Grants are sums of money awarded to finance a particular activity or facility. Generally, these grant awards do not need to be paid back. Federal agencies and other organizations sponsor grant programs for various reasons. Before developing a grant proposal, it is vitally important to understand the goals of the particular federal agency or private organization, and of the grant program itself. This can be accomplished through discussions with the information contact listed in each resource description . Through these discussions an applicant may find that, in order for a particular project to be eligible for funding, the original concept may need to be modified to meet the criteria of the grant program. In allocating funds, grantmakers base their decisions on the applicant's ability to fit its proposed activities within the grantmaker's interest areas.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recognizes that lack of adequate funding may hamper the establishment of new or threaten existing environmental developing activities, such as solid waste management, in communities or non-profit organizations needing this kind of development. For this reason, EPA developed this program to help those communities and non-profit organizations identify financial assistance opportunities for their environmental-oriented development programs. Also, this program was developed to make it easier for applicants to produce more competitive grant applications.

TUTORIAL SECTIONS

Enhancing a Proposal	This section helps you to enhance the process of writing a proposal. Tips are provided within each topic.
Program Specifics	This section contains information on three topics: Environmental Justice (EJ), Environmental Education (EE) programs, and Environmental Justice Through Pollution Prevention Grants (EJP2).
Completing Forms	This section exposes you to the different forms an applicant might be involved during the grant application process. A help window describing what is needed for each form item is provided for the most common forms.
Mock Grant Writing Activity	In this section, you get the chance of practicing writing a grant proposal.
Examples	This section contains a real grant proposal sample for each of the 3 granting areas (EJ, EJP2, and EE).
Reference	This section provides links to EPA grant application forms and to EPA's strategy on environmental justice.
Resources/Contacts	This section lists federal and state sources of grants.
Glossary	This section contains definitions for technical terms used throughout this program.