Introduction

Abstract

It was estimated several years ago that one out of five people living in the United States at the time was receiving some form of grant support.¹ Contrary to the commonly accepted belief that foundations do not make grants to individuals, the fact is that they do; but many of these grants are disguised as gifts to institutions. Corporations, too, support individuals, not only by means of scholarship programs for their own employees but also through the provision of a wide variety of services to others via a mechanism whereby grants are treated as business expenses. As for the federal government, a glance at the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance will indicate the vastness of possibilities for the individual grant seeker. State governments, too, support individuals with various programs, many of which originated from federal dollars. Even wealthy individual donors sometimes fund other unrelated individuals, either by means of outright gifts or by bequest. With such a wide range of funding sources and so many possible choices, almost any significant grant idea should qualify for some sort of funding.

“... all that dollars can do... is to find (or help train) a competent and devoted individual and give him time and tools and a place to work.”

F. Emerson Andrews

Philanthropy in the United States