Understanding Grants

A grant refers to funds that organizations receive that do not need to be repaid. Grant funds can be awarded by numerous entities including, but not limited to, the federal government, companies, or foundations. These entities are often referred to in the grant world as funders.

Each funder has a different application process. The federal government typically refers to their grant application process as a NOFO (Notice of Funding Opportunity) or FOA (Funding Opportunity Announcement – a lengthy document that specifies what the applicant must do to apply and what to include in their proposal). Companies or foundations create their own grant application which typically consists of a narrative component, agency and/or project budget, and any required attachments the funder is requesting.

A proposal consists of a thorough yet concise narrative that addresses each element the funder is requesting in their grant application/funding opportunity announcement, in addition to an agency/project budget and required attachments. Grant application and grant proposal are terms often used interchangeably in the grant world.

In addition to grants, both individual states and the federal government may release a NOFO, FOA or Request for Proposal (RFP) when announcing the availability of funds for a service they are seeking to contract out to an agency. The proposal writing process is the same, however, the result is a new contract for delivery of services/implementation of a certain program. As such, proposal writing services are valuable to both obtain grant funds or to obtain funds to implement a new program.