"Where the Money Comes From: Funding Hearing-Loss Projects in the US"

Funding for projects related to deafness and hearing loss comes from three places, and knowing them is essential to getting the resources you need. In brief: federal block grants, state vocational rehabilitation programs, and foundation grants. Each source has its own rules and its own culture, which is a bit like moving through a dungeon in Dark Souls: every area has a different way of killing you.

Federal money arrives as grants from agencies such as the Department of Education (DOE) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). State money comes from workforce agencies (the Texas Workforce Commission, for example) and from rehabilitation agencies (such as the California Department of Rehabilitation). Private money comes from non-profit foundations and from corporate social responsibility funds, Microsoft's being one of the better known.

Whichever door you knock on, a grant requires proving impact with relevant data. That data cannot be a wall of boring numbers that lulls the reviewer to sleep. It has to be convincing enough to stand out among every other proposal that funder receives.

One aspect that matters more every year is remote delivery. Foundations are increasingly interested in how technology extends a project's reach. Zoom interpretation, for instance, is a good way to reach more people, and if a proposal doesn't consider remote delivery at all, it should be reconsidered carefully.

Finally, watch the release dates of Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs). A one-day delay in submitting can ruin a proposal outright; deadlines are strict in almost every case.

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CTALK is a hearing-accessibility product, so this is a world we live in. If you work on hearing-loss projects and want to compare notes, reply to any of our emails.