HOW TO APPLY | Go Northern VA

GO Virginia Grant Application: GETTING STARTED

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Step 1

Review GO Virginia Manual

Review the GO Virginia Program Manual to better understand what you need to know before beginning to write your Pre-application.

You will need to understand the type of grant you may want to apply for and which of the Region 7 industry clusters you're focusing on, and investment strategy.

Step 2

GO Virginia Alignment

Before you begin, ask yourself the following questions about your project:

Does it fit within one of our region's target growth industries?
Does it lead to the creation of higher paying jobs?
Does our region already have programs in place to address your proposed issue or problem? It cannot be duplicative.
Does it attract out of state revenue and/or generate exports across state lines?
Does it demonstrate collaboration among business, education, and local government?
Do you have the potential to include matching funds on a dollar-for-dollar basis from non-state resources?
Does it involve two or more localities that commit to provide a minimum local match?

Step 3

Choose Type of Grant

Planning, Feasibility, or Pilot

For feasibility/market studies, pre-development activities and business, workforce or innovation strategies that set you up for success in implementing projects.

PER CAPITA

GRANT

For implementation projects like workforce development, business accelerators, research commercialization endeavors, business site development, and more in Region 7.

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STATEWIDE COMPETITIVE

GRANT

Primarily for implementation projects, stronger if involving two or more regions, and designed for projects with the legs to compete for funding at the state level.

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If you’re having trouble figuring out the best grant type for you, please contact us. We’re here to help!

Keep in mind these two funding requirements:

All projects must have support from two or more localities
All GO Virginia funds must be matched by non-state funds (from federal/local governments, foundations or from the private sector

Step 4

Address Key Points

COLLABORATION

The most successful grant applications show a high level of collaboration and industry engagement with local businesses and organizations.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

Before beginning the application process, you should make sure your organization is eligible to apply for the grant.

Local government entities or organizations may apply to receive a GO Virginia grant, including regional government entities, nonprofit organizations, regional economic development organizations, regional chambers of commerce, planning district commissions, and colleges and universities.
GO Virginia is not an economic development incentive program. Individual private businesses may not apply to receive funding nor can any grant serve to benefit a single private business.

For more info on specific eligibility requirements, contact us.

MATCHING FUNDS

All three grant applications require matching dollar requirements. Be sure to explain how you intend to gather your matching funds.

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

The grant evaluation team will need to be able to clearly see the ROI and data that backs up the potential investment.
What will the total investment cost in dollars?
What is the expected return in the first year?
In five years?
In ten years?

See template provided here.