The United States government provides two kinds of grant monies. "Direct grants" are provided directly by the government to the individual or nonprofit organization. The grant-seeking organization sends its application directly to a program officer at the granting agency and deals with that person as the application makes its way through the approval process. This often means that the competition is keen, and only the best grant applications receive approval. "Pass-through" grants are monies given by the federal government to the individual states for distribution. An individual or organization that wants to apply for such a grant must go to the appropriate state agency. Competition is usually less intense, since only in-state applicants are considered. In addition, access to the grant-making agency is probably easier. However, pass-through grants are often relatively small, since the original federal money is allocated to all the states.

All of these government grants are classified as either "competitive" or "formula." A competitive grant means that all the potential applicants must compete for a share of the grant money. Formula grants are allocated, usually to communities, on the basis of a specific formula, such as crime rate, average income of individuals within the community, population of the community, and so forth.

Additionally, the government classifies some grants as a "project grants." Project grants are given for a specific period of time and are used to provide the services the grant seeker specified in the application.

Grants in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance are divided into 20 main categories and almost 200 subcategories. An entry in the CFDA will include the name of the federal agency distributing the grant and the federal legislation that authorized the funds for the grant program. It will also cover the program's goals and objectives and the kinds of financial assistance the program offers. Nonfinancial assistance will be detailed as well. The restrictions and eligibility requirements of the program will also be noted. The listing will also include information about the application process, the addresses to which proposals should be sent, and information about how proposals will be selected. Additionally, the CFDA shows the names of projects that have been funded in the past and programs of other government entities that have similar objectives.