{"id":22998,"date":"2024-11-01T19:16:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-02T02:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10053\/whats-the-difference-between-a-gift-and-a-grant\/"},"modified":"2025-05-23T13:14:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:14:57","slug":"whats-the-difference-between-a-gift-and-a-grant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/whats-the-difference-between-a-gift-and-a-grant","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s the Difference Between a Gift and a Grant?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"margin-bottom:2%\" class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container explainer-heading gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-columns gb-layout-columns-3 gb-3-col-equal\"><div class=\"gb-layout-column-wrap gb-block-layout-column-gap-2 gb-is-responsive-column\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23311\" style=\"width:150px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new.png 500w, https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/learning-center-icon-new-300x240.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\"><div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"750\" height=\"381\" src=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-23078\" style=\"width:300px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page.png 750w, https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/explainer-logo-for-detail-page-300x152.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\" \/><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-column gb-block-layout-column gb-is-vertically-aligned-top\"><div class=\"gb-block-layout-column-inner\" style=\"text-align:center\">\n<p><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-genesis-blocks-gb-container gb-block-container\"><div class=\"gb-container-inside\"><div class=\"gb-container-content\">\n<p>Both gifts and grants from donors to 501(c)(3) nonprofits are tax-deductible charitable contributions. The difference between them largely comes down to: Who is the money coming from, and what are the terms?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>If it comes from the government, it\u2019s a grant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If it comes from an individual, it\u2019s usually a gift.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>If it comes from a foundation or corporation, it could be a gift or a grant.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Grants have more specific terms, which are laid out in contractual agreements.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The government makes grants. Individuals usually make gifts. Foundations or corporations can make either one, though foundations mostly make grants.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is a gift?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A gift is given to the nonprofit with no (or few) strings attached. A donor may make a gift for a specific project or program, and may get their name on a building as thanks for their gift, but beyond that, they don\u2019t really have a lot of involvement in what happens to the money after it\u2019s been given to the organization. A charitable gift cannot be revoked after it\u2019s been given. For all of these reasons, but especially due to their flexibility, gifts are highly prized in the nonprofit world.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is a grant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A grant, on the other hand, is given under the terms of a grant agreement, or contract, which specifies how funds can be used, on what timeline, and things like expected outcomes. Grants are usually awarded based on a proposal or application, and recipients are typically required to provide narrative and financial <a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-a-grant-report\">reports<\/a> on how the grant was spent. In other words, grants are reciprocal in nature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Bottom line: Is it a gift or a grant?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In short, if there are detailed terms and conditions for how the funds are to be spent, it\u2019s a grant. If, beyond some general agreement about the purpose of the funding (whether it benefits the organization as a whole or one of its programs), the nonprofit can spend the money as it sees fit without mandatory reporting back to the donor, it\u2019s a gift.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You might also want to check out:<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/debate-multiyear-general-operating-support-vs-project-support\">Debate: GOS vs Project Support<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-general-operating-support\">What is general operating support?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-program-or-project-support\">What is program or project support?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-capacity-building-support\">What is capacity-building support?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-is-multiyear-funding\">What is multiyear funding?<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/explainers\/what-are-in-kind-contributions\">What are in-kind contributions?<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">Both gifts and grants from donors to 501(c)(3) nonprofits are tax-deductible charitable contributions. The difference between them largely comes down to: Who is the money coming from, and what are the terms?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":470,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":true,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"content-sidebar","footnotes":""},"categories":[26779],"tags":[26780],"ppma_author":[32648],"class_list":{"0":"post-22998","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-explainers","7":"tag-ip-explainer","8":"author-ipstaff","9":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"IP Staff","author_link":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/author\/ipstaff"},"authors":[{"term_id":32648,"user_id":470,"is_guest":0,"slug":"ipstaff","display_name":"IP Staff","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"IP Staff","writer-profile":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","linkedin":"","instagram":"","twitter":"","facebook":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22998","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/470"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22998"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22998\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":213187,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22998\/revisions\/213187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22998"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22998"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22998"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insidephilanthropy.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=22998"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}