Grants

Finding Funding

Finding corporate and foundation funding

The Office of Government, Corporate and Foundation Relations has access to information about foundations and government agencies offering grant opportunities. Upon submission of the Request to Initiate form, faculty and staff may request an appointment to receive support in researching and evaluating various grant opportunities against the needs of your project or program.

Tips for evaluating corporate and foundation funding opportunities

Making personal contact with a foundation's program officer is often an important step in evaluating whether a grantor's funding priorities sufficiently match your funding needs. This exchange of information early in the process helps ensure grant seekers focus their efforts most efficiently, and it can also help refine your funding idea or better conform it to the funder's guidelines.

If you would like to contact a foundation or corporation, it is important to first contact the foundation relations officer, to coordinate your approach. In all cases, the Request to Initiate form must be submitted prior to requesting direct contact (formal or informal) with a grantor regarding funding opportunities. This helps ensure that any long-standing relationships with foundations are not jeopardized by disjointed contact or requests by Bethel. Furthermore, the university may have a pending proposal or active grant agreement that could affect, or be affected by, your new proposal.

Finding government funding

Government funding is available at the federal, state, and county levels. As the Office of Sponsored Research becomes aware of grants, they will either publicize on the faculty email lists or direct it to the person for whom it would be a good fit. They encourage faculty as much as possible to use professional associations and contacts to be aware of potential grant funding. The following websites offer searches for available federal and state grant sources: