Exploring Eligibility: Federal Grants for Native American Tribal Governments and Organizations

Posted on by Grants.gov

Editor’s Note: This blog post was first published in 2016 and updated on May 18, 2020.

There are a variety of federal financial assistance opportunities specifically for American Indians and Alaska Natives. This article, which is part of the Exploring Eligibility blog series, will explain where Grants.gov fits into your search process.

Exploring Eligibility Blog Series

If you are a member of a Native American tribal entity searching for federal grants or benefits, you probably fall into one of these situations in which you are looking for:

  1. Federal grants or benefits on behalf of a federally-recognized Native American tribal government.
  2. Federal grants or benefits on behalf of a Native American tribal organization that is not a federally-recognized government, or
  3. Personal assistance or benefits.

Continue reading Exploring Eligibility: Federal Grants for Native American Tribal Governments and Organizations

What Is the Difference Between Grants.gov and Benefits.gov?

Posted on by Grants.gov

This blog post was first published in 2017 and updated on April 1, 2020.

Grants.gov regularly receives a significant amount of queries from users hoping to apply for personal financial assistance from the federal government. These individuals might be looking for home repair grants or forms of disability assistance.

Others are unfortunately driven to Grants.gov by scam artists posing as agents of Grants.gov (or some made-up variant) who promise “free government grants” in exchange for monthly fees or gift cards.

What is the difference between Grants.gov and Benefits.gov?

Continue reading What Is the Difference Between Grants.gov and Benefits.gov?

What Is Federal Financial Assistance? [Updated]

Posted on by Grants.gov

This post was originally published on April 17, 2017 and updated on July 3, 2019.

Federal financial assistance is the transfer of anything of value, most often money, from a federal agency to a non-federal entity.

Grants.gov's What is... Blog Series

In the most general sense, federal financial assistance is a tool the government uses to serve public purposes as defined by Congress.

Federal financial assistance is a very broad term, and it can take on a variety of more precise forms.

  • One of the most common forms is a grant, which we write about quite often on this blog.
  • Other examples of federal financial assistance include cooperative agreements, donations of property, direct appropriations, food commodities, loans, interest subsidies, and insurance.
  • Each type of federal financial assistance serves different purposes and has different legal and regulatory frameworks that govern how that specific assistance can be used.

Continue reading What Is Federal Financial Assistance? [Updated]