Grants for Individuals
Are you wondering how to get a grant for a small business or finance your education? Do you want to buy or repair a home? Would you love to get training to put you back in the job market? Are you disabled, a veteran, female ... and wishing that you could make your dreams of having a different career become reality? The library offers reference sources, circulating books, magazines and newsletters, and access to appropriate databases and websites to guide you.
Some of the materials mentioned here may be accessed at home through the library's website. The library’s professional staff will be happy to assist you in finding information. Come to the library, call Reference Services at (330) 458-2754, or email the staff at Ask a Reference Librarian for further assistance.
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Grants for Individuals - Reference Sources
Below are some books on getting grants for individuals. These reference books may not be checked out, but photocopies may be made. The Reference Services staff can locate them for you.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance This source is part of the Grants Collection in Main Library's Reference Services. The Catalog is a government wide compendium of federal programs that provide assistance or benefits. It is indexed by function, subject, applicant, and deadline. The user will find entries for direct loans, direct payments for unrestricted use, formula, and project grants.
The College Blue Book: Scholarships, Fellowships, Grants and Loans Volume 5 of The College Blue Book set has a listing of about 3,500 sources of financial aid for education, organized by subject area. Each entry provides eligibility requirements, the amount of the award, and application deadlines.
The Foundation Center's Guide to Grantseeking on the Web The book is a selective index of philanthropic websites. Chapter one is a guided tour of the Foundation Center's website. Appendices direct the reader to private foundations, community foundations, and corporate grantmakers.
The Foundation Center's Guide to Proposal Writing Writing the grant proposal is made easier by knowing what makes a proposal impressive to philanthropists. Chapter 10 is devoted to researching potential funders. In chapter 11, the author tells how to contact and cultivate the funders.
The Foundation Center's Guide to Winning Proposals II Here are 31 proposal examples, with comments by grant decision makers.
Foundation Grants to Individuals Listed are grants for educational support, general welfare, arts and cultural support, and research and professional support. Private grantmakers and public foundations that offer financial assistance to individuals are available; seven indexes are provided in this source.
Free Money for Graduate School The author compiled more than 1,000 grants and scholarships for graduate education and arranged the entries by subject area. The listings give description, restrictions, amount of the award, deadline, and contact person.
Free Money to Change Your Life The writer has compiled a reference to 15,000 government programs to help find a better job, start a new career, get an education, or follow a dream. Some of these agencies are state bodies, while others are federal. The book is a guide for prospective writers and inventors, those in the arts, or individuals wishing to fund a business.
Free Money to Get a Better Home Author Matthew Lesko refers to over 4,000 government grants and low interest loans for buying or improving a home. Some are programs from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Others are sponsored by state housing authorities.
Free Money to Quit Your Job There are a wealth of funding sources to be explored in Free Money to Quit Your Job, for training, women's careers, veterans' positions, fields for people over age 50, adult education, inventors, the arts, starting a nonprofit agency, or real estate.
Government Giveaways for Entrepreneurs Money is available through the government for research on numerous topics. The reader will discover federal money programs for business, as well as state money and assistance for business owners. Federal and state money can also be obtained for housing and real estate. Inventors may check here for financial aid.
Grants for Individuals - Circulating Books
Books that can be checked out of the library are often best for research because you can keep them at your side as you work. Here are examples of simply written, authoritative books on grants research and proposal writing.
Circulating books may be reserved through the library's online catalog. All call numbers in this tutorial are for sources at the Main Library. Most circulating books may be checked out for two weeks.
Demystifying Grant Seeking Here is a book that tells how to identify funders who will award a grant because the seeker's goals match the grantmaker's own interests. The writer explains how to prepare a proposal that responds to the application questions, and how to understand the grant making cycle. This resource has ideas on how to make the initial contact with a funder, create a letter of inquiry that will impress favorably, and how to follow up, both after making the proposal and following a funding decision (even if the decision is negative).
Free Money for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurs A program-related investment is one that a foundation makes in a business. An individual must get a nonprofit agency to sponsor him or her. Ohio money sources are detailed here. There is also a section on flow-through funding.
Getting Funded: The Complete Guide to Writing Grant Proposals Besides receiving advice on planning, writing, and submitting a grant proposal, the grantseeker will learn how to identify funders.
Grant Writing for Dummies This is an easy-going approach to a serious topic. Chapter 4 is titled "Getting the Goods on Government Grants". Chapter 7 is humorously headed "All Alone: Finding Grants for Individuals". Chapter 10 is called "Writing to Meet Review Criteria of Government Grants and Contracts".
How to Write Powerful Fund Raising Letters Learn the three monumental commands of letter writing, especially for the arts and education, in this book.
The Proposal Writer's Swipe File There are 15 winning fundraising proposals presented in the book. They have various targets: social welfare, education, science, arts, and humanities.
Grants for Individuals - Periodicals
When seeking timely information, a magazine, journal or newsletter can be just as helpful as a book. At times, you may find it more convenient to consult the online version of a publication. Online publications can be accessed through their websites, though most require subscription to the site.
The periodicals listed here are representative of the library's non-circulating funding-related sources. They must be used in the Main Library's Periodicals Division, but photocopies may be made. Websites for the online versions of these publications are given with the understanding that Internet addresses change frequently.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The magazine has a section called New Grants which details grants awarded recently, furnishing the name, address, telephone number, and website of the grantor, along with the subject and purpose of the grant. This service is useful to grantseekers who don't know which funders to approach or how to reach them. Another portion of the periodical offers details of upcoming workshops and seminars.
Website: http://philanthropy.com
Poets and Writers
This is designed for grantseekers in the literary field. It deals with grants and awards, outlines the criteria for winning each award, and offers contact information.
Grants for Individuals - Databases
Selected databases may be searched from the library website's database page found at http://www.starklibrary.org/databases.htm. Some databases may be searched from your home via the Internet, using the barcode on the back of your library card to log in. Others may be accessed only from a computer within the library. In the Periodicals Division of the Main Library there are computer workstations available to access databases on grants topics. Staff can assist you in setting up your search.
(Below are the descriptions and links for some databases where reliable data can be found.)
Academic Search Premier
A general or targeted search will produce a results list of full-text periodical articles on specific funding experiences. The grantseeker will benefit from reading articles such as "Awards and Grants" in Art in America.
Research Library
The researcher can locate periodical articles on how to find funding and how to write grant proposals.
Grants for Individuals - Websites
Websites shown here may be reached through the Internet at home or in the library. Some websites may require a subscription to use all features.
When examining a site keep in mind that the site should be authored and sponsored by reputable names in the field. Asking yourself the following questions can be useful when trying to determine if a site should be trusted:
Who created it? Who runs it? Can the user contact anyone other than the webmaster of the site? Is the site updated often? Who writes the material? Does the author cite and date the original sources? Who reviews the site's information?
The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance
The federal government website has grant programs, loans, training, a first time user's guide, and frequently asked questions. The user may browse the site by function, type of assistance, agency, or program title. Keyword search is also a choice. http://www.cfda.gov
FastWeb is for individuals seeking financial aid for college. The user may create a personal profile and search for local, national, and college-specific scholarships, find detailed descriptions of colleges, and locate internships in desired fields and/or jobs near home or school. http://www.fastweb.com
Foundation Center
From the site's "Welcome" menu, select Individual Grantseekers. From there, a searcher may branch out to online training and tutorials. Under "Tools" is Foundation Grants to Individuals Online, which is an online database of over 6,000 funding programs. http://foundationcenter.org
Grants.gov
The user may register and download a grant application package. One may search for grants through 26 federal agencies, apply, and track the application online. http://www.grants.gov