If you run a small organization or you're applying for your first grant, many lists of opportunities feel written for someone else. The awards are large, the forms are long and the requirements assume a finance office you don't have.
Some opportunities are a much better match. This article explains what makes a grant workable for a small team, how to confirm each feature in the notice rather than guess, and what rules can work in your favor once you're awarded.
What makes a grant workable for a small team
No single feature makes an opportunity "small-organization friendly." Look for a combination, and then check each one in the notice:
- A plain, streamlined application. Federal rules ask agencies to write funding notices in plain language and to streamline them, particularly for opportunities intended to reach inexperienced applicants (2 CFR 200.204(c)). Whether a given agency has done so is something you can see for yourself.
- No cost sharing or a low one. Match can be a barrier for a small budget.
- An award sized to your project. A big award isn't helpful if you can't manage it.
- Eligibility that names organizations like yours. The list of eligible applicants is specific, and your type of organization is on it.
- Help available before you apply. Agencies may offer pre-application technical assistance, and the rules say it has to be accessible and widely available to all potential applicants, for example by posting answers to questions on Grants.gov.
Check each feature in the notice
Don't rely on a description of a grant, including a summary from a newsletter or a colleague. The notice is the only source that counts.
Eligibility. Under Appendix I to 2 CFR 200, a notice must give a complete and specific list of eligible entity types and any additional restrictions on eligibility beyond entity type. Read both. A program may list nonprofits and still restrict by geography, budget size or years of operation.
Cost sharing. The same appendix requires a notice to say whether cost sharing is required, and if it's not required, to say so. If it is required, the notice must explain how to calculate it and what types of cost count. If cost sharing isn't an eligibility requirement, the notice must also explain how proposed cost sharing will be considered in review. If it earns points, that's useful to know before you offer it. Cost share and match covers how to decide.
Award size. The summary information that 2 CFR 200.204(a) requires includes the total funding, the anticipated number of awards and expected award values. A narrow range tells you the agency has a project size in mind.
Application burden. Count the required components: forms, narratives, attachments and letters. Appendix I requires notices to list any requirements for third-party information, such as letters of support, and any documentation needed to prove eligibility, such as proof of 501(c)(3) status.
Registration. Most federal applicants must be registered in SAM.gov before submitting and provide a unique entity identifier. Grants.gov says registration is free and advises allowing up to 10 business days for SAM registration to become active, though it can take weeks or months if your information isn't verified. If you haven't registered, start before you decide to apply. Registrations before you need them has the sequence.
Questions. Notices must name an agency contact, and agencies that hold pre-application help, such as a webinar or a posted list of questions and answers, have to make it widely available. For a first-time applicant, reading those answers is often the fastest way to learn what the agency means by its terms. If your question isn't answered, send it to the contact before the deadline, not after.
Rules that help small organizations after the award
Two federal rules matter to a small budget.
The de minimis indirect rate. Under 2 CFR 200.414(f), recipients and subrecipients that don't have a negotiated federal indirect rate may charge a de minimis rate of up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs. The rule says the rate doesn't require documentation to justify its use and may be used indefinitely. These figures come from the revised federal guidance published in 2024 and effective October 1, 2024, so confirm in the notice which version governs your award. Indirect costs explained covers the details.
The single audit threshold. Under 2 CFR 200.501, an entity that spends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards in its fiscal year needs a single audit, and one that spends less is exempt from the federal audit requirements for that year. Its records still have to be available for review. This is not advice on your audit status; confirm it with your auditor.
A worked example
Say a small literacy nonprofit, with no negotiated rate, plans a one-year project. Here is its budget using the de minimis rate.
| Line | Amount |
|---|---|
| Salaries | $40,000 |
| Fringe benefits | $10,000 |
| Supplies and books | $5,000 |
| Modified total direct costs (MTDC) | $55,000 |
| Indirect at 15 percent of MTDC | $8,250 |
| Total request | $63,250 |
All the direct costs here are in the MTDC base, which includes salaries, fringe benefits, supplies, services and travel. Equipment, participant support costs and the portion of each subaward above $50,000 are excluded. If the project had also bought a $12,000 piece of equipment, above the $10,000 federal equipment threshold, that cost would sit outside the base and the indirect line would stay at $8,250.
Match the grant to the moment
A workable grant is only workable if you have the time. Before you commit, run it through five go or no-go questions. Also read the eligibility section twice, because the small print there can rule out an organization that looked like a fit.
It's fine to choose the smaller, simpler opportunity. A well-matched modest award that you can deliver builds a track record that makes the next application stronger.
Your next step
Pick one opportunity that you've been considering and score it against the five features above: plain application, cost sharing, award size, eligibility and help available. Write down the answer to each from the notice, not from memory. If three or more look workable, put the deadline on your calendar and decide within a few weeks whether you'll apply.
When you've chosen one, SoliContraX is built for the stretch between "we should apply" and "submitted". Upload the notice, approve a concept and work from a draft written from your own files and checked against what the funder asked for. Start your next application.
Sources
- 2 CFR 200.204, Notices of funding opportunities (eCFR)
- Appendix I to 2 CFR Part 200, Full text of notice of funding opportunity (eCFR)
- 2 CFR 200.414, Indirect costs (eCFR)
- 2 CFR 200.1, Definitions, Modified Total Direct Cost (eCFR)
- 2 CFR 200.501, Audit requirements (eCFR)
- Guidance for Federal Financial Assistance, 89 FR 30046, effective October 1, 2024 (Federal Register)
- Applicant Registration (Grants.gov)