The OpenGrants Blog

Notes From The Grant Economy

Funding programs, eligibility, and the craft of winning — written from the data in the OpenGrants database.

1,299articles and counting
Tips And ResourcesWho Drew the Line Decides If You QualifyNine open programs where eligibility is a boundary — a street list, a census tract, a zoning overlay. The real question is who can move the line.Tips And ResourcesNeighborhood Grants Don't Need a NonprofitFive open programs where the eligible applicant is a block, a household count, or one named resident — and what a city asks for instead of an EIN.Tips And ResourcesThe Grant That Checks Your Record, Not Your ProjectTen open programs where eligibility turns on a city ledger, a live license, or a report you still owe — the grant gates you can cure, if you start early.Tips And ResourcesThe Grant That Binds the Next OwnerNine Maryland preservation programs where the award is a purchase — and what you hand over is recorded against the land, binding owners who never applied.Tips And ResourcesA Grant You Can Only Get by BorrowingTwelve Maryland records indexed the same day show why the words grant and loan on a listing tell you almost nothing about what you owe later.Funding FridayFunding Friday — September 18, 2026: Money That Is Already WaitingFive open programs that opened early, reopened after a first round, or never close at all — and what a standing offer changes about how you plan for it.Tips And ResourcesThe Eligibility Test You Already PassedTen open records where an approval a household already holds — SNAP, energy assistance, a tax credit — is itself the eligibility test for the next program.Tips And ResourcesWhen a Partner Is Eligibility, Not a Bonus PointFive open programs ask for a partner in five different ways — from a scoring preference to a threshold your co-applicant's paperwork can fail on your deadline.Grant SeekersThe Funder That Already Sends You a BillNine open records where the grantmaker is a utility, an electric co-op or a credit union — and eligibility runs on a service map, a round, or a price list.Grant SeekersToo Big to Apply, Too Small to QualifyEight open records screen your finances before your program: a cash-on-hand ratio, an expense floor, an income ceiling, and a cap set by your own budget.Grant SeekersYour 501(c)(3) Letter Does Not Answer the QuestionEleven open records draw the tax-status line in different places — narrower than 501(c)(3), wider than it, or met by a sponsor the next program refuses.Tips And ResourcesMiss the Workshop, Miss the GrantNaperville's mandatory workshop closed two weeks before its application opened. On ten records, a required meeting is a deadline no deadline field reports.

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