TCCL Foundation Center Blog

The Facts About Government Grants (excerpted from the Grants.gov web site)

We have all seen them; late night infomercials, websites, and reference guides, advertising "millions in free money."  Don’t believe the hype!  Although there are many grants on Grants.gov, few of them are available to individuals and none of them are available for personal financial assistance.  To find an alphabetical listing of federal personal assistance visit USA.gov website’s Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid page.  Find out if you are eligible to apply for grants on Grants.gov, watch this helpful animated eligibility tutorial or visit the Grants.gov eligibility page to find out more information.

You may have heard that there are grants available because of the Recovery Act (aka stimulus money).  Like other government grants, this stimulus money is not available for individuals.  To find more about grants available through the Recovery Act, please visit the Recovery Act grant opportunities page of Grants.gov web site or visit the Recovery.gov web site.

Grants for Individuals and Assistance for Small Businesses

Of course, there are grants for individuals! There is help for Small Businesses!  Visit the Foundation Center web site for more information.  You may also contact the Foundation Center Librarian at mkash@tulsalibrary.org.

Beware of Scams

If you are ever asked to pay a fee to find information about government grants you can bet it’s a scam!  Government grant information is provided for free (see the links above).  Non-government grant information is provided to you at no charge by the Tulsa City-County Library’s Foundation Center.