Grants Glossary

Every term you should know

For when you’re just not sure, use our Grants Glossary to get back on track!

• Application: This is what gets you the money! A grant application is a collection of forms, documents, and attachments that you fill out and submit to a delivery organization.
• Delivery Organization: Think of a delivery organization as a ‘middle-man’ between you (the grant receiver) and the government (the grant funder). A delivery partner, or delivery organization, creates the grant program, receives the grant applications, and chooses the recipient for the grant funding. An example of this is Venture For Canada.
• Grant: Hint: This is what you want! Grants are free money that help you grow your business. They give you the opportunity to grow your team, expand your staff’s expertise, scale your business, and develop your products to gain a competitive edge. #boom
• Granting Agency: If you’re wondering where grant money comes from, it’s granting agencies. These are governmental agencies, at both the provincial and federal levels, that distribute grant funding throughout the economy. They are responsible for allocating funds to delivery organizations.
• Granting Cycles: Some grants happen once a year, other grants have a few cycles. Overall, like a business has ‘seasonality’ or ‘cyclicality’, so does the grant world! Grants are typically distributed 1–4 times a year and have varying application period lengths.
• Hiring Grants: Looking to grow your team? Hiring funding supports your recruitment activities to ensure you find the best employees for your business.
• Market Expansion: Planning to scale your business into a nation-wide competitor? Business expansion funding reduces the considerable financial burden of developing and implementing your growth strategy. BONUS: This source of funding is greatly underutilized.
• Matching: The term matching refers to matching funds, which is the amount you must conditionally raise outside of grant funding to receive reimbursement. A specified portion of a project’s cost is not covered by the grant. For example, a hiring grant may cover 75% of an employee’s salary up to $10,000, leaving you $2,500 to provide from other sources. Keep in mind, you can use a second grant to cover this amount!
• Non-Dilutive Funding: You like owning your business, right? Grant funding is non-dilutive because it does not require the transfer of any equity stake in your company. You keep #100
• Reimbursement: You probably already know that a reimbursement is the repayment of incurred costs. This is the only way in which grant funding is provided — you do not get the cash up front. This is why you must have cash on hand to utilize a grant. PS — Pocketed’s Grant-Based Financing can help you with this.
• Reporting: The grant program will not be able to reimburse any expenses without project reports! They’ll also want to hear about all of the success you’ve achieved. Reporting is the process of providing regular project updates throughout its lifecycle, including information on expenses incurred. This includes paystubs, receipts, and success stories.
• R&D Grant: Have a product or service project you are looking to launch? Research and development funding offsets your project costs allowing you to innovate in your field.
• Training Grants: Could your existing employees benefit from learning in-demand skills? Training funding allows you to support your existing staff in retraining and development initiatives.

Some other useful terms

• Bursary: Just remember, a bursary is the same as a grant!
• Contribution: Contributions are pretty much grants but require a higher level of reporting. These will typically be performance conditions, outlined in advance, that must be met to obtain reimbursement.
• Donation: Unlike grants, donations are restriction-free funding for your business. But don’t get too excited — the government isn’t handed out these. Donations can usually be obtained from a close friend or family member who isn’t expecting anything in return. Let’s be honest, grant funding keeps us burden free and is much more consistent.
• Investor Funding: Think opposite of grant funding. When seeking investor funding you’ll need to give up a piece of your business in return for money — loss of equity!
• Loan: A loan will provide you with capital today but will require a form of security in return for the funds. This personal guarantee could come in the form of your home or any other asset of great value. Default on the loan — say goodbye to the family home.

If you have further questions, refer to Pocketed Grants 101 or visit hellopocketed.io to view our comprehensive FAQ! Pocketed is here to help!