A major factor in this growth growth is because the government is making more minority grant money available to small businesses owned by minorities.

Minority grant money is funding given to qualified individuals or business entities belonging to a minority. These funds may be used for many purposes: fostering minority education, benefiting a community where the majority of the population is composed of minorities, and generally facilitating development of minorities in business and community.

Minority grant money may awarded for projects, research, scholarships, or seed money. In general, grantors want to fund new, creative and innovative programs that have a specific goal, and broad reaching effects.

If you feel that your idea is not innovative enough, there is still hope for minority grant money for your project. There are instances where minority grant money is used to fund programs that have already been implemented. The only criteria, usually, is that the previous programs similar to yours have been successful.

Annually, minority grant money is allocated by the United States Congress federal budget process. Ultimately, it is Congress that makes the decision as to how much minority grant money goes to which agency, and the criteria for awarding grants to minority projects or businesses.

Once these federal budgets are approved, minority grant money are made available and made known to the public in the Federal Register. Minority grant money for the projects will be listed in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) at CFDA.gov.

Currently, the CFDA website offers several programs for minority grant money, such as the Minority Business Opportunity Committee (MBOC). The minority grant money is intended to not only aid in increasing minority opportunities but to also strengthen existing minority owned businesses.
It is run by the Minority Business Development Agency under the Department of Commerce.
Applications eligible for this minority grant money program are Federal, State or local government entities or quasi governmental entities, American Indian Tribes, colleges, universities, nonprofit organizations, and for project organizations.

Competitive awards for the MBOC minority grant money are determined by a panel evaluation of the applications, and includes such criteria as capability and experience of staff assigned to the project; techniques and methodology, creativity and innovation, resources and costs. Competitive applications are normally sought every three years, upon availability of funds and depending on the Agency’s priorities.

Originally posted 2009-03-24 10:03:12. Republished by Old Post Promoter.