What is a federal grant? A federal grant is a kind of an assistance in the form of economic aid, provided by the U.S. government for ideas and projects for public purposes which in turn benefit by stimulating the economy. Fields which include critical recovery initiatives, research and development and all the programs falling under the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance are eligible for acquiring federal grants and applying for free government grants.

Life cycle
The federal grant process follows a linear life cycle in which initially the funding opportunities are created followed by the application phase which is then scrutinized and finally followed by the rewarding phase. The entire life cycle is split into three phases; which the recipient has to understand prior to applying for free governments grants.

• Pre-Award Phase : Includes announcement of funding opportunities and reviewing applications.
• Award Phase : Decisions and Notifications are made for the federal grants.
• Post-Award Phase : Implementation of the grant with proper reporting and the closure of the entire process.

Applying for free government grants involves a lot of procedures. Some of the most important ones before applying for free government grants are as follows:

• Understanding the life cycle gives a good overview of the process initiated by the government and helps the recipient to keep a track of the initiatives.
• Although the grants provided by the federal government are free of cost, they do come with some eligibility criteria. Not everyone can apply for every financial assistance provided by the federal government, hence it is always best to check the eligibility before applying for a free government grant.
• Having a clear idea of the type of funding opportunity makes the process smoother. Grants are mainly of two types – Federal grants and non-federal grants.
• The awardees need to mention their details like fund received and have to clearly report the progress made with the fund to the public. The reports include the overall expenses and the quantitative information. The grantor agency has the right to make visits to verify the progress and communicate with the awardee. The grant recipient is liable for submitting audit reports to ensure that the federal funds are put to right use.