Grants for women are usually sourced through foundations. These grants are offered for many types of needs, i.e. domestic violence, education, housing, nutrition, short-term funding for assistance with rent or utilities, business expansion, or financial training, to name a few.
Occasionally state or Federal governments may offer assistance for minority-owned firms or education funding, and women are commonly included in that classification. There are foundations that offer women grants for applicants worldwide. Many foundations seek to address social inequalities, or provide seed money for women to start small businesses in countries that traditionally oppress women.
The current world economy and conflicts, as well as natural disasters, have resulted in a greater than normal number of women who need to find a way to support themselves and their families. In response, charitable organizations are responding by offering more grants for women than they may have had available in the past.
Grants for women may be part of a larger mission, or offered as stand-alone projects. In addition to searching for the term “women grants” it is useful to look for assistance in the specific area of need. Searching “educational grants for women” may produce better results than the more generic search term.
Many grants for women also include assistance that directly or indirectly benefit their children. Grants that provide for childcare, nutritional support, domestic violence services such as retraining, or educational grants are among those that may offer this type of support.
Women searching for help through women grants can often access free community or internet-based services to teach them to write grant applications. Some grantors such as local United Way chapters also offer workshops for prospective applicants. Grants for women offered by government agencies are more complex, and may require a professional or volunteer grant writer’s help, to properly organize and submit the paperwork. Churches, civic organizations and community non-profits are a good source to use to find such help.
