Grant Location Scouting

Confused About How to Find the Right Grants? We’ll Find Them for You!

Finding the right public grants to apply for can sometimes feel a little like searching for a needle in a haystack. This is especially true if you’re looking for grants that are aimed at a narrow sector – i.e. for-profit eligible grants vs. grants for charitable and not-for-profit organizations.

There’s a lot of noise out there about public grants, but not a great deal of easy-to-find, high-value information. One reason for this is that online literature is heavily skewed towards non-profit grants. Another is that the types of public grants you will be searching for are often underpublicized.

Trying to cut a path through all of this information takes a lot of time and resources – and that’s before you even get to the stage of grant-preparedness and the lengthy application process.

To help you get ahead with your grant search, we’ve designed a Public Funding support package that includes help at all stages of the grant application process. We work with US-based specialists who know how to scout for grants that European entrepreneurs can match with.

 Here’s how we can help you to find the right grants to apply to for your American expansion.

The Importance of Good Grant Research

 

If you’re new to the concept of Public Funding and have not already read through the Available Programs page then head on over to take a look at how Public Grants work in the US.

If you have and are already feeling a little lost about where to start – don’t panic. The grant process is long and complex, but with the right information and support, you can get a head-start on navigating this large system.

Any successful grant application begins with a research phase to discover which grants are available and whether your project is suitable for them. This stage is vital because every grant you apply for will take up time and resources. Without great research, you can waste weeks and even months on unsuitable applications that fail and leave you frustrated and disheartened.

To research effectively, you need to be able to allocate time and resources to the search process – which might take place online, via email, talking to contacts and speaking to local or state departments directly. Many people dive in, searching databases and websites to see what’s available and what they might be able to apply for.

While this can be a great method for getting to know how sites like Grants.gov work, it isn’t a great long-term strategy. That’s because to research well you need to prepare well and clarify your project parameters.

Grant Scouting – Preparing Your Project

 

At Mount Bonnell Advisors we believe in streamlining processes to make them as effective as possible. There’s no point in spending hours searching for public funding if you’re either not sure what you are looking to fund or whether your project will be suitable for these kinds of programs.

We’ll work with you to understand your business and the kind of funding you are seeking. Then we’ll help you decide whether Public Funding is for you. For example – are you happy to accept the oversight of your potential funders? Do you have a project in mind that will fit with public grant priorities and can you demonstrate the kinds of outcomes you expect from your project?

Grant Scouting consultation will help you to nail down these details and clarify your business and project goals so that you have a clearly defined set of outcomes in mind.

Is Your Business Grant Ready?

 

One of the ways Mount Bonnell will help you with grant scouting is to ensure that your business is “grant-ready” – and if it’s not, support you to get there.

This can mean having strategic plans in place to deliver well-structured projects that are of local value. It can also mean ensuring you have the correct paperwork and registrations in place to make applications once suitable opportunities are found.

 For example, before you can apply for public funding from the US government or submit your applications to be considered you need to make sure you have the following in place:

  • A Federal Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN). This will be needed to finalize your application. Visit the gov website to find out more about how to apply.

  • A DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) number for your company. This number is a unique 9-character reference number that will be used to identify your organization. The federal government uses this number to track how federal money is spent, and you need it to register on the Grants.gov website (the main portal for applying for government grants). You can register for a DUNS number from outside the US without a TIN if you are still waiting for one.

  • A registration with the System for Award Management website, gov – a requirement before any organization can receive money from the federal government. This website is used to manage organizations who do business with the federal government, including grants officials.

  • An account set up with Grants.gov. Your Sam.gov registration needs to be finalized before your Grants.gov registration will complete.

In addition to these preliminary administrative processes, you will also need to ensure your business is ready or can become ready, to open its doors to funders during the application process. This can mean securing a location and having staff on hand to talk to potential funders. Or it can mean having your books up to date and developing a strong strategic growth plan to share with funding bodies.

All of this preparation takes time – and should take place before you start writing your grant proposals. Grant applications are complex processes and the competition for each grant is usually stiff –so it makes sense to build a strong team while you scout for opportunities.

Building a Strong Grant Scouting Team

 

It’s important to understand that securing funding for your American expansion via Public Funding sources is very much a marathon, not a sprint. Each opportunity needs to be well-researched, and the application process can take several months depending on a number of factors.

This can include:

  • The deadline and funding round. Some grants processes take place using a number of “rounds” to make a final decision on awards. Many advertise months before their deadline to ensure they maximize application numbers.

  • The size of the grant. Larger grants often take longer to secure.

  • The complexity of the application proposal. Some applications require you to submit a handful of pages and documents – other applications could run into the 100’s of pages.

  • How long the awarding body takes to process your application and come to a decision on whether to award you the grant.

You’ll also need to keep up-to-date on new opportunities as they come up and have a system in place to manage your current and potential applications. You are likely to want to shortlist several initial opportunities and measure the outcomes of your application at each stage of the process to help you with future funding proposals.

This all takes time, skill, resources, and excellent organization. Overall it’s about developing a coherent Grant Scouting strategy – with clear timeframes and schedules and a robust plan for managing different applications.  

To put all these processes into place effectively you’ll need a team behind you who can manage the research and preparation for finding grants and set you up to make successful applications. That’s where Mount Bonnell Advisors come in!

Get a Skilled Grant Scouting Team to Help You Secure Public Funding

 

At Mount Bonnell Advisors we work with a range of US partners who are specialists in securing grant funding for for-profit organizations. We’ll work with you to prepare for the process of grant scouting and find the right programs for you to apply for.

We’ll ensure that we come up with an effective shortlist of around 3-5 initial opportunities that will be suitable – that you qualify for as a European entrepreneur and that we believe you have an excellent chance of securing.

We think that working with us provides you with the best opportunity to take advantage of this excellent source of funding for your US expansion. You’ll get a skilled team behind you who can help you organize and plan your research effectively.

  • Save time, resources and hassle of grant scouting, which can be a labor-intensive and often frustrating process for those who are unused to this kind of funding option. With our team behind you, you can focus your attention on your other US Expansion efforts and let us take care of finding your Public funding opportunities.

  • Get a realistic assessment of your unique business situation and whether you are suitable to apply for grants. We’ll support you to clarify your project objectives and expected outcomes, to set a realistic budget funding request amount and help you ensure your business is grant ready before you apply – you don’t want to waste time going to the effort of searching for grants and writing applications only to realize you don’t have the right paperwork or processes in place to succeed.

  • Take advantage of our network of US-based specialists who know the area and the kinds of opportunities that are available. We work with professionals who know how to build relationships with funders and which grants you will have the best chance of getting. We’ll help you to develop a network of contacts with potential funders – even in-person with our Grants Roadshow.

To learn more about how we can help your business to find the best grants to apply for please get in touch to book a consultation with our advisors today.

Need Advice on Taxation, Company Formation, and Residency in the United States?

 

Starting a business in the U.S. can be both exhilarating and exasperating. There is much to know and even more to learn, and the pace of the information coming at you can be overwhelming.

That’s where Mount Bonnell Advisors come in.

Would you like to live your very own American Dream? At Mount Bonnell, we can guide you through the labyrinth of regulation and red tape and out into the blue skies of a dream come true – the dream of living and working in America.

Whether it’s technical issues around tax or residency, or strategic ones involving business formation and growth, the experienced team at Mount Bonnell Advisors are here to help.

So make that dream a reality by booking a consultation today with Mount Bonnell Advisors. Let the adventure commence!