On other hand there is still a vast source of funding out there for your organization. But, even more so today than ever, in order for you to get your share of treasure that’s out for you. You must approach matter of grant getting in an organized and systematic manner.

And you must make process of obtaining grants a regular and ongoing activity for your organization. Here are some guidelines to help you get grant funds you seek:

ŸCarefully assess your funding needs by asking yourself a number of very important questions, such as: How much funding do you need? How will this funding be used? Who will benefit from this funding? And, how will this funding be used? Having clear answers to these kinds of questions are a key part of any request for funding, and will help you determine kinds of grantors you should be approaching.

ŸMake a list of your target grantors specific to your needs. You can do this by going to main branch of your public library. Where you should find some kind of grant research center with a wealth of grant funding directories you can use.

ŸIf you live in a very small community and your library doesn’t have a grant research center. You should contact The Foundation Center, 79 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10003, (212)620-4230 where you’ll find a wealth of grant directories too, that you can purchase directly from them. Be sure to request a copy of their current catalog when you contact them.

Debit and Credit - Learning Accounting Basics

The terms ‘debit’ and ‘credit’ can be confusing when learning accounting for first time but why is that? If you go to bank and put money into your account then teller will say, “I am crediting your account with X amount of dollars,” on other hand take money out of your account and teller will say, “I am debiting your account X amount of dollars.” Plus with debit machines everywhere and everyone carrying at least one credit card these two terms take on a whole new meaning.

Unfortunatley what we just clarified about why terms debit and credit are so important in accounting world debit and credit, have to be unlearned quickly. Why is that? in accounting, term debit is used to describe a bank account and that money owed are actually credit accounts – exact opposite of what we’ve been taught elsewhere.

In accounting terms, neither credits nor debits are ‘bad’, but they need to equal each other in order to balance themselves out in end. Every itemized transaction, no matter if it’s a deposit or a bill to be paid has both a debit and credit posted in accounting world. This is what is called ‘double-entry accounting’ – so when you go to bank, and teller says, “I am crediting your account X amount of dollars,” she is also debiting an entry of a similar amount without telling you this. The same goes for when teller tells you, “I am debiting your account X amount of dollars,” – accounting will show that a credit of same amount is being made elsewhere at same time.