How will I know if my grant application is approved?

Once your grant is approved, the grant making agency will send you a grant award notification. This notification states the duration of the award, the dollar amount, and a program contact. You will also receive a set of attachments outlining the basic requirements you need to follow.

Can our organization use the grant money awarded to us for other purpose?

No.  Grant funds received should only be used for its intended purpose.  All program expenses must be properly documented and regulated as part of the requirements associated with the awarded grant.

Is it ok to ask my grant making agency if there are regulations I want clarified?

Yes.  If you have difficulties understanding some regulations of your grant making agency feel free to ask the contact person assigned to you.  Usually grant making agencies have assigned contact persons for every grantee for technical assistance.  This contact person will help clarify regulations, explain procedures, and approve certain changes to the grant project upon request.

What is affinity group in grants?

Affinity group in grants is the formal or informal collaboration of grant making agencies having a shared interest in a particular area of funding. These groups represent a variety of different causes as well as issues and population groups.

Is it advisable to use a grant proposal template to help me write my application?  

A grant proposal template is a good guide to help make grant writing easier. However, state and federal reviewers can easily spot grant proposals made out of templates.  Template-based grant proposals sometimes lose points in the scoring process as these come out the same thus losing its strength. 

Can our organization keep the items we purchased with grant funds after our project ended?

Depending on the nature of the grant program, type and cost of the items, you may or may not retain the items you have purchased for a completed project. Grantees are allowed to keep these items so they may continue running the project without the funds from a grant making agency.  This is especially true for government grants.  There are instances, however, when the government will take items like research equipment to give these to new grantees for another grant project.