How to Verify Any Grant Listing in Five Minutes, Using Official Guidance
A five-minute routine for checking any grant listing against the funder's official page, using guidance from US and Canadian agencies.
Whether you are a founder looking for business funding or a student hunting for scholarships, you will run into listings of mixed quality. Some are accurate. Some are outdated. Some are scams. Government agencies in the U.S. and Canada have published clear guidance on how to tell the difference. Here is a five-step check built entirely from that guidance.
Step 1: Find the real funder
Every legitimate grant has a named funder: a government agency, foundation, school, or organization. Your first job is to find that funder's own page.
For U.S. federal grants, HHS states that "the only official access point for all federal grant-making agencies is www.grants.gov." For Canadian business programs, the Competition Bureau advises you to "visit the website of the government department by going there directly (not via an email link)."
GrantSift (https://grants.frontkiosk.net) makes this step fast because every listing links to its official source. Even so, the habit matters more than the tool: always end up on the funder's own page.
Step 2: Check for fees
This is the clearest test, and every agency agrees on it.
- HHS: "There are no fees associated with applying for a government grant."
- Grants.gov: "The government does not charge a fee for individuals or entities applying for a federal grant."
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre: "Government grant and loan services are offered free of charge by government departments or agencies."
If anyone asks you to pay to apply, to "process" an award, or to receive a list of government grants, stop. The CAFC specifically describes scam sites that ask for "an upfront fee, either to receive a list of available grants or to complete the application."
A note on GrantSift's own pricing, because you deserve a straight answer: GrantSift is free to search and browse, and every listing links to its official source. Paid plans (Pro at $39 a month, Lifetime at $97 one-time) add extra tools: funder contacts, saved grants with tracking, matches, checklists and a weekly digest. They are not application fees and do not provide access to any government program. Official grant information is free at the source, and every GrantSift listing sends you there.
Step 3: Check for guarantees
Real funders review applications and say no to many of them. That is why a guarantee is a warning sign.
- The Competition Bureau: "No one can ever guarantee that your business will receive such funding."
- HHS lists "This grant/scholarship is guaranteed or your money back" among the "tell-tale lines" scammers use.
GrantSift does not guarantee funding, and no honest tool can.
Step 4: Check who is contacting whom
Legitimate grants start with you applying. HHS notes that no legitimate federal employee "would ever call you and tell you that you qualify or have been approved for a grant for which you never applied." The SBA adds that it "only communicates from email addresses ending in @sba.gov," and that if someone is not using an official SBA address, "you should suspect and report fraud."
The CAFC also warns about a variation in which a hacked friend's social media account promotes a "free grant." If an opportunity reaches you unsolicited, verify it independently at the official source before doing anything.
Step 5: Check whether the details match
Once you are on the funder's page, compare it with the listing:
- Is the program still open?
- Do the eligibility rules fit you?
- Does the funding purpose match? The SBA notes that its grants are "limited" and it "does not provide grants for starting and expanding a business."
- Is the deadline the same?
If a listing and the official page disagree, trust the official page. Funders update programs, and the source is always the final word.
Why we built GrantSift this way
Look at the five steps again. Every one of them depends on reaching the official source. Scams work by blocking that path with fees, guarantees, and urgency. Good search tools work by shortening it.
That is the whole idea behind GrantSift: a grant finder for business and student funding where every listing links to its official source. We help you find opportunities and keep track of them. The funder handles the rules, the application, and the decision. We are not part of any approval process.
The agencies quoted here (HHS, Grants.gov, the SBA, the Competition Bureau of Canada, and the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre) do not endorse GrantSift or any private service. Their guidance is simply the best standard we know of, and we try to meet it.
Where to report suspected fraud
- U.S.: HHS and Grants.gov direct people to the FTC at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) and the HHS Fraud Hotline at 1-800-447-8477.
- Canada: the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, or the Competition Bureau.
The bottom line
Five minutes of checking can save you money and months of wasted effort. Find the real funder, refuse fees, distrust guarantees, be wary of unsolicited contact, and confirm the details at the source.
Start with listings that already link to their official sources at https://grants.frontkiosk.net.
Sources
- HHS, "Avoid Grant Scams": https://www.hhs.gov/grants-contracts/grants/avoid-grant-scams/index.html
- Grants.gov, "Grant-Related Scams": https://grants.gov/learn-grants/grant-fraud/grant-related-scams.html
- U.S. Small Business Administration, "Grants": https://www.sba.gov/funding-programs/grants
- Competition Bureau Canada, "Protect your business from fraud": https://competition-bureau.canada.ca/en/fraud-and-scams/tips-and-advice/protect-your-business-fraud-common-scams-targeting-canadian-businesses
- Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, "Grant and loan": https://antifraudcentre.ca/scams-fraudes/loan-pret-eng.htm