Programs can be engorged with money one year and fall off priority lists the next. The Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program/Fire Prevention and Safety Grants demonstrates this better than almost any other, as it had more than $500,000,000 available in 2006—and this year it has all of $2,750,000 (warning: .pdf link). In other words, the Department of Homeland Security, or Congress, or someone, ran out of money for or interest in firefighters.
This absurdly abrupt change in funding also demonstrates why you should apply for attractive funding opportunities as soon as you see them because they might be gutted next year. While old programs are seldom outright eliminated, it’s not unusual for zombie funding sources to keep lurching about without real funding. Occasionally they’ll spring back to life with an infusion of cash, but this is unusual without some impetus.
1 response so far ↓
1 Susan Kemp // Dec 4, 2007 at 5:45 pm
Dear Jake: I sent a similar announcement out to my grant subscribers. The question is how do we get them to actually pay attention to something so important? I’m working on a specific technology grant that will easily take my client a good nine months to prepare for submission. I’m worried about this grant also becoming a zombie grant since there are no guarantees it won’t up and disappear in 2008. The client keeps telling me “The funding has been there year after year. We’ve got time to get things ready.” As the consultant sometimes we have to accept that the best advice we have to offer may not be heeded. Its one of the toughest things about the job.
Leave a Comment