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Hey guys, I'm workin a project for a new communications room for a volunteer ambulance service, I'm trying to find one or many funding sources that will bring the total cost of the project under $50,000 for the organization.

This project includes not only the radio consoles, but all radio trancievers, base stations, a repeater for 1 uhf radio, an approx. 80 foot tower.

The agency is located in the heart of a township containing about 16 volunteer ambulance services, we are looking to be a backup to the PSAP, as well a relay to 800mhz interop. channels in the event of a local emergency.

Any source of funds, both governmental and private foundations would be appreciated.

There are a number of good sources to contact about grants and the likes. Being in the middle of moving around, all my hard copy on this subject is who knows where. You can go look at some web sites and walk yourself through them.

Go look at the following sites:

http://www.apcointl.org

http://www.fema.gov

http://www.dhs.gov

http://www.safecom.gov

Your going to find links to other sites. Just work your way through them. Bear in mind that most of the grant money you find will be 1 to 2 years away. Your kind of on the short end of the stick here.

You should also check with your state and find out the contacts there. Most of the DHS money goes through the state before going to the end users. Many times the state has funds that are not commited due to no one asking for them.

Also bear in mind that the well is starting to dry up. There is less and less money each year that is available. The money is there, but not as much as the year before.

If you do your homework, you can get large amounts of money. You will have to meet certain date deadlines to spend this money. I know of one county agency that was faced with the problem of spending $500,000 in just a couple of months. They had waited almost too long to spend it. Then on top of that they had another $750,000 that had to be committed by the next 6 months. Must be nice to almost have too much grant money.

The larger your agency is the easier it is to get the money. You just have to have a plan in place. Many times it takes local matching money to be able to get the grant funds. This could be on a dolar for dollar match or on say a 10% local match. It depends on the grant.

Hope this helps to get you started.

Jim



[quote="mavericknet"]Hey guys, I'm workin a project for a new communications room for a volunteer ambulance service, I'm trying to find one or many funding sources that will bring the total cost of the project under $50,000 for the organization.

This project includes not only the radio consoles, but all radio trancievers, base stations, a repeater for 1 uhf radio, an approx. 80 foot tower.

The agency is located in the heart of a township containing about 16 volunteer ambulance services, we are looking to be a backup to the PSAP, as well a relay to 800mhz interop. channels in the event of a local emergency.

Any source of funds, both governmental and private foundations would be appreciated.[/quote]