Some Facts About Getting Government Grants For "Going Green"

The passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has made considerable amounts of funding available to businesses and individuals working on green and renewable energy projects.

But just how much of the $787 billion recovery package is dedicated to grants? And where can green entrepreneurs and small business owners find and apply for these federal stimulus funds?

Here are some key details on locating grant money for green projects and applying for funding.

According to one official website, $275 billion of total federal stimulus funding is designated for contracts, grants and loans.

To date, the government has awarded around $137 billion to businesses, organizations, education institutions and entrepreneurs focused on developing green collar jobs or conducting clean energy technology research.

One of the most valuable resources for finding and applying to federal stimulus grants is through the government grants website. This online directory features information on the government’s “26 grant-making agencies,” including those increasingly associated with the country’s green workforce, including: the Environmental Protection Agency (awards millions in environmental education and environmental justice grants); the Department of Labor (recently sponsored a nationwide four-grant competition for renewable energy projects); the Department of Agriculture (funded 69 initiatives to clean and improve the country’s water supply and ecosystems); the Department of Energy (provides renewable energy incentives across the country through its Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy).

source
Green Jobs Ready.com

Grant Program To Help Pay Your Hospital Bill!

Do you need help with paying your hospital bill?

Last year one organization provided over $75,000 in grants for more than 100 individual applicants! The grant program was put in place to help eligible patients pay their hospital bills. So far this year, the organization has paid over $20,000 in grants that benefited 57 patients!

However the number of applicants has been far exceeding the amount of money that the organization can give.

This particular grant program is funded by a trust fund's will. The terms of the will stipulated that the interest from the trust be used "to help pay for operations and hospital attendance for poor and needy persons at the organization's namesake hospital.

There's now a formal application process and income guidelines to determine who is eligible to be considered for a grant.

To find out more about this grant program and its eligibility requirements, just click here.

Local Artists Get Grant Awards!

Here is a listing of artists in one state who have gotten grant awards:

• A University graduate has received a $5,000 grant award that he will use with his group to help produce films and comedy shows.
  
  
• A sculptor who has also received a grant says "It relieves financial worry, but it really makes me feel good about this place. When I tell artists who live elsewhere that my county gives tax money to individual artists, the envy is palpable."

These artists were among 10 individual artists receiving $55,000 in fellowships when their district awarded almost $800,000 in 2007-8 grants!

Also receiving grant money were major arts and cultural groups for general operating support. Some of these grant recipients include:

• a farm
  

• a ballet company
  

• a contemporary dance company
  

  a watercolor artist
  

• an opera company
  

• a public television station
  

  and
  

• a local radio station
  

• A total of $137,415 in grants supporting special projects were awarded to 28 small and mid-sized groups following a competitive review process:
  
  • A Youth Leadership Group received a $4,450 grant
    

  • an international festival received $4,000
    

  • a jazz orchestra received a $15,000 grant
    

  • a chorus group received a $5,000+ grant
    

  • a children's choir received a $9,000 grant
    

  • a Lutheran School received a $2,000+ grant
    

  • a Firefighter's Association received a $2,500 grant
    

  • a church received a $5,000 grant
    $9,000.

A $10,000 award was given to an individual artist for lifetime achievement.

For more information about this grant program for individual as well as group art organizations you can either reach them by phone or visit their website online for more information about their annualgrant program.

Grant Program For Entrepreneurs!

Here is a quite bold grant competition program that is seeking entrepreneurs who have ideas to help solve the problems of the world!

The goal of this funding competition is to promote the creation of sustainable new business ventures that combine financial returns with social and environmental benefits. These can include new products and services, operational processes and business models.

The competition encourages ground breaking innovation and problem solving – challenging entrepreneurs from across the world to make a real difference through developing new markets and making a sustainable profit.

This funding opportunity is an open funding competition. They are looking for the best business ideas from across the world!

Entries will be accepted from individuals, teams, new companies, existing companies creating spin-offs, students, scientists, academics and entrepreneurs.

Regional, national and international participation is encouraged.

Business ideas can be based on a new product, a service, operational process or business model.

To be considered eligible for this competition, all entries must:

• Be innovative
  
  
• Be a commercial, for-profit venture
  
  
• Address one of the major points of the organization itself
  
  
• Not have received more than $100K in funding by the submission deadline
  
  
• Demonstrate a positive social and/or environmental impact as well as an economic return

If you are not sure whether or not your business idea meets the above criteria, the sponsors of this funding program are happy to discuss your particular case. You can visit their website for more details and contact information.

All entrants will be required to submit a 5-page executive summary of their business idea. Up to five additional pages will be allowed for relevant exhibits and appendices e.g. team CVs, financial reports, letters from potential customers.


All entries must use 10-point or larger font and be submitted as a single Word or PDF attachment. This should be no more than 2MB in size.


Entries will only be accepted via the 4-step registration process accessed via the 'Submit your idea' page of our website.


Executive Summary Guidelines


All executive summaries should contain the following information and headings:

Team Name
Opening Statement
The Idea & Unique Selling Point (USP)
The Market Opportunity
The Management Team
The Financial Plan
The Environmental and Social Benefits

To download detailed guidance on the Executive Summary please click the link that is provided on the website. (This download is in .pdf format)

All teams must have one designated team leader. The team leader will be the main point of contact for the competition organizers and will take responsibility for coordinating with each team members.


All work submitted must be the original work of the members of the team which they are free to disclose. Teams will not be able to submit the same proposal in to more than one category, though contestants can be members of more than one team.

Entrants need not have registered a company at the time of entry to the competition but will be required to do so in order to receive cash prizes.

Financial assistance will be offered to all competition finalists. For international entrants this will cover travel and accomodation costs. For UK entrants financial assistance will cover accomodations costs on the reqired dates only.

All entries must be submitted via website!

If you have a question or query about a plan that you have already submitted, please contact the competition organizers via email.

Grant Program To Help Pay For Home Repairs!

If you think that there are no grant programs out there that can help you financially with home repairs, then please read on. Here is a city-wide grant program that is encouraging its residents to apply for grant funding for needed home repairs.

One city is seeking federal housing money to help local homeowners pay for needed home repairs again.

City officials plan to apply for this grant money through the Community Development Authority. So far the city has received over $200,000 for low-income homeowners to repair their homes. There is also a growing concern for those residents who are seniors who have trouble paying for much needed repairs on their homes but don't have the money to pay for it.

The program starts with community meetings where residents can get applications and get their questions answered. They must then return completed applications to the city to demonstrate need. Applications will also be available at the mayor's office.

The application deadline is mid-summer and cities receiving grants will be notified in November.

Work on individual homes would not be done until 2009.

In the past, the grant money was used for new roofs, new windows, siding and outside paint. There is more emphasis on repairs that need to be done on the outside of the home. (I am assuming that because this is a city-run grant program, there is more emphasis on how the outside of the house looks in relation to the overall look of the city. A better-looking city, a better-looking revenue stream)

Are You An Artist That Was Effected By Hurricane Katrina?

There have been a number of artists who have been able to continue their work with the help of some financial grant programs available for those artists who have been affected by hurrincane Katrina.

For instance one artist whose home was destroyed because of Katrina was able to escape the wreckage and continue to work because an art organization offered him a two-month residency that included a stipend, room and board, and studio space.

There is another arts organization that has established a fund to help artists living in the hurricane-damaged area, and the one university in Baton Rouge, collected art supplies for artist-evacuees. A New York City-based foundation has paid at least $450,000 in grants to more than 80 artists affected by Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Rita.

Every time a disaster happens, the process of creating or reviving relief funds starts again. One Recovery Fund, created by a New York Foundation has distributed $4,635,000 to organizations and individuals in New York City after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. There is a Washington, DC-based organization that has established an emergency relief fund which has given over $100,000 to different art organizations located in the Gulf Coast region. Over $400,000 has been provided to individual artists!

There is also an emergency relief fund for "Crafters" which has spearheaded the coalition, distributed between $200,000 and $300,000 to Gulf Coast craftspeople after Katrina. Additionally, the organization brokered free and discounted supplies and equipment, free booth space at craft shows, and free workshops for artisans in the region.

State unemployment insurance agencies provide disaster unemployment aid to the self-employed but only when future income is predictable.

A Grant To Help Make Your Idea A Reality!

This grant program is looking for individuals, or individuals working with small, local organizations or groups, who reside in one of the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico, to submit an idea for one of these same locations (no international projects, please).


To be eligible to apply you can be:

• You must be 14 years of age or older at the time you submit your application online. It's okay to be affiliated with an organization, as long as you apply as an individual -- not on behalf of your organization.
  
  
• A community member not connected to any organization, who is looking to connect people in the community to discuss common issues, form solutions, and take action together
  
  
• A leader or employee of a small, grassroots organization or group, or a local elected official or government employee, who wants to create opportunities and places for people to come together to discuss ideas, form solutions, and take action

Three sets of financial grant awards will be given out and the maximum grant award totals will be as high as $35,000!

Brief applications will be accepted online and a group of people from diverse backgrounds and communities will review all the applications and select the top 100 proposals. Then these 100 applicants that were accepted will then be invited to pitch their ideas as a full proposal.

All applications must be sent through the foundation's online application process. No applications will be accepted through the mail, fax, or as an e-mail attachment. Applications sent by mail will not be considered and will be returned to sender.

Grant funds are to be used to implement the idea outlined in the application and full proposal. This is not a prize for good works already done, but fuel to help move a great idea forward. Grant funds will be paid out over the course of one year in a schedule to be determined by the foundation. Grant recipients who receive the higher level grant awards must also submit reports to the foundation during the project year -- content and timeline will be decided before award distribution.

While this is the pilot year for this program, the foundation is excited about applying this citizen-centered approach to philanthropy in the future. You can sign up here to stay informed about upcoming grant opportunities.