Grants are generally intended to benefit humanity in some way or another. Non-profit companies and organizations use grant funding to deliver these benefits.

Grants come from many sources. Charitable foundations, business groups, and the government are a few. In most cases, grants are not to enrich an individual or individual business. In fact the feds are pretty direct in how they describe this… The U.S. government does not currently provide grants for starting or expanding a small business.

The whole “Free Government Money” thing is an urban legend. A gentleman named Matthew Lesco publishes books about “Free Government Money.” (Read what ConsumerAffairs.com has to say about him.) The Lesko book we bought, (so our clients wouldn’t have to), is 1100 pages. When you break it down the math looks like this; 1100 divided by 50 states = 22 pages per state, 22 divided by the number of counties (58 in California)= .32 pages/county, .32 divided by 3 (equally divided between business, education and housing money) =.11 pages/business in your county of your state. In addition, very little of the information is grants, but instead loans and “business assistance” (SBDC services and workshops are business assistance).

Having said all that… sometimes grants do happen. People sometimes get grant funding for activities which benefit groups of businesses or industries, or humanity in general. Industry-specific grants can be researched through trade organization websites.

There is one primary exception to this rule: Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer grants.  These grants are for small businesses that engage in research and development of technology that will be commercialized.

The following are some links to conduct general grant research:

The Headwaters Fund
The Headwaters Fund makes grants and loans to Humboldt County organizations for the economic and community development of the County. A business may apply for loans of $25,000 to $800,000 for a variety of needs. Non-profits and governments may apply for grants and loans.

City of Eureka
The City of Eureka has redevelopment funds for certain types of projects.

Humboldt Area Foundation
The Humboldt Area Foundation provides grant research training and resources.

GovBenefits
here is a free, confidential tool that helps you find government benefits you may be eligible to receive.

CDFA.gov
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) provides a full listing of all Federal programs available to State and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally-recognized Indian tribal governments; Territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, and private profit and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.