Dear David,
We are excited to share upcoming grants and federal funding opportunities for local governments, universities, community organizations, businesses, and individuals.
You can find up-to-date information on open federal grants here. This spreadsheet will be updated throughout the month and includes a wide variety of grants related to agriculture, community development, disaster prevention and relief, food and nutrition, transportation, and much more. The grants can be easily sorted and filtered by category to help find grantsrelating to specific needs.
Additionally, you can find an extensive list of funding opportunities for local governments run and updated regularly by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs here. This user-friendly dashboard includes federal and state funding opportunities and can be filtered by category, program, award type, awarding agency, and eligible applicants.
Grant News:
The EPA has an open Environmental and Climate Justice Community Change grants program with funding for community programs to implement climate action and pollution reduction plans. The rolling application is open until November 21st, 2024. Interested applicants can find more information on and apply for technical assistance specific to this grant here. So far, no EPA Region 8 organizations (the states of CO, MT, ND, SD, UT, and WY) have applied to this grant, meaning CO applicants who apply now would face less regional competition during the selection process.
Additionally, the EPA's now-open Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Program provides funding for municipalities and school districts to replace Class 6 and 7 heavy-duty vehicles in their fleet with zero-emissions vehicles. 70% of the funding is set aside specifically for clean school buses, and slightly over 40% of the funding is directed to areas in nonattainment with EPA standards for air quality. Within our district, Jefferson and Broomfield County applicants have been designated by the EPA to have a competitive advantage. The application deadline is July 25th, 2024.
Grants on the Horizon:
The EPA has selected the JSI Research and Training Institute as the Region 8 grantmaker organization for their Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Grantmaking Program and expects to open up subawardee grant applications in early summer. This is a great opportunity for smaller nonprofit organizations and local governments to apply for awards in the $150,000-350,000 range to address environmental and public health efforts, and was specifically designed to be more accessible to smaller organizations with less organizational capacity to apply to federal grants.
The Department of Transportation anticipates opening several major grant programs in the coming months, including the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (expected to open in June), Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation Program (PROTECT) (expected to open in July). The DOT is expected to open up the Low-Carbon Transportation Grants Program to local governments in late May. Those interested in future transportation grant announcements can check the DOT key announcement dates webpage here.
FEMA is expected to open up the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant later in the summer to fund preparedness efforts against cyber attacks.
The National Institutes of Health has announced that it intends to open a grant program to fund telehealth and digital health care programs later this year in July.
Technical Assistance:
Something I hear constantly when meeting with local governments and organizations is that they are interested in taking advantage of federal funding opportunities, but simply do not have the capacity to to submit a competitive application. The following section lists freeresources to make applying to and managing grants more feasible.
Help for Local Governments:
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has a University Technical Assistance Program which connects graduate students with smaller local governments for affordableassistance with planning around architecture, housing, renewable energy, and town processes. Colorado's Division of Local Government has a more extensive list of freeresources and technical assistance for local governments here.
Grant Navigation, Writing, and Local Match Help:
The Office of the Governor established 14 Regional Grant Navigator positions to help provide free technical assistance for local governments looking to apply to Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grants. Interested local governments can find the contact information for their grant navigator and find more information on the program here.
The State of Colorado allocated a total of $10 million in aid for local match requirements(the portion of a project that a federal grant does not cover) to help smaller local governments with less resources to apply for Bipartisan Infrastructure Law grants. Interested parties can find more information here.
The State of Colorado set aside $1 million for grant writing and technical assistance for municipalities and state agencies applying for grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Interested parties can find more information here and apply for assistance here.
Housing and Community Living:
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offers free in-depth one-on-one program assistance to eligible grant applicants. Applicants can apply for such supporthere, and should note that a determination can take up to 3-6 weeks. For simpler questions, grant applicants can view information on HUD programs here, view trainings here, and submit questions here. Additionally, interested parties can find a dashboard of open and forecasted grants with tie-ins to housing on the HUD website here.
The Administration for Community Living funded Grandfamilies and Kinship Support Networkis a national technical assistance center that provides free assistance to organizations that serve families in which grandparents, other relatives, or close family friends are raising children. The ACL also funds the Disability Employment Technical Assistance Center, which provides free technical assistance organizations that provide support services and career resources for disabled individuals.
Water:
Following the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Environmental Protection Agency expanded the Water Technical Assistance program to help communities take advantage of the historic $50 billion in water funding. Interested parties can apply for freetechnical assistance to address water, wastewater, and stormwater projects here. The EPA'sWater Infrastructure and Resiliency Finance Center also provides free technical assistance. The EPA offers free technical assistance directly to water utilities through the Creating Resilient Water Utilities program.
Following a webinar for local governments on water grants, the Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) posted a list of technical assistance resources and organizations for local governments and organizations. Interested parties can find more information on their websitehere. Interested local governments can also access free technical assistance from DOLA outlined here by reaching out to their DOLA Regional Manager. The names and contact info for DOLA Regional Managers is listed here.
Clean Energy:
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs (DOLA) has compiled a list of federal and state technical assistance resources for local governments looking to strengthen their electrical grid resiliency here.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is providing free technical assistance for rural small businesses, farmers and ranchers interested in applying to the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Interested parties can find more about and apply for their assistance offerings (including help with completing the technical reports and feasibility studies) here.
Local governments and nonprofit organizations can receive technical assistance around clean energy questions and projects through the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Clean Energy to Communities Program. Interested parties can find more information and apply for assistance here.
Local governments interested in implementing solar energy in their communities can reach out to SolSmart, a program funded by the Department of Energy, for free technical assistance. Interested parties can apply here. Additionally, the Department of Energy has compiled a list of technical assistance programs and funding opportunities here, and has a State and Local Solution Center with more resources here. Nonprofits interested in solar can find more resources in a DOE webinar here. The Clean Energy Connector and National Community Solar Partnership are two additional resources from the DOE for communities wishing to implement solar energy.
Transportation:
Local governments and transportation departments can get low-to-no cost technical assistance on transportation projects through the Federal Highway Administration's Local Technical Assistance Program. Interested parties in Colorado can apply for help with the Colorado LTAP here and access free online trainings here. Those interested in highway projects can find a list of grants funded by the Inflation Reduction Act here and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law here.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) has released technical assistance resources, aRural and Urban Electric Vehicle Project Toolkit, checklist for how to prepare to apply for DOT grants, Benefit-Cost Analysis Template, Rural Grant Application Toolkit, Transportation Data and Equity Hub, an explainer on local match requirements, a Strategic Workforce Development Toolkit, and application checklists for ways to make your application more competitive when it comes to job creation and climate impacts.
The Federal Highway Administration is providing technical assistance to transportation agencies on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while planning and implementing transportation projects. Interested parties can apply for assistance here.
In early April, the DOT announced the selection of their technical assistance provider, which will be housed under the Reconnecting Communities Institute (RCI). Interested parties working on projects to connect previously isolated communities with transportation infrastructure should expect to be able to reach out to RCI for technical assistance later in the year.
Electric Vehicles:
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation has Clean Bus Planning Awards to provide technical assistance for school districts hoping to electrify their bus fleet. They are taking rolling applications for technical assistance.
The Joint Office of Energy and Transportation provides free technical assistance to organizations, school districts, transportation agencies, and municipalities on "the planning, deployment, operation, and maintenance of a national network of electric vehicle (EV) chargers, zero-emission fueling infrastructure, and zero-emission transit and school buses." Interested parties can find more here. Additionally, they have a Public Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Playbook with more resources on expanding EV infrastructure.
Environmental:
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has created the Community Change Grants Technical Assistance program and the Community Change Equitable Resilience Technical Assistance programs for disaster-prone areas. Eligible parties can receive free grant applications, project planning, and post-award assistance through these programs. Interested parties can request assistance here.
The EPA has an Environmental Justice Thriving Communities Technical Assistance Centers (TCTACs) Program, which offers free grant writing and research assistance to organizations applying to grants with an environmental justice tie-in. Interested parties in Colorado can apply for assistance here. The EPA also offers free online trainings on how to develop a budget and manage an EPA grant.
Early Childhood Development:
The Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center, funded through the Department of Education, offers a variety of technical assistance resources for early childhood education and childcare providers.
Broadband:
The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) launched a mapping tool to help grant awardees to identify local requirements around permitting and environmental concerns in areas where they are expanding broadband infrastructure.
Caregiving and Volunteer Program Capacity Building:
The Community Care Corps is a technical assistance center funded by the Administration for Community Living (ACL) that works to provide assistance to caregiving organizations and organizations with volunteer programs. Interested parties can find more about their technical assistance here and view their library of resources here. The ACL has additional resources for caregivers here.
Scientific Research:
The National Institutes of Health has a Small Business Applicant Assistance Program that provides technical assistance for small businesses with a health care focus applying forPhase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)/Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) funding. Interested applicants can apply here.
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is hosting a series of free webinars for early-in-career scientific researchers on how to prepare a National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant application through July. You can find more information and apply here.
Application Tip of the Month:
If you're not sure whether an open annual federal grant is a good fit for your project, check the awarded parties, amounts, and projects from previous years are similar to your organization, project, and the amount of funding you are asking for. This can be a helpful, easy way to get a sense of whether your project is a good fit for the grant and what the funding priorities of the program in previous years have been.
Reminders from last month's newsletter:
Transportation:
The DOT has an open Active Transportation Infrastructure Investment Program (ATIIP) for state and local governments to improve and expand their pedestrian walkways and bikeways, particularly in ways that connect communities. The deadline to apply is June 17th, 2024.
Additional open DOT grants include:
Public Safety and Law Enforcement:
In mid-April, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) announced the opening of the Nonprofit Security Grant Program (NPSG) for non-profits (including places of worship) that could be at risk of terrorist attack. Interested parties can find more information about the grant and a series of technical assistance webinars on the program here. Applicants who have not received NPSG funding in the past will be prioritized.
The state of Colorado has its own NPSG program that will open later in the year for applicants not awarded the FEMA grant (more here), and has a collection of resources for applicantshere. FEMA also announced the Homeland Security Grant Program, Transit Security Grant Program, and Emergency Management Performance Grant Program. All four FEMA grantshave an application deadline of June 24th, 2024.
The Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) the following open grants:
Clean Energy:
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) created a number of tax credits aimed at incentivizing the development, creation, and implementation of clean energy technologies in the United States. The Biden administration has opened up the Direct Pay program, allowing state and local government entities and nonprofits to directly receive payment of the tax credits for eligible activities, lessening the red tape and paperwork required to receive these payments. Interested parties can find more information on how to partake in the program here.
The IRA also created the Qualifying Advanced Energy Project Credit §48C Tax Credit program, which institutes a tax credit for up to 30% of investments in projects around clean energy, critical mineral and material processing, and greenhouse gas emission reductions. This historic investment allocated $4 billion for tax credits for qualifying projects, with the program expected to reopen for a second round in the coming months. Interested parties can find more information on the program here.
The Rural Energy of America Program (REAP) provides funding for rural small businesses, farmers, and ranchers to install renewable energy or energy efficiency improvements on their property. They are accepting rolling applications for two rounds of funding with deadlines on June 30th, 2024 and September 30th, 2024.
The Department of Energy has an open Renew America's Schools Program, which funds clean energy installation and energy efficiency improvements in school districts. Interested parties can find more here, and should apply by June 13th, 2024.
The Department of Energy's Clean Energy to Communities Program offers coalitions of local governments, community organizations, and utilities extensive in-depth assistance and funding for implementing clean energy. Interested parties can find more information here and should apply by June 14th, 2024.
The Colorado Energy Office has opened up the Geothermal Electricity Tax Credit application from now through June 30th, 2024. Interested parties can find more information and applyhere.
Water:
The Bureau of Reclamation has open WaterSMART grants to fund projects by local governments and nonprofits in the Western United States that conserve water and use it more efficiently. The deadline to apply is October 30th, 2024.
The Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has Colorado Water Plan Grantswhich support water storage, conservation, and other projects that help implement the Colorado Water plan. Interested parties can find more information here and should apply by July 1st, 2024. DNR also has an open Water Supply Reserve Fund grant for local governments and nonprofits with rolling deadlines on June 1st, August 1st, and October 1st, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking rolling applications for Emergency Community Water Assistance grants for rural local governments and nonprofits recovering from a disaster that affected local water quality.
The Colorado Department of Natural Resources has a comprehensive dashboard of water funding opportunities both at the state and federal level.
Rural:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development office has an open Socially Disadvantaged Groups grant for technical assistance for rural cooperatives and Cooperative Development Centers. Interested parties can find more information here and should apply by June 3rd, 2024.
Social Services:
The U.S. Department of Homeland Services has an open Shelter and Services program for local governments and nonprofits serving areas which have experienced an influx of migrants. Interested parties can find more information here and should apply by June 13th, 2024.
Workforce Development:
The U.S. Department of Labor has two open grants for nonprofits supporting women in the workforce: the Fostering Access, Rights, and Equity Grant program (deadline of May 28th, 2024) and the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) Technical Assistance Grant Program (deadline of June 10th, 2024). Additionally, they have an open grant for workplace training for older adults open to nonprofits and local governments (deadline of June 10, 2024).
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSA) has an openMinority Fellowship Program to support the recruitment and training of behavioral health providers from minority backgrounds. The deadline to apply is June 10th, 2024.
The U.S. Department of Commerce's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program for CHIPS supports small businesses working to develop microelectronics products and services. The application deadline is June 14th, 2024.
Health Care:
The Health Resources and Services Administration has an open grant for maternal and infant home health care (deadline of May 29th, 2024) and one for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders screening and intervention (deadline of June 21st, 2024).
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has an open Minority Research Grantprogram for health care researchers at Minority Serving Institutions. Applicants should apply by June 3rd, 2024.
The Administration for Community Living's Alzheimer's Disease Programs Initiative provides federal funding for local governments and nonprofit organizations to provide community services for individuals with Alzheimer's or dementia. The application deadline is June 11th, 2024.
The Colorado Department of Human Services has an open grant program that provides funding to local governments and nonprofit organizations to provide services to deaf, blind, and disabled individuals. The deadline to apply is June 30th, 2024.
The Administration for Children and Families Next Generation Child Support Employment Services Demonstration grant program is open until July 3rd, 2024.
Food and Agriculture:
USDA also has an open SNAP Process and Technology Improvement Grant program to improve the duration and experience of the SNAP application process for SNAP applicants. The grant is open to local governments and food insecurity related nonprofits, and is due June 18th, 2024.
The USDA has an open loan program for agricultural producers to build affordable housing for farmworkers both on the farm (rolling applications) and off-site (deadline of June 18th, 2024).
Assistance for Local Governments:
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has a Local Planning Capacity Grant Program to assist with planning, infrastructure, and housing projects. The grant program deadline is June 3rd, 2024. Interested parties can find more information here, and should schedule a required pre-application meeting here.
Environment:
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has an open Regional Conservation Partnership Programopen to local governments, school districts, and nonprofit organizations to carry out conservation programs. The application deadline is July 2nd, 2024.
Housing:
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced a grant for the development of low-income housing for seniors. Interested applicants can find more information here and apply by June 20th, 2024.
The Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade (OEDIT) has anInnovation Housing Incentive grant program to fund housing production. They are accepting applications on a rolling basis.
Energy:
The Colorado Department of Local Affairs has an open Microgrids for Community Resilience Program that provides funding to municipalities and utilities for electric grid resilience planning and construction projects. The application deadline is June 13th, 2024. Interested parties can find more grid resiliency-specific technical assistance resources here.
The Department of Energy has announced its Communities Sparking Investment in Transformative Energy grant as part of its Local Government Energy Program. This grant provides funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and has a deadline of May 31st, 2024.
The DOE also recently announced the Resilient and Efficient Codes Implementation program funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to improve building energy efficiency and lower energy costs for homeowners. The application deadline is June 6th, 2024. Interested parties can learn more about technical assistance specific to building energy efficiency here.
If you know someone who would like to be added to my monthly grants newsletter, they can sign up for the newsletter here. You can also find resources shared in previous grant newsletters here.
If you would like to request a letter of support from our office, please send an email to co07grants@mail.house.gov. We ask that those requesting letters of support send their application materials and a draft letter of support, and that applicants allow at least a week to process the request. Letter of support requests within a week of the deadline may not be able to be processed in time.
Please reach out with any questions, letter of support requests, or if you would like my office to keep an eye out for federal funding in specific areas.
