NACo’s Grants Clearinghouse makes finding money easier

With the budget constraints and revenue uncertainties currently faced by many counties, outside revenue sources, such as grants, are becoming an increasingly important aspect of a county’s financial structure. Federal and private foundation grants can be valuable revenue sources for counties. However, having the time and patience to locate grants, which counties are eligible to apply for, is not always easy.

In an effort to help counties with this difficult process, NACo has developed the Grants Clearinghouse. The Grants Clearinghouse streamlines and simplifies the grant-seeking process for member counties.

The Grants Clearinghouse is a major initiative for NACo’s Research Division, with the purpose of establishing a central location that provides member counties with a current and comprehensive source of county eligible grants.

This is a multifaceted project that allows counties the convenience of a one-stop location for external funding opportunities, including both federal and private grants. The mission of the Grants Clearinghouse is to provide a service that lessens the burden and confusion of members by providing comprehensive and specific information and tools regarding federal and private sources of external funding.

The Grants Clearinghouse consists of three main sections: a searchable database containing only grants that counties are eligible to apply for (although, not all grant programs in the database are currently funding projects or accepting applications), an up-to-date Web site listing grants that are currently funding projects and accepting applications, and an e-mail notification system to alert counties of newly announced grants.

The newest feature of the Grants Clearinghouse is the grant notification service. Member counties can now sign up to receive e-mail alerts of newly announced government grants and private foundation grants.

The two areas that set the new grant notification system apart are, first, only grants which counties are eligible to apply for are e-mailed; second, the counties’ ability to receive grants notification by interest area. This means that a county only receives e-mail notification of grants that are in its area of interest, or it can choose to receive e-mail notification of all newly announced grants.

For example, if a county is interested in grants that focus on providing funding for training or equipment for first responders it would select to receive all grants dealing with homeland security. If, however, the county does not specify an interest area, it can receive notification for all newly announced county-eligible grants. By providing these features, the county is not forced to sift through grants for which it has no interest.

To receive e-mail notices of new grants visit www.naco.org. On NACo’s homepage, run your cursor over the top to "County Resource Center," then click on "Grants Clearinghouse." Lastly, click on the link to sign up for e-mail notices under the heading "Grants Clearinghouse."

The second service provided by the Grants Clearinghouse is an up-to-date Web site listing federal and foundation grants currently accepting applications and for which counties are eligible to apply. This page is updated as new grants are announced.

A searchable database of federal grants is another service of the Grants Clearinghouse. This database contains a comprehensive listing of federal grants, all of which are county eligible. However, many of these grants are not currently funded or accepting applications. But, counties can still use the database to search for potential funding sources that could come available in the future.

Having all these services under one roof on the NACo Web site significantly benefits member counties. The services provided by the Grants Clearinghouse allows member counties to search for government and private grants easily and efficiently, thereby helping to meet the fiscal needs of the county.