Grants for Clean Technology Guidebook
How much cleantech grant funding can I get?

Summary

• Funding amounts vary significantly from program to program, but most grants cover a percentage of eligible costs up to a predetermined maximum.
• Some grants can be combined, while others cannot. These “stacking rules” will be outlined in the applicant guide. Make sure you read them! 
• Talk to funders about their program priorities whenever you get the chance. This can be a good way to learn about not-so-obvious X factors that affect funding decisions.

Grant amounts vary significantly, so you’ll need to refer to applicant guides to determine how much funding a particular program offers. In most cases, the grant will cover a percentage of eligible costs up to a predetermined maximum. Let’s look at how this works for different types of grants.

• Hiring grants can cover 20-80% of a new employee’s salary. Student hiring grants will have a modest cap of around $5000, since these programs are designed to support relatively short 12-16-week internships. Hiring programs for youth and other priority groups offer funding for longer periods (6-12 months), and have higher caps, anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000+. 
• Training grants can cover up to 100% of training costs for multiple employees! Typically, an annual limit of $10,000-15,000 will apply to each employer. 
• Market expansion and R&D grants can cover 50-75% of eligible project costs, and the caps for these programs are quite high. For instance, a market expansion grant could net you tens of thousands of dollars for an export project. Dollar amounts for R&D grants could be in the millions, but you’ll need to secure matching funds from non-government sources to qualify for these programs. 

Maximizing grant funding takes a bit of strategy. Some programs can be combined or “stacked,” while others cannot. If you are eligible for more than one program, you might have to assess which one will award a higher funding amount, and which one is more likely to approve your application.

If this was just a matter of evaluating your application against program criteria, it wouldn’t be so hard, but there are several other factors that come into play. Internal mandates and/or quota affect funder decisions, but these X factors are not always obvious to applicants. The best way to learn about them is to talk to funders about their program priorities. We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: stay curious, and ask questions whenever you get the chance!   
Curious about how much grant funding your small business qualifies for? Head on over to our grant calculator!