Federal grants are not benefits or entitlements to individuals. Grants are intended for projects serving state, community, and local needs. Because government funds may be limited, sources of private funding should also be considered. State and community foundations may be particularly interested in funding local projects; many projects may require a combination of government and private funding. Who is Eligible for a Government Grant? Programs are searchable at the "Assistance Listings" domain at beta.SAM.gov; descriptions are updated by departments and agencies, and they cover authorizing legislation, objectives, and eligibility and compliance requirements. Assistance listing descriptions include the following:
federal agency administering a program legislation authorizing the program objectives and goals of program types of financial or nonfinancial assistance uses and restrictions eligibility requirements application and award process criteria for selecting proposals amount of obligations for some past and current fiscal years range and average of financial assistance regulations, guidelines, and literature relevant to a program information contacts and headquarters, regional, and local offices related programs examples of funded projects formula and matching requirements, where applicable requirements for postassistance reports
Grants.gov http://www.grants.gov 
FedConnect https://www.fedconnect.net
After grantseekers identify federal programs in beta.SAM.gov and contact agencies (see section below), they may be directed to register and apply at websites such as Grants.gov or FedConnect when application announcements for competitive grants become available. Grantseekers themselves can check on notices of funding availability (NOFAs) or requests for proposals (RFPs); sign up to receive email notification of grant opportunities; and apply for federal grants online through a unified process. Private, Corporate, and Additional Funding Sources

Foundation Center http://www.foundationcenter.org/ 
Information gateway to the grant seeking process, private funding sources (including national, state, community, and corporate foundations), guidelines on writing a grants proposal, addresses of libraries in every state with grants reference collections, and links to other useful internet websites. Free information on the website includes the following:
Guide to Funding Research http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/tutorials/gfr/index.html Foundation Finder http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/foundfinder/ Search for information about more than 90,000 private and community foundations. Constituents may also request from congressional offices CRS Report RL32159, How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal , by Maria Kreiser and Julie Jennings, which discusses standard content and formats.
This report describes key sources of information on government and private funding, and outlines eligibility for federal grants. Federal grants are intended for projects benefiting states and communities. Individuals may be eligible for other kinds of benefits or assistance, or small businesses and students may be eligible for loans. Free information is readily available to grantseekers, who generally know best the details of their projects. The Assistance Listings database at beta.SAM.gov describes more than 2,200 federal programs, more than half of them grants, and can be searched by keyword, department or agency, program title, beneficiary, and applicant eligibility. Federal department and agency websites provide additional information and guidance, and they provide state agency contacts. Once a program has been identified, eligible grantseekers may apply electronically for grants at the website Grants.gov through a uniform process for all agencies. Through Grants.gov, grantseekers may identify when federal funding notices and deadlines for a program become available, sign up for email notification of funding opportunities, and track the progress of submitted applications.
Because government funds may be limited, the report also discusses sources of private and corporate foundation funding. The Foundation Center is a clearinghouse for information about private, corporate, and community foundations, with collections of resources in every state.
This report includes sources of information on writing grant proposals. See also CRS Report RL32159, How to Develop and Write a Grant Proposal, by Maria Kreiser and Julie Jennings.
Additional sources are also included in the CRS web page, "Grants and Federal Assistance." See also CRS Report RL34035, Grants Work in a Congressional Office, by Maria Kreiser and Julie Jennings.
This report will be updated at the beginning of every Congress and as needed.