Local-Government Funds
Local governments are your city, township, county, regional coordinating body such as a water district, or other such mechanisms. Local governments rarely have grant opportunities, and those that do provide only limited programs. But they do issue RFPs.
Local governments are more likely to issue requests for proposals that are actually for work they wish to have completed. For instance, the city council or similar unit of local government might decide they need to build a new parking lot. They will send the job out for bids and call the process a “request for proposals,” but of course, this is not a grant program.
Block-grant funding has become more scarce in recent years. And, even though a local government grants the money, grantees must comply with federal reporting requirements. Many now require extensive quarterly reporting on progress toward achieving outcomes.
Don't cross local government off your list of grantors, however, because sometimes they receive larger grants from the federal government that they can redistribute locally, such as Community Development Block Grants (CDBG) or Local Law Enforcement Block Grants (LLEBG). The local government determines the priority issues to address with these funds and then issues requests for proposals to address those issues.
Block-grant funding comes from a source other than the local tax base. Usually it's state or federal money. Block-grant programs are often broad in scope and the issues they cover, such as housing, elder care, child welfare, and health. In addition, these programs are likely to be offered annually, and can be used as a source of operational funding for nonprofits that meet the criteria.
