For one, the available government grants today depend on what happened last year. It might be hard to believe, but there are thousands of available grant programs that go completely unused. What happens is someone passes a bill to make $x amount of money available to help minority children get into private high schools, as an example. The government allocates millions of dollars for these programs, does not advertise them, and nobody knows that they even exist.

The next year when the government budgets for the grants they are going to make available, they will remove all the funds from “unclaimed programs” and use it elsewhere. As a result, that grant program is no longer available, but new ones have popped up.

Another reason grants come and go is that many of them are offered by small, non-profit groups. These not-for-profits have a mission to help women in business, for example, but they quickly run out of money themselves. As a result, they lose their eligibility to offer these programs the following year.

While billions of dollars are available, there is a limited surplus of money. The government may allocate $30 billion in debt grants, but once the money is gone, it is gone until the next year. Those who were able to act fast enough and apply for these grants early in the year were rewarded with this free money that they don’t have to pay back. Meanwhile others submitted an application for money that doesn’t even exist.

When you search the grant database, you’re able to see a list of the available grants at the local, state and national levels — and you can see how much money is left to be awarded. Since the government is mandated to give this money out, they tend to work on a first-come first-serve basis. Therefore the best strategy is to apply for as many grants as you qualify for, and regularly. That way you are not  relying on getting approved for just one program, but have the opportunity to receive several grant checks.