Basically speaking, a grant or a government grant refers to a financial award issued to qualified individuals or organizations. The funds usually come from the federal government and sometimes from the local state government.
Take note that a government grant is different from a loan, loan subsidy, revenue sharing, or direct appropriation.
This means that the grantee is not obliged to repay the amount issued to him/her, instead, the money is expected to be used for the expected purpose, which mainly addresses the issue targeted by the program.
There are about 1,000 grant programs every year managed and supervised by different agencies of the federal government. The government’s main purpose for this is to:
- Address social issues;
- Support various arts, sciences, and educational institutions; and
- Funds projects that will promote economic improvement.