If you would like to apply for federal grant monies you must register with the grants.gov site as either an individual or an organization. This article tells you how to register as an individual. A federal grant is a monetary award dispensed by a particular agency of the United States government to a “grantee”, in order to have a particular task performed.
Definition of Individual
According to the federal government, “An individual is an applicant who submits grant applications on their own behalf, not representing an organization, institution or government. Individual applicants may only apply for grant opportunities on Grants.gov that indicate individual eligibility within the Synopsis and Full Announcement.”
Restrictions
It is important to understand the restrictions on government grants.
— Grants.gov does not provide personal financial assistance for purposes such as personal debt repayment, school loan repayment, health care bills, or small business startup.
— Before applying for a grant, you must ensure that you are eligible. See the Eligibility Page for more detail on this topic.
Searching for a Grant Opportunity
To find a grant opportunity, visit the grants.gov Web page, and click on the left hand link titled Find Grant Opportunities, and then in the center of the page click on Advanced Search. You must select Individuals under the Search by Eligibility pull-down menu; but otherwise you can set search criteria that match the type of grant that interests you. Save the Funding Opportunity Number for each grant you discover that you want to pursue.
Registration
To register as an individual, do the following:
1. Navigate your browser to the grants.gov page.
2. On the left side of the page, click, on Get Registered and then click on Individual Registration.
3. Now click the Register with Grants.gov button in the center of the page.
3. You will be taken to a page titled Register with Grants.gov. In the center of the page is a text entry box titled Funding Opportunity Number. Enter a valid Funding Opportunity Number in that box, and then click the Register button below the box.
4. You will be taken to an Applicant Registration page.
5. Fill in your first name, middle initial (optional), last name, job title, telephone number, and Email.
6. Create a secret question and answer. These are used to recover your password or user name, if you forget them. The secret question and answer are not case sensitive.
7. Select a user name and password. These serve as an electronic signature when you submit a grant application on Grants.gov.
Logging In to Grants.gov
You may use your user name and password to log into Grants.gov immediately after you have completed the registration process; and once you are logged in, you can submit grant applications.
