GRANT FUNDING EXAMPLES
HOSPITALS
Hospitals have been using the non-profit for-profit model for decades. Because many hospitals are for-profit, they have partnered with a non-profit for the purpose of improving the funding opportunities. Non-profits associated with hospitals are typically known as the Hospital Auxiliary or Friends of the Hospital”. This organization is able to raise funds through both donations and grants that would be otherwise unavailable to the for-profit hospital.
FINANCIAL LITERACY
In the past year, in the wake of the economic crisis, the government has earmarked a significant amount of funding to help educate the general population on financial literacy. Therefore, several for-profit financially related companies have formed a non-profit financial counseling (literacy) company to both provide the financial literacy counseling services and as a lead-in or referral source to their existing for-profit business, such as a mortgage company.
REAL ESTATE PARTNERSHIP
Many real estate investors are looking for ways to leverage grant money toward their pursuit in increasing their property holdings. Although it is next to impossible for a for-profit real estate investor to receive grant money to purchase a speculative investment property, there are other approaches which will be much easier. One common model is for the real estate investor to partner with one or more non-profit organization. There are many examples where the for-profit real estate investor has partnered with, and helped a non-profit business with their sales and fund-raising. Helping the non-profit raise sufficient funding guarantees that the non-profit will have sufficient funding to pay a premium mortgage rate to the for-profit investor. So although grant funding is probably unavailable to straight out purchase property, grant funding can be used by a non-profit to make the monthly mortgage payments.
ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY
My friend runs an Assisted Living Facility (ALF) for seniors. In seeking to keep client costs at a minimum, she has turned to finding grant funding. Initially she developed a laundry list of needs including transportation, landscaping, furnishing and activities to name a few. She quickly found out that there was no one grant that would provide funding for all her needs at one time. Instead, she hired a grant writer to research funding opportunities for each of her priorities. Through a series of grants over time, she was able to raise over $100,000 which funded several normal business expenses and was able to keep client cost lower, which over all made her business much more marketable.
GENERAL CONTRACTOR
A general contractor in Miami has learned the process of using grant money for his construction projects. Because it is difficult for a for-profit company, like a construction builder, to obtain grant funding to directly support their business, this general contractor works exclusively with non-profit organizations. His approach to these churches, schools and other non-profit business was that he would help their organization get grant funding to renovate and fix-up their property, in exchange, he asks that the non-profit hires his general contracting company to perform the work. It is a win-win for both parties.
CHURCH EXPANSION PROJECT
A local church in Florida was in the planning phase of constructing a recreational building on their property. They decided to contact a grant writer to see what funds might be available to help them. After reviewing the situation the grant writer recommended that the church make a few modifications to the building to improve the possibility of receiving grant funding. In addition to adding green components to the design, the structure was improved to withstand hurricane force winds so it could act as a community emergency shelter when needed.
AUTOMOBILE FINANCING
It is very difficult to obtain grant money to purchase a vehicle for your business. However, one ingenious non-profit found a grant award that paid for the mileage used by the vehicle. So even though the grant funding would not directly cover the monthly auto premiums, the reimbursement from the monthly mileage expense was enough to cover the monthly loan payments and to provide some regular maintenance as well.
MURAL ARTIST
There is a local artist that enjoys painting wall sized murals. To help with finding sufficient number of clients, the artist helps non-profit organizations in obtaining grant funding for their organization which would in turn pay for the cost of him painting a wall sized mural. This has become popular with many different types of non-profits as they can receive a professionally designed and personalized to their organization wall sized mural paid for through grant funding.
PROPERTY INVESTOR
In the recent economic and housing crisis, some real estate investors have been seeking grant sources as a means of leveraging some of their costs. One property investor, who specializes in low-income rental properties, converted a modest sized low-income housing apartment building into a low-income condominium complex. One of the restrictions in purchasing a condo unit was maximum income. These condos were designed to provide a means for low-income families to get into home ownership. The advantage to the developer is that there are many grant programs and low or forgivable loans for first time home owners and low-income housing owners. Where as the individual unit owners can more easily obtain grant funding to upgrade their own units, these upgrades led to an overall upgrade and increased value of the investment property.