When most people think of government grants, they assume that only big organizations such as schools or hospitals are allowed to be on the receiving end, but that notion is completely false. In fact, many of the great ideas that we take for granted today were helped by grants from the government or independent foundations, and the processes you need to obtain the many grants available can be easily learned.

Getting grants is not rocket science, as Robert H. Goddard learned when he received a small grant from the Hodgkins Fund of the Smithsonian Institution to build a high-altitude version of his invention, a rocket that could travel in a vacuum. When he succeeded in launching a rocket that flew 41 feet in the air for 2.5 seconds in 1926, some of his neighbors may have laughed, but Charles Lindbergh convinced philanthropist Harry Guggenheim and his father David that Goddard's ideas had merit. For the next 11 years, the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation funded Goddard's work, which ultimately led to America placing a man on the moon.

An example of the combined efforts of public and private grants leading to an educational phenomenon is found in the story of Sesame Street. These days, the entire world recognizes how Big Bird and his friends have helped millions of preschoolers learn their ABC's, colors, and numbers, but back in the early 1960s, Sesame Street's producers, the Children's Television Workshop, needed help from the National Education Association to get started. Later, the Carnegie Corporation funded a feasibility study on the use of preschool education, and when results proved positive, Carnegie provided the Children's Television Workshop with a 2-year grant to launch Sesame Street. Now the show is completely self-supporting, but grants from institutions such as the John R. and Mary Markle Foundation helped the show become a success in earlier years.

The conclusion to be drawn from these stories, as well as from other well-known innovations like the polio vaccine (funded by the Sarah Scaife Foundation), 911 telephone service (aided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, which provided 44 grants in 32 states, and later by federal government grants to create a nationwide system), and white lines on highway shoulders (championed by the Dorr Foundation), is that grants can help turn worthwhile ideas into reality.

Every day, many new grants become available, and smart-minded Americans have learned how to identify grant opportunities that can fund their dreams. The processes to get grant money can be complicated, but sites such as www.GovernmentGrantsFree.net provide access to programs that can simplify the quest. History is made by people who take chances, as seen by the examples above, and learning about what grants can do for you should be at the top of your list ? whether you want to change your life, or change the world.