Exploring Eligibility: Federal Grants for Native American Tribal Governments and Organizations

Editor’s Note: This blog post was first published in 2016 and updated on May 18, 2020.

There are a variety of federal financial assistance opportunities specifically for American Indians and Alaska Natives. This article, which is part of the Exploring Eligibility blog series, will explain where Grants.gov fits into your search process.

If you are a member of a Native American tribal entity searching for federal grants or benefits, you probably fall into one of these situations in which you are looking for:

1. Federal grants or benefits on behalf of a federally-recognized Native American tribal government.
2. Federal grants or benefits on behalf of a Native American tribal organization that is not a federally-recognized government, or
3. Personal assistance or benefits.

What Is the Difference Between Grants.gov and Benefits.gov?

This blog post was first published in 2017 and updated on April 1, 2020.

Grants.gov regularly receives a significant amount of queries from users hoping to apply for personal financial assistance from the federal government. These individuals might be looking for home repair grants or forms of disability assistance.

Others are unfortunately driven to Grants.gov by scam artists posing as agents of Grants.gov (or some made-up variant) who promise “free government grants” in exchange for monthly fees or gift cards.

What Is a Block Grant? [Updated]

Note: This blog post was originally published in 2017 and updated on January 21, 2020.

A block grant is a specific type of federal financial assistance for a broadly defined function. (Editor’s note: Before getting into the nuance of block grants, you may want to review the terms “federal financial assistance” and “grant.”)

Block grants are often awarded by the federal government to U.S. state or territory governments, although some block grants are awarded directly to local governments (e.g., Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Entitlement Program to cities and counties on a formula basis).

The block grant recipients then implement the programs within those broadly defined functions (i.e., the purpose & parameters defined by legislation).

 

What Is a Federal Award?

This post was originally published in 2017 and updated on January 2, 2020.

When you hear the word “award,” do you envision the federal government conferring funding to you to implement a public-serving project? Some of you grant professionals did, but it is understandable if you thought of this year’s Best Film, the league MVP debate, or your child’s T-ball participation trophy.

 

What Is the Office of Management and Budget? (And How Does It Relate to Federal Grants?)

This post was originally published on May 1, 2017 and updated on July 23, 2019.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is an Executive Branch office that oversees the implementation of the President of the United States’ vision across government agencies (WhiteHouse.gov – OMB). This relates to the grant programs implemented by federal agencies and affects how they are managed, their budgets, and the forms applicants complete when applying for a grant.

What Is Federal Financial Assistance? [Updated]

This post was originally published on April 17, 2017 and updated on July 3, 2019.

Federal financial assistance is the transfer of anything of value, most often money, from a federal agency to a non-federal entity.

In the most general sense, federal financial assistance is a tool the government uses to serve public purposes as defined by Congress.

Federal financial assistance is a very broad term, and it can take on a variety of more precise forms.

• One of the most common forms is a grant, which we write about quite often on this blog.
• Other examples of federal financial assistance include cooperative agreements, donations of property, direct appropriations, food commodities, loans, interest subsidies, and insurance.
• Each type of federal financial assistance serves different purposes and has different legal and regulatory frameworks that govern how that specific assistance can be used.

#FundingFriday: Highlights from the 85+ Federal Grants Posted This Week

More than 85 federal grant opportunities were posted to Grants.gov this week. Below are a selection of these grants that highlight programs from the Departments of Commerce, Interior, Agriculture, and Homeland Security, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency.

#FundingFriday: Federal Grants for Income Security and Social Services Programs

This week’s Funding Friday post highlights grant opportunities from the “Income Security and Social Services” category in Grants.gov Search. You can easily filter funding opportunities by this and other categories, such as education, consumer protection and natural resources.

#FundingFriday: Federal Grants Supporting Unique Educational Programs

This week’s #FundingFriday post highlights grant opportunities supporting educational initiatives from the Departments of State and Education. The programs serve veterans, children with disabilities as well as populations in the Middle East, Pakistan and India.

1. Department of State, U.S. Mission to Pakistan – English Language Teacher Exchange

The project will promote the development of English language, classroom pedagogy, community engagement and leadership skills of the participants through first-hand experience and networking with English language teaching peers in the United States. Through teamwork activities, the program will develop participants’ classroom, leadership, communication skills, and teacher trainer skills. In addition to enhancing the participants’ ability to implement effective English language programs in Pakistan, the exchange program will provide participants a better understanding of the United States, its people, and its democratic values.

What Is a Grant Forecast?

Sunny with a slight chance of competition? Cold and gloomy thanks to freezing funds?

While federal grant applicants may at times face such varying climates, the grant forecasts we refer to here are previews of potential funding opportunities that a grant-making agency plans to announce in the future.

Applicants can search for grant forecasts just as they would for funding opportunities – by using Grants.gov Search.

By checking “Forecasted” under Opportunity Status, searches can be tailored to turn up forecasted opportunities.