- Free money? No way! Too good to be true!
- There is no grant money.
- My agency doesn’t qualify for a grant.
- We are too big of an agency to get grant funding.
- We are too small of an agency to get grant funding.
- They do not give out grant money for my project.
In almost 20 years, I have heard it all from public safety agencies.
- Why should my company learn about grant funding? That is the public safety agency’s responsibility.
- Our customers know where all the grants are.
- Understanding grants? That is not what we do.
- There is no grant funding for our type of solution.
It has been a similar story from the businesses that sell into the public safety market.
The agency wants the solutions. The businesses want to provide their solutions. But, unfortunately, neither understands how to get the grant funding. The result is public safety agencies go without the life-saving equipment, software, and training needed to perform their missions. The businesses fill up their sales pipelines quickly and close their sales opportunities slowly. Today, we will divorce the story and marry the truth regarding Federal, Private, and State Grants.
Don’t believe the lies. There are billions of dollars available through grants at any time of the year! There is close to $1 trillion of grant funding available at this moment!
Federal Grant Funding: Over $400 Billion through the following organizations:
- United States Department of Homeland Security
- United States Department of Health and Human Services
- United States Department of Treasury
- United States Department of Transportation
- National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)
- United States Department of Justice
- United States Department of Housing and Urban Development
- United States Department of Agriculture
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
State Grant Funding: Around $5 Billion. Some examples of state government that offers grant funding to public safety are:
- Department of Transportation
- Division of Criminal Justice
- Department of Health
- Department of Community and Economic Development
- Office of the Governor
- Department of Public Safety
- Criminal Justice Institute
- Attorney General
- Commission on Crime and Delinquency
- Department of Finance
- Department of Health
- Public Regulation Commission
- Department of Natural Resources
- District Attorneys
- Office of Homeland Security
- Emergency Medical Services
- Office of the Budget
- Commission on Environmental Quality
- Department of Fire Programs
- Department of Military Affairs
- Division of Emergency Management
- Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board
- Department of Agriculture
- Office of Drug Control Policy
- State Fire Marshal
Private Grant Funding: Over $500 Billion! By far the largest pool of funding and the least used by public safety. Sources of private funding for public safety are:
- Banks
- Energy Companies
- Insurance Companies
- Manufacturing Companies
- Public Safety Foundations
- Railroads
- Regional Community Foundations
Another commonly misunderstood part of the grant funding game is the Grant Writer for either the agency or municipality. Don’t get me wrong, having a Grant Writer at the agency, city, county, or state level can be a good thing as long as you understand the world of the grant writer.
The first thing you need to keep in mind is the Grant Writer is not always available. Their priority is usually the following:
- Work on large projects that affect the most amount of people in the community.
- Work on the highest dollar amount.
Another thing to keep in mind is not all Grant Writers are created equal. Some are better than others and writing successful grants. Usually, experience and education separate the best Grant Writers from the rest.
The truth is the grant process is simple if you learn the step. It does not take a lot of time to write a successful grant. I have taught first-time grant writers to write a successful grant application and justification paper in 4 to 5 hours. Remember, having success in obtaining grant funding is never about resources. It is all about resourcefulness!
I have consulted and taught 1000s of public safety agencies and businesses how to play the grant funding game. Please feel free to contact me or come to one of my FREE Grant Funding Assistance Strategy Classes to learn more.
My goal is simple: To solve the public safety funding problem!