How To Apply For A Government Grant

Consider the following scenario:

The Agricultural Research, Extension, and Education Reform Act of 1998 was signed into law
Per the law, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) must administer the National Food Safety Training, Education, Extension, Outreach, and Technical Assistance Competitive Grants Program, which is CFDA 10.328
USDA publishes funding opportunities on Grants.gov
Eligible organizations submit applications
USDA reviews applications and awards the grant
Awardees (i.e., the grant recipients) implement the grant
Many more post award activities occur, like reporting and closeout

A Grant Agreement’s Definition

Grants are just one of many types of federal financial assistance available. The term “federal financial assistance” refers to the various ways in which the United States government redistributes resources to eligible recipients. Direct appropriations, food commodities, loans, insurance, and other forms of federal financial assistance are not grants.

A grant is a transfer of value from the federal government to a non-federal entity for the purpose of carrying out a public purpose authorized by US law.

A grant does not require the federal awarding agency to play a significant role (unlike a cooperative agreement, which includes substantial involvement). (Our Grant Terminology page has the official definition of ‘grant agreement.’)

Before Apply for a government grant, you have to know Grant Types: There are a variety of grant types, each of which has an impact on how grants are awarded and implemented. Here’s more information on the various grant types:

Learning is the next step.

Go to the Grants 101 section of Grants Learning Center to learn more about the grant lifecycle and process.

Check out the Grant Eligibility page or the Exploring Eligibility blog series to learn more about grant and other forms of federal financial assistance eligibility.

Read the What Is the OMB Uniform Guidance for Grants? blog article to learn more about Grant Policies, which define what a grant is and how grants are managed. This will introduce you to the world of federal grant policies in greater depth.

Finding and Applying for a government grant the Next Steps

If you’re ready to get started, the next step is to look for a funding opportunity and then apply for it! Refer to the Grants.gov Online User Guide or Support page for more information.

Applicant Registration

You must first create a Grants.gov account before applying for a funding opportunity. You only need to create one account on Grants.gov if you are a grant applicant for an organization or an individual applying for grants on your own. The Grants.gov registration process takes only a few minutes to complete.

Users can create a profile to associate with an applicant organization and use the My Account features to manage one or more profiles within their account once they have a Grants.gov account. You do not need to create a new Grants.gov account if you already have one.

Learn how roles are authorized for profiles and how to track the status of your roles after you’ve added a profile. Please review the Organization Registration page if your organization is new to federal grants or Grants.gov.

How to Register a Grants.gov Account

Click the Register link in the top-right corner of the Grants.gov banner.
Click the Get Registered Now button on the Register page.
Complete the Contact Information and Account Details sections. All fields with a red asterisk (*) are required.
- Email Address – When entering an email address, please keep in mind that all correspondence with Grants.gov will be sent to that email address.
- Username – Enter a username to log in to Grants.gov. It may only contain alphanumeric characters, question marks, periods, dashes, underscores, and the @ symbol. Your username cannot contain a space, nor can it only include numbers. Select a username you will remember.
- Password – The password you choose must meet the following password requirements:
  - Must contain at least eight (8) characters
  - least one (1) uppercase letter (A-Z)
  - contain at least one (1) lower case letter (a-z)
  - At least one (1) number (0-9)
  - Must contain at least one (1) special character (e.g. ! @ # $ % ^ & *)
  - Cannot be the same as the previous six (6) passwords
  - Cannot contain dictionary words, names, or your Username

News Step

Select whether to subscribe or unsubscribe from Grants.gov Communications. The Alerts are important messages about time-sensitive or major system changes. The Newsletter features training, system enhancement updates, and other resources to help the federal grants community.
Click the Continue button.
Click the Send Temporary Code button, then access your email account to access the temporary code.
Enter the temporary code you received in the email from Grants.gov into the Temporary Code field and click the Continue button.
Decide if you would like to add a profile to your Grants.gov account or click the Continue button to log in. You need to add a profile to submit an application. After registering, review the Workspace Overview page to learn how to apply for a grant.

Get Registered Now

How to apply for a government grant