Grant Information

The House Committee on Appropriations recently announced that it will be again accepting Community Project Funding requests from members of Congress during the fiscal year 2023 cycle.

This new appropriations process is an opportunity for our office to advocate for funding for community-based projects in our district that address our most pressing needs.

The deadline to submit requests to our office is April 20, 2022. 

Please us the link here or below to apply for this program. To assist you in this process, my office has put together a resource guide here. 

American Rescue Plan Funding 

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act, passed by Congress, Counties are preparing to review applications and distribute millions of dollars in funding to help with COVID19 economic recovery. If you are interested in applying for funding:

Berks County's grant application is open until March 31, 2022; you can learn more at their website here. 

Montgomery County's application are open until April 30, 2022. Learn more on their website, here.

The main clearinghouse for federal grant opportunities is grants.gov. 

Federal assistance and contractor listings can also be found at http://www.sam.gov.

To sign up to receive notifications about federal agency grants, visit the grants.gov subscriptions link. For the general listserv of federal grants go to this link.

A complete list of grant-making agencies can be found at this link. 

• Resources for Grantseekers from Congressional Research Service
• How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal from Congressional Research  Service 
• How do I find grants for my nonprofit?
• Proposal Writing Short Course (also in Spanish, French, and other languages)
• Foundation Information Network (by state) Check for locations at Grants Space, Find Us. Free funding information available in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit centers nationwide.

What to Look for When Applying for Grants

Two of the most important pieces of information in a NOFO are the goals of the grant or granting agency/organization and the eligibility requirements. Below are other important points to make sure you are aware of with each call for proposals.

Eligibility: Use this information to determine whether your organization is eligible. If the organization or project does not conform to all of the requirements listed in the announcement or NOFO, you may need to find a different grant. In some cases, local entities might be eligible as a “sub-applicant,” with a state or county government as the primary applicant. In these cases, our office also recommends  checking the primary applicant website for details about sub-application opportunities. 

Request for Information: Check to see if there is an official Request for Information that is due prior to the grant proposal. Within the grant proposal, check to see what specific pieces of information are required. 

Grant Life Cycle: Make note of the opening date, closing date, time, and time zone. Most grantmakers will not consider a grant proposal that is submitted after the given deadline. If the grant is a subgrant through a state or local government agency, be sure to check those deadlines as they may be earlier than the federal deadline. 

Grant Application Requirements: Make sure you include the exact sections that are required. Will you need letters of support, budget justification, a summary, and/or anything else in addition to the description of the problem and project? Is a detailed budget with justification required? Some proposals require that you name the vendor and include bids; others just require an estimate. In the case of multi-year grants, you may also need to create a separate budget with justification for each year (calendar or fiscal) of the proposed project.

Cost-share or Matching Funds: Check to see if the grant opportunity requires matching funds. If so, you will need to identify other funding resources. 

Supporting Documents: Grant proposals often require supporting documentation, such as data and letters of support. Be sure to determine this well ahead of the deadline.

Getting Help: Check to see whether the agency has other documents to help you write the proposal. As mentioned above, you can contact the agency using the given contact information to ask clarifying questions about the process. 

• Click on Grants 101 for a checklist, grant-writing background, and other helpful information from the grants.gov site. 
• Click on Tips for Writing & Submitting Good Grant Proposals for a pdf from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
• Click on Grants 101 from the Office of Justice Programs for helpful grant-writing tips.
• Click on Tips for Preparing Grant Proposals for more tips from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

In certain cases, Congresswoman Dean can provide a letter of introduction for a federal grant proposal in our district that urges a full and fair consideration of your proposal. If you are interested in requesting a letter from the Congresswoman, please complete out Letter of Support form Here. 

In addition, during the grant application process, we recognize that applicants in our district might have questions about the status of their application or clarifying questions about grant requirements. In these cases, the Office of Congressman Dean can reach out to agencies asking for a status update or for clarification.

Please note: per House Ethics guidelines, Congressional offices cannot help entities with their grant application materials. 

Assistance Listings at beta.SAM.gov (General Services Administration)
Official descriptions of more than 2,200 federal assistance programs (including grants, loans, and other financial and nonfinancial assistance) can be found on beta.SAM.gov. The website, produced by the General Services Administration (GSA), is currently in beta, and it houses federal assistance listings previously found on the now-retired Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). Each federal assistance program has a corresponding CFDA program number; these CFDA numbers are still used as numerical program identifiers. Programs are searchable at the "Assistance Listings" domain at beta.SAM.gov; descriptions are updated by departments and agencies, and they cover authorizing legislation, objectives, and eligibility and compliance requirements. The site will eventually be renamed SAM.gov. For current notices of funding availability, see Grants.gov or FedConnect.net.

Grants.gov (managed by  Dept. of Health and Human Services)
Federal website that allows eligible grantseekers (see Who is Eligible for a Grant?) to find and apply for current competitive grant opportunities from ALL federal agencies. Grantseekers can check on notices of funding availability (NOFA) posted in the last 7 days; access an RSS feed of grant opportunities; and apply for federal grants through a unified process by downloading the application and submitting online. The website guides grantseekers in obtaining a Dun and Bradstreet (DUNS) number and registering with System for Award Management (SAM) and registering with Grants.gov to apply and to track applications. For full federal program descriptions, see CFDA below. See also website FedConnect.net for additional grants and contracts opportunities.

State Single Points of Contact  (Office of Management and Budget)
Under Executive Order 12372, some states require federal grants applicants to submit a copy of their application for state government level review and comment. The state offices listed here coordinate federal financial assistance and may direct federal development. For help in identifying state-level grants, other state government agencies websites may be found at: State and Local Agencies.

A-Z Index of U.S. Departments and Agencies (General Services Administration)
To better develop a grant proposal, search a department or agency’s Home Page to learn more about its programs and objectives. The site USA.gov also links to Government Benefits, Grants, and Loans. 

USA.gov for Businesses and Nonprofits (GSA)
Includes contracting with the U.S. government, international trade and exporting, and small business. See also financial assistance links at the Small Business Administration website.

FedBizOpps.gov (GSA)
Official website posting business, contracting, and procurement opportunities with the federal government. Useful information for vendors, including FBO Demonstration Videos and Frequently Asked Questions, appear under the Getting Started tab. Search options include an advanced search form for more targeted filtering of current opportunities.

Student Aid on the Web (Dept. of Education)
Information on funding education beyond high school, including grants, loans, and work-study assistance to qualified students.

Benefits.gov (via Department of Labor)
Includes information on over 1,000 government assistance programs, and how to apply. Covers direct payment, loan, insurance, training, or other services. 

FTC Consumer Alert (Federal Trade Commission)
The FTC warns consumers to beware of paying "processing fees" for information that is available free to the public. Ads claiming federal grants are available for home repairs, home business, unpaid bills, or other personal expenses are often a scam. 

OMB Grants Guidance (Office of Management and Budget)
OMB establishes government-wide grants management policies and guidelines through circulars and common rules.  OMB Circulars  are cited in Catalog program descriptions and may be printed out fulltext.

Candid (formerly the Foundation Center) Grants Space
Gateway to information about private funding sources, the grant seeking process, guidelines on writing a grant proposal, addresses of state libraries with grants reference collections, and links to other useful Internet websites. The Center maintains a comprehensive database on foundations; produces print and electronic directories and guides; conducts research and publishes studies in the field; and offers a variety of training and educational seminars.

• How do I find grants for my nonprofit?
• Proposal Writing Short Course (also in Spanish, French and other languages)
• Foundation Information Network Check for locations at Grants Space, Find Us. Free funding information available in libraries, community foundations, and other nonprofit centers nationwide, including access to the Foundation Directory Online database.

Grant Resources by State (Grantsmanship Center)
Click on state map to find links to information about a state’s foundations, community foundations, corporate giving programs and the state’s home page.

Community Foundations
There are more than 750 community foundations in the U.S., which are grantmaking public charities dedicated to improving the lives of people in a defined local geographic area. The Council on Foundations has a listing of community foundations by state.