In a small town, the person who would write the grant is often also the clerk, the treasurer and the one who answers the phone. The nearest partner may be forty miles away, and the application asks for a level of detail that a larger city has a whole department to produce.
For many small applicants, then, the limit is staff time more than eligibility. This article shows how to find funding that is meant for places like yours, how to share the work across a region and how to build a project that a small team can deliver. You'll finish with one local contact to call.
Find out how each program defines "rural"
There is no single federal definition, and a program's rules decide whether you qualify. Read the notice's own wording before you assume.
- The Census Bureau's definition is by exclusion. For 2020, an urban area must encompass at least 2,000 housing units or have a population of at least 5,000. Rural is "all population, housing, and territory not included within an urban area".
- Programs often set their own limits. USDA's Community Facilities Grant program, for instance, defines "rural" and "rural area" as a city, town or unincorporated area with a population of 20,000 inhabitants or less, using figures from the most recent decennial Census, with exclusions set in statute.
A town can sit inside a Census-defined urban area and still fall under a program's 20,000 limit. Write down the definition each program uses, and the data source it names, before you spend time on an application.
Look for programs that favor small places
Some programs reward small size directly. The USDA rule for Community Facilities Grants scores applications on a priority basis. Under 7 CFR 3570.67, a project in a rural community of 5,000 or fewer people earns 30 points, 5,001 to 12,000 earns 20 points and 12,001 to 20,000 earns 10 points. Income also counts: the lower the median household income of the population served relative to the state nonmetropolitan median, the more points the project can earn. The same rule gives extra points for projects that are consistent with the State Strategic Plan or that are for health care or public safety.
Say a hypothetical town of 3,200 wants a grant to equip a volunteer fire hall. On the population criterion it would earn 30 points. If the median household income of the people it serves fell below 60 percent of the state nonmetropolitan median, income would add another 30, for 60 points before any of the other priorities. The town hasn't won anything yet. It has learned that the program was designed with places like it in mind.
Eligible applicants matter too. The same rule's definition of "public body" includes a county, city, township, incorporated town or village, borough, authority, district, economic development authority and a federally recognized Indian tribe in rural areas. Check the current notice for the version of the rules that applies to the award you're pursuing.
Beyond federal programs, state agencies, regional commissions and community foundations often fund small places. Finding state and local funding covers where to look.
Share capacity across a region
If you can't hire a grant writer, you may still be able to share one. Regional organizations exist to do this kind of work.
One federal example is the Economic Development District. Under 13 CFR 304.1, the Economic Development Administration can designate a region as a district at the request of a district organization, if the region has an EDA-approved Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) with a program for intra-district cooperation, self-help and public investment. The district organization must have professional staff in economic development, planning, business development or related fields and a governing body that is broadly representative of the region's principal economic interests. A district organization is also required to hold public meetings at least twice a year.
You don't have to be inside a federally designated district to benefit from the idea. Regional planning commissions, councils of governments and county associations vary by state, so ask what yours does. Useful questions include:
- Does the organization write or review grant applications for member towns?
- Does it keep a regional plan or CEDS that funders expect applicants to cite?
- Can it act as the lead applicant, so that small towns join as partners? See pass-through funding and subawards for how that money moves.
A regional plan can also make a small project more credible. A reviewer who sees a town's request listed as a priority in a plan the region adopted treats it as part of a bigger picture.
Make a small applicant competitive
Capacity is the usual sticking point for small applicants. A few habits help:
- Show you can deliver. Reviewers will ask whether a small team can carry out the project. Describe who will run the project, what your community has managed before and how it will be monitored. Proving organizational capacity has examples.
- Scope to what you can finish. A modest, complete project beats an ambitious one you can't staff. If the work has phases, apply for one phase and explain the rest.
- Use local data, plainly. A census table and two paragraphs on what residents experience are worth more than pages of national statistics.
- Line up partners nearby. Hospitals, schools, a library or a neighboring town can share the load. Where to find partners lists places to start.
- Say no to poor fits. A go/no-go check protects scarce time.
Your next step
Find out which regional organization covers your town: a planning commission, council of governments, economic development district or similar group. Call or email one person there, and ask what grant help it offers and which regional plans you should cite. Write down the answer and keep it with your application materials.
SoliContraX was built for small teams doing a lot with a little. Upload the funding notice, approve a concept and work from a draft written from your own files and checked against what the funder asked for. See how to get started.