Public-Sector Funding

This page provides useful information for locating and obtaining federal and state funding.

Lots of Opportunities (But Do They Fit?)
Do Your Homework
Plan Ahead
Stay Focused and Maintain Your Commitment
Help in Writing Proposals
Federal Funding Resources
State-Level Funding
Alerting Services

Lots of Opportunities (But Do They Fit?)

Many governmental agencies—at both the state and the federal levels—offer financial assistance of one form or another. This support can be in the form of:

a grant or contract ... Money that does not typically have to be repaid. Grants are awards made to help the recipient develop or achieve a proposed end result. Contracts, on the other hand, are actual purchases calling for delivery of a specific final product. While grants often fund highly innovative and speculative R&D, contracts are usually used to acquire a specific deliverable. Many federal agencies offer grant and contract opportunities for qualified applicants working in certain targeted areas of technology. The U.S. Department of Energy, for example, uses its Inventions & Innovations program to target innovative energy-efficiency and renewable energy technologies. Most states also have at least some opportunity for technology R&D grants.
a direct loan ... Money that is expected to be repaid, usually with interest. Borrowers must remember that loans are based primarily on the lender's confidence that the funds will be repaid. As such, most loans require evidence of how the borrower plans to repay the money. Depending on the loan source, repayment terms may be negotiable. Loans represent debt and are typically secured by some kind of collateral. A few state programs still offer direct loans, but federal agencies have turned to other tools, such as loan guarantees and grants/contracts.
a loan guarantee ... A government agency's promise to repay a lender—usually a financial institution—in the event a borrower defaults on a loan. Loan guarantees sometimes make it possible for borrowers to obtain financing when a direct loan by itself would not be approved. On the other hand, this mechanism requires the borrower to convince two different entities—the lender and the government agency. The U.S. Small Business Administration is the premiere source of loan guarantees for small businesses of all kinds. Many state agencies offer loan-guarantee programs as well.
an equity investment ... Money invested in exchange for some portion of ownership or control. In most cases, it is expected that the principle amount of the investment will be repaid, together with a "healthy" return-on-investment (ROI). Some public agencies—including an increasing number of colleges and universities—seek high monetary returns to support their overall missions. Others use equity investments as economic development tools and seek their returns in the form of increased jobs, higher wages, and more tax revenue.

Some of these resources are well suited for individuals and small companies engaged in technology development, but others are not. Your first challenge will be to find a funding resource that's a good match for your needs.

Every funding source has its own mission and purpose, and accordingly, has developed specific criteria for what projects it's willing to fund. If your needs and circumstances are a good match for these criteria, then you may be able to obtain help. If there isn't a good match, then your application is likely to waste everyone's time, most importantly your own.

Do Your Homework!

If you find a program you think is a good match, don't just write up a quick proposal and send it in. Take the time needed to learn about the program:

What is its mission?
What types of projects does it tend to favor?
What projects has it funded in the past?
If selected for funding, will the funds be available to meet your project's schedule?
Are there specific instructions on how to prepare and submit a proposal?
How will the proposals be reviewed and judged?

Another critical issue is timing for the proposal—does the due date give you enough time to draft and refine your proposal, maybe through several reviews? If not, you should seriously consider waiting until the next round of funding. Submitting a poor proposal and having it rejected now will make it harder for a future proposal to be considered seriously, even if it has been revised and refined.

Plan Ahead

If your timing is good, and you've found a program you think is a good fit for your situation, there is plenty you can do to dramatically improve your chances of success in obtaining public-sector funding:

First and foremost, contact the program staff—preferably in person or by phone—to introduce yourself and discuss your eligibility for the program. This conversation will require you to be prepared in two ways:
1. to briefly and succinctly describe your technology and specific needs; and
2. to discuss whether your situation is a good fit with the program's mission.
You should expect to conclude this initial discussion with a clear understanding of whether you are a reasonable candidate for the program.
If so, then your next step is to fully understand the application process, especially what will be required in the proposal. These details should be spelled out in considerable detail in an application form or on a Web site. ON A PRINTED COPY OF THESE INSTRUCTIONS, use a marker to highlight:
- the due date
- instructions on how and where the finished proposal must be mailed or sent electronically
- the number of copies required
- page and font size requirements
- suggested section headings
- instructions regarding use of attachments or appendices
- instructions regarding what counts or doesn't count toward the page limit
- instructions regarding specific clauses that must appear in the proposal
Use the instructions to create an outline for your proposal. Unless told otherwise, a good approach is to organize your proposal using precisely the same section headings that appear in the instructions.
Think through the specific tasks of your project and how those tasks can be completed within the framework of the program. In other words, plan out your project in considerable detail, and then determine how those specific tasks fit into the proposal outline. This planning process, if done well, will force you to think through issues involving:
- project objectives, both shorter-term (R&D) and longer-term (i.e., commercialization)
- tasks to be undertaken to meet those objectives
- access to facilities and equipment needed to perform the tasks
- availability of special expertise or other team members needed
- business considerations—e.g., administrative support; financing

Stay Focused and Maintain Your Commitment

Writing successful proposals is analogous to a game—there are winners and there are losers. Make the commitment early to be a winner! Otherwise, why are you doing this? If you're going to expend the time, effort, and resources to develop a proposal, do it well the first time.

Develop and commit to a timeline for completing your proposal:
- Mark a date one week before the due date and work backwards. This final week will give you a few extra days to make final refinements. If it turns out this extra time isn't needed, you can submit the proposal a few days early.
- Go back four more weeks and mark this as the date to have a full draft completed (which will be five weeks prior to the due date). These four weeks should be used to obtain several outside reviews of your proposal, each followed by a period of incorporating the suggested changes.
- Following your proposal outline, continue to work backwards and set realistic dates on which to complete a draft of each section. This process will likely have you beginning the proposal two or three months before the proposal is actually due. Sticking to this timeline, though, and then getting the needed outside reviews will significantly enhance your chances of success.
When needed, ask questions and seek clarification from the program staff. You don't want to call so often as to be a pest, but efforts to seek guidance are usually interpreted as a sign that you're working hard to follow instructions and do a good job. These efforts tend to leave a favorable impression with those who will ultimately decide which proposals are funded.
Seek multiple critiques of the draft proposal from one or two individuals who previously received awards through the program. If you can't find someone like this, seek out an experienced grant writer. Ideally, you should go through at least three or four rounds of critique and refinement to be sure the finished proposal is as good as it can be.

Improve Your Chances of Success!

Contact the program staff to confirm "fit" with the program
Understand the application requirements in detail
Use the instructions to create a complete proposal outline
Take the time to think through the details of your project
Develop and commit to a timeline for completing the proposal
Don't hesitate to ask questions!
Seek critiques from those with experience.

Help in Writing Proposals

Foundation Center
A short course on proposal writing from the premiere source of information and contacts for foundations.

EPA Grant Writing Tutorial
A no-charge course in writing proposals. This software provides a tutorial in preparing proposals specifically to EPA standards, but includes information and principles useful to others as well.

EPA general grant writing tips
Contains basic, work plan, and budget tips.

TGCI Winning Grant Proposals Online
A library of successful grant proposals.

Grant writing tips
Tips on proposal writing from a Seattle-area grant trainer.

GrantProposal.Com
Intended primarily for non-profit organizations, this site also has advice of general interest to individuals engaged in writing proposals.

The University of Montana Rural Institute
Fact sheet on writing successful proposals.

Wilfred Laurier University
General proposal writing advice from a Canadian University.

Federal Funding Resources

DOE's e-Center
The U.S. Department of Energy's e-Center is the agency's most complete source of information on all the opportunities to do business with DOE. U.S. Department of Energy grants also include free training and mentoring in business, plus networking opportunities with partners.

Office of Inventions & Innovation
The U.S. Department of Energy's Inventions & Innovation (I&I) Program offers two publications specifically intended to help individuals and owners of small technology companies seeking funds. First, The Inventor Assistance Source Directory (PDF 906 KB) lists organizations that provide assistance to inventors. Download Adobe Reader

Vehicle Technologies Program Financial Opportunities
The Vehicle Technologies Program Financial Opportunities page provides information about opportunities (including resources, solicitations, and incentives) related to alternative and advanced fuel and vehicle technologies.

Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs
SBIR and STTR are two "sister" programs very well suited for funding small companies engaged in R&D and commercialization of innovative ideas. Though officially based in the U.S. Small Business Administration's Office of Technology, SBIR funding is actually available directly from 11 different federal agencies. The first five of these agencies—the ones with the largest SBIR programs—also offer STTR funding:

Commerce Business Daily
CBDNet is a free Internet listing of all government contracting opportunities published in the Commerce Business Daily. This site includes contact names and closing dates. You will find it the best single source of opportunities to do business with the federal government. However, individual agencies also list their own opportunities. Listed below are links to the procurement centers of some other federal agencies.

Government Grants and Other Funded Programs
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) offers a Government Grants and Other Funded Programs Web site. It includes links to several programs that are useful for energy entrepreneurs. The main programs include:

Inventions & Innovations (I&I) Program
Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR)
Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs
Advanced Technology Program (ATP)
National Science Foundation (NSF)

U.S. Small Business Administration's Tech-Net
Tech-Net is the SBA's electronic gateway of technology information and resources for and about small high-tech businesses. It is a search engine for researchers, scientists, state, federal, and local government officials; a marketing tool for small firms; and a potential "link" to investment opportunities for investors and other sources of capital. It is a free service for those seeking small business partners, small business contractors and subcontractors, leading-edge technology research, research partners (small businesses, universities, federal labs and non-profit organizations), manufacturing centers, and investment opportunities.

U.S. Small Business Administration's Pro-Net
Pro-Net is the SBA's electronic gateway of procurement information—for and about small businesses. It is a search engine for contracting officers; a marketing tool for small firms; and a "link" to procurement opportunities for small businesses seeking federal, state, and private contracts.

2003 Federal Technology Funding Guide
Developed by Larta, a think tank for Southern California's technology industry, with support from the Kauffman Foundation, the Funding Guide is presented as the latest version of the most comprehensive resource on government-facilitated programs for R&D. The Guide categorizes, catalogs, and comments on over 80 regularly scheduled programs, lists hundreds of links and resources, and provides a clear, simple, and up-to-date picture of the entire landscape of federal funding of technology-based firms. This year's edition features a special section on the new U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

State-Level Funding Programs

Most states offer at least one grant funding opportunity for individuals and small technology companies. For example, the California Energy Commission, through its Public Interest Energy Research (PIER) Program, has established an Energy Innovations Small Grants (EISG) Program that can provide up to $75,000 to establish the feasibility of new energy concepts.

Some of these state programs are technology specific—that is, they support the development of a particular type of technology or technology area. Again, California's Energy Innovations Small Grants Program is a good example. Even applicants outside California can participate.

Most state-level programs, however, want their monies to go toward supporting in-state businesses. As such, these funding programs are also used as economic development tools. One notable exception is Wisconsin's CleanTech Partners, which can support EE technologies developed anywhere in the United States provided they can lead to energy savings in Wisconsin (as well as other states).

State-level programs typically do not offer as much funding as do federal agencies, but they also are not as competitive. Many small technology companies have benefited from participating successfully at the state level before jumping into the stronger competition at the federal level.

Alerting Services

There are services that will send you regular notices of new federal (and sometimes private or other government) grant opportunities. You need only register and provide a list of keywords describing your interests. Some alerting services are available at no cost, while others charge a fee:

ScienceWise.com
This site for science research and engineering professionals provides a combination of free and paid-for services. Members have access to ScienceWise's "Small Business Center" and to the FEDIX Opportunity Alert (FOA), a free e-mail service that provides updates about funding opportunities.

National Science Foundation E-Bulletin
The E-Bulletin is a daily electronic bulletin that announces key dates on which grant proposals are due at NSF for the current 4 months.

Community of Science Funding News
COS Funding News is a free weekly newsletter that advises you of new and updated research grant information in more than 20 categories, encompassing discipline, geography, and level.

National Institutes of Health Guide
Each week the NIH transmits via e-mail the Table of Contents information for that week's issue of the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts.

The Foundation Center's RFP Bulletin
This weekly electronic bulletin provides a roundup of recently announced Requests for Proposals (RFPs) from private, corporate, and government funding sources.

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