Why apply for such status? As mentioned already, there are benefits available. These include exemption from federal income tax and eligibility to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Another is exemption from certain employment taxes, as well as state income, sales, and property taxes. The U.S. Postal Service can also offer to reduce postal costs.

A 501(c) (3) status assures that grants given by philanthropic foundations and other institutions to a certain organization go to legitimate beneficiaries. In fact, such status is one of the many requirements to be eligible to apply for grant funding. Such status is also recognized by individuals and corporations that give donations to non-profits.

Organization and Operation

In order to be eligible for tax exemption, non-profit organizations must be responsibly organized and operated for charitable, educational, literary, religious, and scientific purposes, including the prevention of cruelty to children or animals, promotion of national or international amateur sports competition, as well as organizations testing for public safety.

Non-profits seeking federal tax exemption must be organized as either a corporation, trust, or unincorporated association. Organizational documents such as articles of incorporation or association, or trust papers must strictly meet the requirements stated in the IRC’s section 501(c) (3).

In terms of operations, the organization must:

- Not participate in any campaign activity for or against political candidates seeking a local, state, or federal office

- Not carry out a business with the general public that is similar to for profit organizations

- Make sure its earnings do not inure against any private shareholder or individual

- Operate for the benefit of private interests such as those of its founder, the founder’s family, its shareholders or persons controlled by such interests

Common Types of 501(c) (3) Organizations

1. Charitable – These are organizations that promote relief of the poor, the distressed, or underprivileged people; erect and maintain works, monuments, or public structures; work to advance education, science, or religion and lessen the burden of the government; uphold human and civil rights; toil to eliminate prejudice, discrimination, juvenile delinquency, and deterioration of the community.

2. Educational – These are organizations that include primary, secondary, college, professional, or trade schools; groups that conduct public discussions, forums, or lectures; groups that provide instruction through correspondence, television, or radio; and other institutions such as museums, zoos, planetariums, symphony orchestras, day-care centers, and youth sports organizations.

3. Religious – These include churches, synagogues, temples, mosques, and other similar places of worship. Applying to attain such status provides assurance to church leaders and followers that they will benefit from tax exemptions.

If you think you caught the attention of a prospective funding source, the next step is to sustain its interest on your project by explaining the problem, as well as the solution you intend to carry out. This is done by developing and presenting persuasive and succinct arguments in your statement of need.

Some tips to remember are the following:

- Carefully choose the appropriate facts or statistics that support the project. Gather as much accurate facts or statistics as possible. By all means, avoid using out-of-date or incorrect information.

- Statements based on generic or generalized information will more likely earn you failing marks from potential funders. Strike a balance between facts and analysis, and make sure that everything you include is related to the project or your organization.

- Inspire hope and solution to the reviewer. Do not use excessive emotionally-appealing statements that create a grim and hopeless scenario. This will give the funding source the impression that your project is not worth investing at all.

- Reviewers are supposed to inspire a solution rather than have reservations with any reason to hope. Possible sources of information include authorities in the field, or the actual experience of your organization.

For grant seekers who do not have any knowledge whatsoever in applying for a grant, they need a simplified way of developing a proposal. They also need to familiarize themselves with the basic processes and aspects, from planning to the submission phase, which include the following:

1. Creating a timetable of tasks and deadlines based on the guidelines of funding sources and your organization’s need.

2. Conducting your research on the information you need in order to develop your proposal, such as identifying the need or problem, interpreting your findings, presenting your solution, and listing potential funding sources that are matched to your project.

3. Selecting the funding source that best matches your type of project, determining the correct approach of your proposal, and compiling all the information about the application guidelines.

4. Finding out the appropriate means to contact the funding sources, setting the best time to get in touch with them, revising the proposal if necessary to comply with specific requirements, structuring and developing each section of your proposal, and writing the draft of your proposal.

5. Carefully reviewing the proposal after completing the draft, and referring to the funding source’s application guidelines in order to make sure that all essential information is included.

6. Adding any missing information and proofreading the entire draft to look for misspelling, as well as grammatical and syntax errors.

7. Submitting the proposal and adhering to further instructions

On the other hand, there is what we call a narrowband. The narrowband usually refers to dial-up internet connection that varies in speed. A narrowband usually runs from speeds of about 50 to 60 bytes per second while a broadband could run from a speed of about 60 kilobytes per second or more.

In this modern time, where everything needs to be done fast and instantly, the Internet plays a vital role in our everyday life. The Internet is the fastest tool to communicate and transact business anywhere, any time. According to Nielsen//NetRatings, 13 percent of Americans are connecting via broadband in the U.S. Broadband users at home grew 49 percent year after year in 2003.

With the abrupt surfacing of this technology, the federal government has come up with grant opportunities to address broadband projects.

BTOP, or Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, is one of the government grant programs that provides grant opportunities for the deployment of Broadband Technology Opportunities Program in underserved areas.

Most of the time, a non-profit organization finds it hard to locate grant donors that are clearly interested in their cause that funds their geographic location, and will really donate to their mission. When the search for a perfect funder becomes too difficult, non-profit organizations tend to wait for any grant available which can be interpreted as similar to their organization, but is not focused exactly on what they do. Commonly, an organization will wait for and seek available grants and try to adjust to fit into the grant’s specifications. This can be expensive on the part of the organization since it does not guarantee that the proposal will be approved.

To be able to successfully find a grant donor that will fund your project, you must first know specifically where your organization is geared. Also, you need to be specific on your target issues or cause, the benefits that can be gained, and who will benefit from your project.

The key to find a donor that will actually give is to know the art of prospecting and how to do it right. Prospecting is the art of locating a grantor that will fund your project. Time and continuous effort must be spent to locate donors that are more likely to give to your organization, than those that are not.

Plan it out

Before applying for a grant, make sure that you know and understand the real need in your geographic area. Locate grant opportunities that will really get funded. After understanding the need, prepare in advance your timeline, set of activities, expected results, the target audience, and the standards on how you will evaluate the results.

Write an honest, complete, and easy to read proposal

Some organizations prefer hiring a grant writer or a consulting firm to do the prospecting. But ordinary people can look for prospective donors and create proposals without the aid of writing companies. Usually successful proposals are home-grown and written by one of the members of the organization.

In writing a proposal, be honest and precise in providing necessary information. Remember that donors are well-educated with the issue or problem they are passionate about and know which services and programs will work best. Therefore you must let them know that your organization have the capacity and the “know-how” to conduct the activity.

A proposal must not be generally written. The needs must not be overstated. A good proposal must be:

-Tailored to reflect the organization’s philosophy and interest.

-Realistic and self-explanatory.

-Able to communicate the need to be addressed.

-Able to educate donors about your project and activities.

-Well documented to support your arguments.

-Not exaggerating results.

-Specific and precise in stating ideas.

-Able to provide a specific breakdown of expenses and costs to be incurred during the project.

Conduct a thorough research

Conduct a research on funders, corporations, and specific institutions who give grants. Donors provide grants for a specific cause or issue that has great appeal to them.  Often, they give donations to a certain community or population that they value.

Try to list down the names of foundations that provide donations to organizations working and serving in your region; those that give to causes or issues that your organization is addressing; and those with a proven history of giving to other organizations that are similar to yours. Make sure that the requirements of your prospective donor fit your cause without the need for adjustments.

No grant donors are exactly the same. Donors sometime require other supporting papers, so it is best to familiarize yourself with their requirements.

Be grateful of refusals and rejections

Although most non-profit would rather receive grants than refusals, treat rejections as blessings. Remember that during your research, you have identified them as potential grant donors. Even if they decline your application, they are still potential donors with which you can apply in the next giving cycle. If you get rejected, you can always ask the donor why your proposal got rejected. This allows you to fully understand the donor and provide you with a better opportunity of getting the grant in the next giving cycle. Remember: you can always apply again.

Manage the grants received

Use the provided grant effectively. Make sure that each spending is according to what you have stated in your proposal. Track the progress of the program, keeping a detailed record of your beneficiaries and their feedback on the program. Provide an end of grant report whether the donor requested for it or not. This will assure that the donation they have given you was properly spent and provided results.

It is important that the executive directors do not lose hope in seeking funding for their projects. There must always be persistence and dedication in finding grant donors that are interested in non-profit organizations that are doing the same work as you do. You must remember that there are millions of donors in United States. The one who’s willing to give to your initiative may just be around the corner waiting for your grant proposal to be handed to them.

1. Funding organizations fund certain projects easily than others.
Organizations or foundations easily supports project based proposal than capital, equipment, operating, and endowment. Scholarship funds can be achieved, but you have to follow particular instructions.

2. Most funding organizations do not fund routine and ordinary expenses.
For instance, if an organization awards a scholarship to a student, his or her expenses or bills will not be included in her scholarship fund. Parents or guardians must pay the ordinary expenses related to their studies.

3. The project must address a serious problem common or recognized by the funding organization such as street children, orphan, poverty, or homelessness.

If your project is about building an orphanage that will keep homeless children away from the street, then you must search for foundations or organizations that fund projects that improve the well-being of orphaned children in United States or around the world. If your project addresses an unrecognized problem by the funding organization, then you will find your project very difficult to be funded.

4. As a funding organization, it is more likely that they will fund projects that will have a great impact to a considerable number of people.
If your project will only benefit few people, then funding organization will only think twice or will never consider the project. Choose project that will benefit more people, so that you will have more chances to be funded.

5. Funders need to know what will happen to the project in the future if they are funded.

One way of informing the funders is by providing a sustainability plan on their proposal, so that funders will be properly informed and guided.

Here are the elements of a successful grant proposal:

Cover Letter and Application Form
Cover letter introduces the project and the grant seeker to the funding organization. It also present that the project is related to the goals of the organization or foundation.

Letter of Intent
Letter of intent conveys your intention to apply for a grant to their foundation. It also provides information about the project and the grant seeker.

Summary or Abstract
It is the part of the proposal wherein the summary of the whole proposal is written. The summary must answer the questions what, who, where, when, and how.

Organizational Information

This is where you will provide detailed information about your organization. Its history, background, mission, goals, and future plans. You may also include the people who are related to the organization, if there’s any.

Need Assessment
In this part you must clearly present the need for the project. You may include statistics, graphs, or surveys that show and explains the need for such project.

Project Description
Here you will describe the project, how did you come up with the idea, the people that will assist you in implementing the project, and what are your future plans.

Project Significance
This part will clearly explain the importance of the project and who will benefit from it.

Evaluation Plan
It is a carefully sought out plan that will measure the success of the project. The plan will describe what will be measured; who will measure; and how it will be measured.

Sustainability Plan
This part will clearly describe how they will sustain the project after the grant is spent.

Budget
This part will contain the amount of the needed fund. Aside from the amount, funding organization requires grant seekers to include budget justification.

Attachment
Application Form – Some funding organization has their application form that need to be filled-up. It contains viable information required by the organization or the foundation.

Necessary Documents

This may include resumes of key personnel; verification of tax-exempt status; financial statement; blueprint or layout of the facility; and other files required by the funder.

A successful grant proposal will greatly affect the possibility of funding, as well as the realization of your goals, so you must carefully organize your thoughts and the information needed to further justify the importance of your project.

What Are Non-Profits?
Basically, a non-profit is an organization meant for non-commercial purposes, which promotes and advances issues or matters of private or public interest. Those with 501(c) (3) status are exempt from income and sometimes property taxes, and capable of receiving tax-deductible charity contributions.

To avoid mistakes, it is best to read reliable books and surf the Internet for information on non-profits, or consult an attorney who is an expert in the field.

Mission Statement: Its Purpose and Importance
During the same period, you must formulate a compelling and distinct mission statement of your organization based on the values, purposes, and services that you intend to do. It must be as concise and short as one to two sentences.

Choosing the Management Team
- Take time in choosing carefully the people who will comprise your organization’s board of directors.

- Identify the persons who actually support your mission and those who will most likely impart their time and abilities. Decide on the selection process and set the qualifications required to be a board member.

Documenting Your Organization
- Prepare and file your Articles of Incorporation and by laws. These are official statements that must be filed with the appropriate state agency in relation to the establishment of your organization. Requirements governing how to incorporate may vary in each state.

- Filing these documents is particularly important because it protects both the board and staff from legal liabilities that may be incurred of faced by the organization. Again, it will be best to consult, or obtain the services of, an experienced attorney.

- Request help from experts to develop an effective budget plan, accounting system, and record-keeping system.

- To apply for a 501 (c) (3) status, you need to obtain from the local office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Form 1023 for the application and Publication 557 for the detailed instructions.

- Since application papers are important legal documents, it will be wise to get the assistance of an experienced attorney in preparing your papers. Do not forget to pay for the filing fees.

Regardless of whether you will or will not hire employees, you need to obtain a federal employer identification number (EIN) or the federal ID number. This is for the proper identification of the organization when tax documents are filed. You may obtain this from the IRS; just ask for Form SS-4 when you are applying for EIN.

If your non-profit organization plans to conduct fundraising activities, then you must fulfill the requirements under charitable solicitation laws. This is done by obtaining a permit or license and subsequently preparing an annual report and financial statement.

If you think you caught the attention of a prospective funding source, the next step is to sustain its interest on your project by explaining the problem, as well as the solution you intend to carry out. This is done by developing and presenting persuasive and succinct arguments in your statement of need.

Some tips to remember are the following:

- Carefully choose the appropriate facts or statistics that support the project. Gather as much accurate facts or statistics as possible. By all means, avoid using out-of-date or incorrect information.

- Statements based on generic or generalized information will more likely earn you failing marks from potential funders. Strike a balance between facts and analysis, and make sure that everything you include is related to the project or your organization.

- Inspire hope and solution to the reviewer. Do not use excessive emotionally-appealing statements that create a grim and hopeless scenario. This will give the funding source the impression that your project is not worth investing at all.

- Reviewers are supposed to inspire a solution rather than have reservations with any reason to hope. Possible sources of information include authorities in the field, or the actual experience of your organization.

For grant seekers who do not have any knowledge whatsoever in applying for a grant, they need a simplified way of developing a proposal. They also need to familiarize themselves with the basic processes and aspects, from planning to the submission phase, which include the following:

1. Creating a timetable of tasks and deadlines based on the guidelines of funding sources and your organization’s need;
2. Conducting your research on the information you need in order to develop your proposal, such as identifying the need or problem, interpreting your findings, presenting your solution, and listing potential funding sources that are matched to your project;
3. Selecting the funding source that best matches your type of project, determining the correct approach of your proposal, and compiling all the information about the application guidelines;
4. Finding out the appropriate means to contact the funding sources, setting the best time to get in touch with them, revising the proposal if necessary to comply with specific requirements, structuring and developing each section of your proposal, and writing the draft of your proposal;
5. Reviewing carefully the proposal after completing the draft, and referring to the funding source’s application guidelines in order to make sure that all essential information is included;
6. Adding any missing information and proofreading the entire draft to look for misspelling, as well as grammatical and syntax errors; an
7. Submitting the proposal and adhering to further instructions.

What these scammers often tell business owners, who are mostly less knowledgeable and defenseless from swindlers, is that there is free money for their businesses and that these can be easily acquired. Moreover, these scammers claim that they can help business owners to easily search, apply, and acquire free money and use them for their businesses.

After much persuasion and false claims, these scammers will then offer business owners with their products and services. Often times, these products are called “grant books”, which are claimed to contain all necessary information that business owners will need in order to efficiently apply and eventually acquire the money they need for their businesses. Most of the time, scammers claim to have 100% success rates in all their products and services.

Naturally and evidently, after all their sales talk, business owners will eagerly purchase their products and immediately send their payment. Unsurprisingly, after receiving the payment, these scammers instantly vanish and lose communication with the poor business owners who bought their useless product.

What these poor business owners lack are the true facts about business grants. If they will only extend a little of their time to research about business grants, they will actually be able to acquire valid and legitimate information. With a little more research, they will be surprised to realize that there are, in fact, limited business grants available and that business grants are very different from other grants, by means of application and eligibility. Most importantly, they will understand that business grants are limited in amount and will not be able to satisfy all their financial needs.

Business grants are very limited in quantity
Business owners must be highly aware that business grants are very limited and are offered for a certain span of time only. There are only a few business grant funding opportunities. Those that are regularly provided by various funding organizations have very specific focus and requirements for the applying businesses. Moreover, most funding organizations intend to allocate their funds to charity and philanthropic efforts, placing little attention and funds to business grants.

Business grants have a tough competition and strict eligibility
Business grants are more restricted and probably have the toughest competition among all types of grants. This is primarily due to its strict eligibility requirements and very limited quantity.

Before funding organizations post an open business grant funding opportunity, they cautiously study, evaluate, and analyze the immediate need for their geographic focus as well as on their goals and mission. These requirements and criteria will help them easily evaluate each applicant and determine those who need the grant most and will use the grant to satisfy the community’s need, as well as further their mission.

Moreover, since there are numerous other business owners seeking for financial assistance, the selection process is not only very grueling, but also very strict; choosing only the most eligible and deserving applicant. Those who pass the selection criteria will receive business grants depending on the amount they need, the total number of grantees, and the amount of available funds.

Most business grants are limited in amount
Since most business grant providers aim to financially assist all deserving applicants, they oftentimes equally divide their total available funding to the number of grantees or restrict the use of funds. In particular, some grant providers restrict the use of funds to construction activities only, while others do not fund this particular item. As a result, grantees receive only a portion of their total grant amount, oftentimes not even close to half of their required funding capital. Most grant providers believe that through this, they will get the most out of their available funds.

These truths will indeed enlighten business owners and give them an overview of basic information about business grants. Equipped with these necessary pieces of information, most business owners can then refrain and avert from scammers and start on the right direction in establishing their businesses.

To further help business owners in their grant seeking, it is suggested they hire the services of a grant writing company. Grant writing companies can help business owners write a well-justified grant proposal, which will be their weapon to convince funding organizations in providing a portion, if not all, of their financial needs.

According to Free Government Grants web site, here is the partial list of Government Grants: 

- Tuition assistance for undergraduate and graduate students
- Money for students who wish to become teachers worth $30,000.00 
- Financial assistance for students who wish to become bilingual education teachers
- Money of $6,000.00 plus tuition and fees for teachers to return and get a graduate degree
- A college student can receive a $1,500.00 grants per year
- Money for undergraduate or graduate students in health, science, or mathematics worth $7,500.00 a year
- Money for women and minorities to go to graduate school worth $7,200.00 per year
- White students who wish to attend black colleges can receive free tuition fee
- Financial assistance for high school students who are in the top 15 percent of their class
- Financial assistance for high school students who are in the top 20 percent of their class
- Money for accounting, veterinary and students pursuing 19 other professional careers worth $5,000.00
- Free tuition to children of law enforcement and firefighters killed in the line of duty
- Financial assistance for dependents of veterans killed or disabled in military service
- Financial assistance for students who wish to attend private college
- Internship to work towards your major
- Summer jobs in government for high school and college students
- Money to attend private college
- Money for flight training
- Money for students and teachers to travel and study overseas
- Tuition, books, and fees for Vietnam Veterans
- Government grants to students with 25 percent Native American Blood
- Grants to scholars with a grade point average of 3.01 or better
- Grant money to attend community college
- Grants for minorities going to school full-time or part-time
- Tuition, fees, and daycare for the disabled
- Money for students studying to become dental hygienists, midwives, therapists, and speech language pathologists worth $15,000.00
- Grants to students with high Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores
- Grants to study law, medicine, dentistry, nursing, or pharmacy
- Money for part-time students
- Grants for tuition, room, and board
- Money for child care while you go to school or work part time
- Money to go to school if you lose your job in a small town
- Money for students who are studying areas of national need
- Money for women and minority students to go to graduate school
- Scholarships for computer science, mathematics, and engineering students
- Money for students who wish to study early childhood education and violence counseling
- Money for students interested in careers in public service
- Money for high school and college students to study and travel during the summer worth $2,500.00
- Health education assistance loans
- Health professional scholarships for American Indians
- Money to train to become a nurse anesthetist
- Financial assistance for disadvantaged health professional students
- Money for minorities pursuing a health profession education
- Money for disadvantaged students to study nursing
- Grants for pediatric primary care residency training
- Money for health care students who wish to train in rural areas
- Money for health care students who wish to study job safety and health
- Scholarships for National health Service Corps
- Health professionals student loansMoney to train to be a professional nurse
- Nursing student loans
- Grants for graduate training in family medicine
- Scholarships for students in child development
- Scholarships for students in exceptional financial assistance
- Money for dental students for advanced residency training
- Grants for nurse anesthetists
- Grants to states to give scholarships to those who wish to serve the community
- Money for health professionals who wish to be in public health
- Scholarships for health care professionals
- Money for American Indians who wish to be a health care professional
- Money for American Indians who need extra studies before acceptance into a health care program
- Money for American Indians to attend school
- and the list goes on!

To be able to receive grants or loans from the government, you just need to apply for the available government grants. Each grant program has its own specific application instructions and requirements; you must religiously follow these instructions to increase your chances to receive the assistance.

Every county, state, or city has its own firefighting teams that are responsible for dealing with fire incidence. Firefighting teams usually consist of six members each.

Firefighting is considered a profession of helping because every single day firefighters look forward to being of service to others by:
- Putting out fires in a home or in large buildings;
- Saving people who are trapped in burning buildings;
- Saving trapped animals;
- Treating people who are hurt or ill; and
- Responding to medical emergencies during fires; road accidents; floods; bomb incidents; spillages of dangerous substance; and rail and air crashes.

Firefighters work in:
- Airports;
- Factories;
- Forests; and
-Rural areas

Special firefighters:
- Smoke jumpers
These firefighters parachute from airplanes to remote areas to fight forest fires.

- Fire marshals and fire inspectors
These firefighters work to prevent fires by conducting building inspections and implementing standard building codes. To further inform the community, they visit schools to teach fire safety.

- Fire investigators
These firefighters investigates what is the cause of the fire and where it started by collecting evidence from the scene and talking to witnesses.

Firefighting is a demanding profession due to its urgency whenever duty calls. In effect, these firefighters live at the fire station, so that they can quickly respond to any call of assistance. Aside from being demanding, it is also a dangerous job because they risk their lives every time they respond to an emergency call. Firefighters constantly undergo trainings, lectures, exercises, and practice drills as a part of the job to keep them active, effective, and efficient professional firefighters.

Any existing group or organization often needs assistance in keeping their operation stable and effective. Even a fire department can ask financial assistance in the form of grants from the federal government to aid them with their financial needs. According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, grants are awarded to fire departments to enhance their ability to protect the public and fire service personnel from fire and related hazards.

There are three types of grant available for fire departments:

Assistance for Firefighters Grants (AFG)
The primary goal of this grant is to meet the firefighting and emergency response needs of fire departments and non-affiliated emergency medical service organization. The grant program has helped firefighters and other first responders to obtain critically needed equipment, protective gear, emergency vehicles, training, and other resources needed to protect the public and emergency personnel from fire and related hazards.

Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response Grants (SAFER)
This grant program is created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations in order to help them increase the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities.

Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (FP&S)
This program support projects that enhance the safety of the public and firefighters from fire and related hazards. The primary goal of this program is to target high-risk populations and reduce injury and prevent death.

Assistance to Firefights Fire Station Construction Grants (SCG)
The program provides financial assistance directly to fire departments on a competitive basis. Its goal is to build new or modify existing fire stations in order that departments can enhance response capabilities and protect the community from fire and fire-related hazards.

These programs are dedicated to the true heroes of America, the firefighters.