The 2020 presidential election and grants: A tsunami of RFPs is likely, no matter who wins

This post was written just before the 2020 election but 2024 will be the same. Talking Heads: "Same as it ever was." New LinkedIn Newsletter from Seliger + Associates: Go to?www.seliger.com?to sign up for FREE GRANT ALERTS and click on BLOG to read more than 600 posts about grant writing at Grant Writing Confidential.

America is a day away from what one of my adult kids calls, “this shit-show election.” A bit harsh for me, but certainly, as Jerry Seinfeld might call it, a Bizzaro World election. Still, from a grant seeker’s or grant writer’s perspective, a tsunami of RFPs is likely roaring toward us. Despite media speculation, the amount of grant funds available almost inexorably goes up; this is due partially to the fact that the federal budget is a baseline, not a zero-based, system. The budget for the federal FY ’21, which began October 1, is essentially the FY ’20 budget, with a cost of living bump and whatever Congress added for COVID-19 and pet interests. With the possible exception of the first two years of the Reagan administration, I don’t think there’s ever been an actual, substantial reduction in federal discretionary grant spending. When your read the inevitable NYT or Washington Post story following a Republican victory about looming “budget cuts,” what’s usually being proposed is a percentage cut to planned spending increases—not actual cuts. Click here to continue reading.