Imagine this: your institution is preparing to roll out a major technology initiative. It’s fully scoped, community impact is clear, and the team is aligned. Then, without warning, the federal funding you were relying on is delayed or withdrawn. Suddenly, you’re left with hard choices: scale back, postpone, or pause entirely.
If that scenario sounds familiar, you’re not alone. In fact, nearly 65 % of college and university CBOs say federal policy uncertainty is impairing even basic financial planning, and at the K–12 level, over $6 billion of federal funds remain unreleased to state systems. Across higher education, K–12, and state and local government, uncertainty around federal funding has become the norm, not the exception. The question many public sector leaders are asking is no longer, “Can we get funding?” but, “How do we keep projects moving when traditional funding sources are in flux?”
The good news: there is a way forward. And it starts with a broader view of what funding really looks like today.
The Reality of Today’s Federal Funding Landscape
Federal funding cycles have never been simple. Shifts in political priorities, economic uncertainty, and evolving national challenges all play a role in how funds are distributed—and when. For colleges, universities, school districts, and municipal governments, this volatility can have a direct and immediate impact.
In higher education especially, the conversation around financial sustainability has intensified. Universities are finding themselves reviewing long-term project roadmaps, searching for more diversified funding models, and rethinking their reliance on traditional federal allocations.
But even as these concerns grow, many public sector organizations overlook a powerful tool already available to them: grants. Beyond the headline-grabbing federal programs, there’s a wide network of state-level grants, private foundation support, corporate initiatives, and hybrid partnerships that continue to fund meaningful public projects every day.
The problem isn’t that funding doesn’t exist. It’s figuring out which opportunities fit your needs, assessing their potential, and moving quickly enough to secure them.
Expanding Your Funding Strategy Beyond Federal Dollars
If your team is still focused only on the next round of federal dollars, you could be missing out on flexible, accessible alternatives. Grants can fund nearly every type of initiative, especially in technology, infrastructure, digital equity, and educational innovation.
At Connection, we help public sector organizations make sense of the broader grant ecosystem by breaking opportunities into three key categories:
- Tech-focused grants are built for digital transformation. Whether it’s upgrading IT infrastructure, improving cybersecurity, or bringing new classroom technologies to life, these grants are aligned with technical outcomes and measurable impact.
- Flexible funding opportunities may not be written explicitly for tech, but they allow technology to play a role in broader goals. From community development to operational modernization, these funds offer versatility if your project includes digital components.
- Solution-open grants prioritize results, not methods. They’re not inherently tech-focused, but they’re open to innovative solutions—especially when those solutions support measurable public benefit.
Knowing how to categorize, compare, and prioritize grants makes it easier to align them with your organization’s goals and act quickly when opportunities arise.
The Power of Proactive Grant Intelligence
One of the biggest barriers to securing grant funding isn’t eligibility—it’s actually timing. Many organizations learn about a promising grant opportunity too late to mount a competitive proposal. Others spend time applying for funding that’s poorly aligned with their project goals, leading to frustration and missed chances.
That’s where intelligence comes in.
Connection offers real-time visibility into available and upcoming grants, including how they’re scored, what they fund, and how closely they align with your needs. Our experts don’t just share lists; we also help you understand which opportunities are a good strategic fit, where you can be competitive, and how to start preparing even before RFPs are publicly released. This kind of proactive insight can make the difference between a stalled project and a funded one.
Speaking the Language of Funding
If you’ve ever had a grant proposal rejected, you know that eligibility isn’t enough. Every funder, from federal agencies to private foundations, has their own set of priorities, language, and evaluation criteria. A proposal that hits the mark for one opportunity might completely miss the point for another.
Understanding the “language of funding” is essential. For example, a school district applying for broadband expansion support may find relevant grants from the Department of Education, a state IT initiative, or a corporate digital equity program. But each of those opportunities will ask different questions, require different metrics, and prioritize different community outcomes.
The key is learning how to speak directly to the funder’s goals and framing your proposal not only as a project, but as a partnership that advances their mission as well as your own.
Connection supports organizations in refining messaging, aligning proposals to evaluation criteria, and increasing their chance of approval across all types of funders.
Building a Sustainable Public Sector Funding Strategy
The organizations that secure consistent funding don’t wait for a crisis to explore their options. They build ongoing grant intelligence into their planning cycles. They stay informed, evaluate opportunities before they become urgent, and make funding awareness part of project development from the start.
This approach isn’t just about keeping up; it’s about creating funding resilience.
Imagine being able to identify viable grant options at the concept stage of your next initiative. Instead of scrambling for dollars later, you can shape your strategy with funding requirements in mind from day one. That’s the shift organizations are making, and it’s one we help our customers build into their operational mindset.
Taking the Guesswork Out of Grants with Connection
At Connection, we believe securing grant funding doesn’t have to be daunting. Our public sector customers don’t just get access to lists of available grants—they also get guidance. We walk you through the process, from evaluating your current initiatives to aligning them with specific opportunities and preparing for timely action.
That includes:
- Reviewing your short- and long-term goals
- Identifying available and emerging grant opportunities that align
- Explaining how those grants are scored and prioritized
- Offering actionable next steps to improve your funding readiness
While Connection doesn’t author or submit grant proposals, our role is to help you approach the process with confidence. We equip your team with the insights, context, and strategy to identify the right opportunities and pursue them effectively.
This isn’t just about checking boxes. It’s about creating a clear, customized strategy to help you fund what matters most, without the delays and guesswork that hold so many projects back.
Funding Clarity Starts Here
The first step? Start the conversation. Find out what’s available. Understand how your goals align with current opportunities. And build a plan that turns uncertainty into action.
Connection works with public sector organizations every day to help them navigate the grant landscape. Our tools and expertise can bring clarity to your funding strategy and help you act before it’s too late. Contact your Connection Public Sector representative to explore grant opportunities that align with your priorities and put your mission back in motion. Don’t wait for the next budget cycle. Let’s secure the funding you need, together.
Pam Aulakh
Pamela Aulakh is the K–12 Vertical Alliance Manager for Connection. In her role as an education strategist, she works with districts across the nation to help develop and implement K–12 educational technology solutions in support of improving learning environments and student outcomes. After spending more than a decade as an educator, instructional technology leader, and project manager, Pam understands the importance of leveraging solutions and funding to support equity-based technology programs and structures. Her expertise includes developing innovation portfolios that integrate STEM and Maker programs.
