of federal programs that provide cash grants for medical and/or educational programs. The directory is very detailed so it is best to view it in the reference section of your local library. This is the place to start your research if you want a grant for education or a grant relating to medicine such as a research grant.
Step
Visit the Foundation Center website. The Foundation Center has an office in New York, but its website at www.foundationcenter.org is accessible to everyone looking to learn more about researching and applying for free cash grants. The website offers great information on all aspects of getting a grant. There are also courses both online and in their NY offices that teach you how to write a grant application or a grant proposal. The center also offers a large online database of corporate foundations and charitable organizations that offer grants to specific individuals. There are grants for women, grants for minority women, grants for minorities, grants for new businesses, grants for established businesses, grants for businesses in certain industries, grants for travel, grants for artistic pursuits like writing a novel or making a documentary, grants for starting a non-profit housing organization and anything else you can think of.
Step
Read Matthew Lesko's books. Matthew Lesko has made a name for himself by creating extensive directories of available free cash grants. He does the grant research for you. His books list free cash grants for real estate buying, traveling, education, business start-ups, and many more categories. Lesko's books are several hundred pages long and provide the contact information you need to take the next step which is finding out if you meet the eligibility requirements for a particular cash grant. While you still have to do most of the work yourself in getting a free cash grant, Lesko makes searching for these grants a little easier. Visit www.leskobooks.com.
