Members of Congress receive numerous requests from grantseekers for information and help in obtaining funds for projects. The following are four important items to keep in mind about grants work:
- Federal grants are not guaranteed benefits or entitlements to individuals.
- Most federal grant funds go to state and local governments, which in turn may sub-award funds to local entities such as nonprofit organizations.
- Contacting federal departments and agencies, state grants administering agencies, or both to discuss grant opportunities is likely to be an important step for many grantseekers.
- Available federal grants often are intended to meet goals authorized by Congress to target community needs.
Given the limited purposes of and competition for federal grant funds, the success rate in obtaining federal grants may be limited. Members of Congress cannot dictate the outcome of a federal grant competition.
(Copy above taken from the Congressional Research Service.)
How Can We Help?
During the research process:
For more information about federal grants, please see the following reports from the Congressional Research Service:
- Resources for Grantseekers
- How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal
- Overview of the Federal Procurement Process and Resources
My office can provide general research and resources for constituents regarding federal grants; however, because federal grants have specialized guidelines the best person to research opportunities is the grant writer or program manager at your organization.
Information on available federal grants can be found at https://www.grants.gov/search-grants and https://sam.gov/content/home.
Each federal agency has their open grants listed on their website. A list of all the grant-making agencies can be found here.
During the application process:
My office can potentially provide a letter of support for grantseekers who have already submitted a grant proposal for a federal grant. If you would like to be considered for a letter of support, please download the below attachment to complete and email to grantrequests@scott.senate.gov. We only provide letters of support relating to applications for federal grants. We do not provide letters of support for state grants or grants from private or community foundations. Letters of support will only be sent to the funding agency. Copies are never provided to you. Our office requests ten business days to complete letter of support requests.
Please complete the below to submit a request for a letter of support.
After submission:
My office can submit inquiries concerning technical difficulties during application submission can only if the following criteria is met:
- The problem occurred during the submission of the application on https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/home.html
- A “trouble ticket” was submitted at the time the error occurred
(The federal government makes no exceptions to this for late submissions or partial submissions due to slow download speeds, or technical errors. Technical errors do not include: missing information, minor errors in documentation, mistakes in budgets, or delayed time stamps.)
My office can submit inquiries regarding unfunded projects to the corresponding agency to provide additional information for you.
Please contact my grants team at grantrequests@scott.senate.gov to seek assistance with either of these matters.