This document provides an overview of different types of grants including capital grants, operating grants, and program/project grants. It also discusses different types of funders such as government agencies and private and public foundations. Key points of each type of funder are summarized. The document concludes with pointers for non-profits to get grant ready and lists resources for additional information.

1. Grants at a Glance
By Dana Y. Wilson
• President of Trinity Support Services, LLC
www.trinitysupportservices.org
• President of National Educational
Network, Inc. (NENI) 501c3 nonprofit
www.nenionline.org
• State Secretary of the NJ Chapter of
Grant Professionals Association (GPA)
www.grantprofessionalsnj.org
• Co-organizer of Non-Profit Executive
Directors (NED)

3. Types of Grants: C.O.P. Chart
 C = Capital grants: grants for buildings and equipment
(building repairs/maintenance, purchase, construction)
Example: Capital Campaign: $2 million needed for ABC Daycare to add a
new wing for an additional 75 infant / toddlers and to build a new infant
/toddler playground.
 O = Operating grants (also known as general operating or general
support grants). Unrestricted funds help pay for overhead/indirect costs.
 Example: General operating support grants may be used to cover day-to-day
activities or ongoing expenses such as administrative salaries, rent, utilities, office
supplies, technology maintenance, etc., as well as for project costs, capital,
technology purchases, and professional development.
 P= Program /Project grants: Funding for a specific
department or project
 Example: Funding for an afterschool program for the YWCA

4. Types of Funders
Government (city, state, federal)
Examples: CDBG Block Grants, NJ
Department of Labor, US
Department of Education
Foundations: What is a foundation?
There are two principal types of
foundations, private and public.

5. Private Foundations
 There are three different types of private foundations:
 Independent or Family Foundations receive endowments from
individuals or families (and, in the case of family foundations,
they continue to show measurable donor or donor-family
involvement).
 Company-Sponsored or Corporate Foundations receive funds
from their parent companies, although they are legally separate
entities. (Banks, Fortune 500 companies, etc: Examples: Bank of
America Foundation, Johnson and Johnson Foundation)
 Operating Foundations run their own programs and services and
typically do not provide much grant support to outside
organizations.

6. Public Foundations
 A public foundation (Also known as a "Grantmaking Public Charity") is a
nongovernmental, nonprofit organization;
 receives funding from numerous sources and must continue to seek money
from diverse sources in order to retain its public charity status;
 is managed by its own trustees and directors;
 operates grants programs benefiting unrelated organizations or individuals as
one of its primary purposes;
 makes grants, primarily to other nonprofit organizations; and is required to file
a 990 form with the IRS.
 Examples:
 Community Foundations seek support for themselves from the public, but like
private foundations provide grants. Their grants primarily support the needs of the
geographic community or region in which they are located. Due to broad public
support, the IRS does not consider these to be private foundations.
 Women's Funds—examples include the Los Angeles Women's Foundation, the Ms.
Foundation for Women, the New York Women's Foundation, and the Michigan's
Women's Foundation.
 Other Public Foundations include funds serving other population groups and field-
specific funds, such as health funding foundations set up with proceeds from health
care conversions—often referred to as "new health foundations."

7. Popular Grant Research Databases
Ecivis http://www.ecivis.com/
Foundation Center (Use for free when onsite at
cooperating libraries) www.foundationcenter.org
Grant Station (free with GPA membership)
www.grantstation.com
grants.gov: free database to research federal government
grants
*******(IMPORTANT: Discounted pricing on all many databases if you are a
member of the Grant Professionals Association
www.grantprofessionals.org)

8. This is a sample of the kind of information that you can find when you are logged into Grant Station:
Project Learning Tree: GreenWorks!
c/o American Forest Foundation
2000 M Street, NW, Suite 550
Washington, DC 20036
Phone: 202-765-3641
Fax: 202-827-7924
Email: information@plt.org
Url: https://www.plt.org/apply-for-greenworks-environmental-education-grant
Primary Contact:
Mr. James McGirt
Phone: 202-765-3531
Email: jmcgirt@plt.org
Geographic Scope: National
Type of Organization: Other Sources
Total Annual Giving: Not Available
Grant Details: Grants of up to $1,000 are provided.
Eligibility Requirements: Pre-K-12 educators, schools (public, private, and charter), and
nonprofit organizations
Application Deadlines: September 30, annually

9. Areas of Interest:
Project Learning Tree (PLT) is a national environmental education program for
educators and their students in grades Pre-K-12.
GreenWorks! is the service-learning component of PLT that provides grants of up to
$1,000 to PLT trained educators for students to implement environmental
improvement projects.
GreenWorks! blends service activities with the academic curriculum and addresses
real community needs as students "learn by doing."
Some examples of past grant projects include:
•habitat restoration;
•watershed improvement;
•school gardens;
•outdoor classrooms;
•recycling; and,
•energy conservation.
Organizations (including community-based organizations), groups, centers, museums,
schools, student clubs, before and after school programs, etc. that involve youth and
environmental or conservation education are eligible to apply.
Applicants must have attended a Project Learning Tree workshop and must involve at
least one community partner. Also, the proposed project must secure at least 50%
matching funds (in-kind support is acceptable).
Application Procedures:
Application guidelines and forms are available on the PLT website.
EIN: 52-1235124
Last Updated: 5/1/2015

10. Pointers for Non-Profits: Getting Grant Ready
 Have all key documents ready for grant attachments
(Examples: Board list, 990 form, IRS Letter of Determination,
budget, newsletters)
 Government grants often require more paperwork:
(Examples: Certificate of Good Standing, DUNS Number,
SAM registration, audit (if applicable), etc.)
 Get an electronic version of all these key documents
(scanner) for online grant submissions.
 Learn about grant accounting /grant management
 Don’t try to hire a consultant on commission. This is
considered unethical in our field. Start building a budget
for an in-house grant writer or consultant (payments
usually are hourly, project-based, or long term retainer).
 Join the Grant Professionals Association and the
Association of Fundraising Professionals.

11. Resources
 https://www.grantstation.com/sog/sog_main.asp
 The State of Grantseeking reports, produced twice a year, spotlight recent
developments in funding so that organizations can be more strategic in
their grantseeking. These free survey results reflect the grantseeking
experiences of over 1,800 respondents.
 The reports look at sources of grant funding in several ways: any funder, the
largest source of total funding, and the funder of the largest individual
award. In addition, the median value of the largest individual award, in
total and by various subcategories, is provided as a benchmark figure
throughout the report.
 GrantStation, the Grant Professionals Association, and PhilanTech (an Altum
company) compiled this report.

12. Contact info for Dana Wilson
Cell/Text: 732-277-8184
E-mail: danawilsonNJ@gmail.com
Websites:
www.trinitysupportservices.org
www.nenionline.org