What is the best way to get a business or non-profit grant in 2016?

There really isn't any funding from the U.S. Government any longer for business grants.

Government Grants for Small Business—Think you Qualify?

There are city by city and a few state by state grants, but they are severely limited and rare.

However, some businesses (large corporations) often make grants available to us through mostly innovation contests and challenges. Sony, Apple, Microsoft, Google, and hundreds of others provide platforms every year to encourage and nurture the innovators of the world.

 

The best way to look into this is to see what types of grants were given out last year and see what sorts of areas they covered. I think that the user above is correct when he mentions innovation, because I can think of some examples locally where the University and other agencies have gotten grants for innovative ideas.

 

Years ago when I was going to cosmetology school, I remember hearing about several of the ladies I went to school with getting small business grants to open their own shops. I guess getting these would depend on what your business is and how much your services are needed in your specific area. I honestly did not know that state grants were still available for opening a business. Thanks for posting this info. I will definitely check into it.

 

In 2012, my husband had applied for a grant to make a movie. The cultural commission had granted him 500k pesos to make the movie. And when the movie project rolled, the realization hit us that the grant is not enough. So we had to shell out money to augment the budget just to finish the project. And although it was finished, my husband decided against showing it in the theaters because there are loopholes in the story.

Some friends are urging us to seek another grant and make another movie but this time I declined.

 

The best way is to first pitch your business idea which will enable potential granters to assess its prospects and your seriousness as well as professionalism. Then post it to various grant giving organizations which you can access through a simple Google search. Ideas to do with social entrepreneurship easily attract interest.