what is a government grant 
a government grant is a financial award given by a federal state or local government authority for a beneficial project it is effectively a transfer payment a grant does not include technical assistance or other financial assistance such as a loan or loan guarantee an interest rate subsidy direct appropriation or revenue sharing 1 the grantee is not expected to repay the money but is expected to use the funds from the grant for their stated purpose which typically serves some larger good in certain cases there may also be revenue sharing agreements with the government for instance in the case of a discovery that leads to a profit generating patent twenty six federal agencies administer more than 1 000 grant programs annually to provide funding for the arts the sciences and educational institutions 23 government grants help fund ideas and projects providing public services and stimulating the economy 4 for example an economics program may be designed to strengthen empirical and theoretical economic analysis as well as the methods for rigorous research on economic behavior grants may also support critical recovery initiatives agricultural projects and innovative research in all sorts of fields 