Letter to my younger cousins on grantseeking that my friends may find helpful:

I recently took a trip to the Foundation Center in Washington DC to research grants for our new "China Study Center" at work. My office actually paid me a $200 a day salary to go learn how to apply for free money. That was cool.

I was tasked to look at "non-profit" funding, since my company has a non-profit 501(c)3 status. But, I also looked into individual grantseeking and scholarship info. I found that there is so much money out there for students like me and you, and we just need to have the patience and assertiveness to apply for it.

Below are some good links:
http://foundationcenter.org/

http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/faqs/html/finaid.html

http://foundationcenter.org/getstarted/guides/student.html

There is limited info on their website, and they keep trying to sell subscriptions to their database for quite a bit of money, since that is how they make money. However, the good news is that you can use their entire 500,000 grant database in one of their office libraries for free. They have locations in NY, DC, and SF. I highly recommend a half day trip over there to look at their collection of books and electronic database. The places have a dozen computers, so there are plenty of electronic access. The computer search has subject fields that really help you narrow down grants that apply to you. Plus, they have books that list grants and also books that teach you how to write your grant proposal.

I took 2 free hour long seminars - basic proposal writing, proposal budgeting. I also recommend that you take these free seminars. There are no gimmicks, just helpful information and teachers who speak from experience. Day-long seminars cost $190, but you may be able to go for free on a scholarship.

Grantwriting skills are so impt for you now, and could be a big part of your future - esp if you get a PhD and need constant research funding. It is the backbone for non-profit finance, consulting in the public sector, and virtually all international development projects. You might as well learn it while you are young.