Gateway Gift Fund, Inc.

This organization claims to offer grants of up to $49 500. to individuals seeking to purchase new homes. The website indicates there are no credit checks no income or employment verifications and the recipient never has to pay back any of the money received. The company charges between $47.00 and $89 as a processing fee. ~~As of our last verification on February 13 2012 the company's website is no longer in operation. The website previously indicated the gift money is provided from a pre-existing pool of funds provided by previous home sellers and that the fund is replenished by seller contributions made after the sale of the home. From our correspondence with the company we do not believe this is true. In our opinion the purpose of this offer is to collect processing fees and not to make grants.~~We advise careful consideration if you are thinking about responding to ads for "free" grant money. Our experience with similar offers has been that companies placing government grant ads have no affiliation with the government but rather are third parties attempting to capitalize on information that can be obtained for free from government agencies or websites. For example The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) disseminates information upon request and via their website on grants and loans entitled “The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. You can obtain the information for free by calling the DHHS local office or visit their website at www.aspe.os.dhhs.gov. Government grants are not designed to provide a means for you to pay your bills or have extra spending money. Generally obtaining a grant is a complicated process requiring documentation and research and is primarily for education research and business purposes. Although foundations may exist whose requirements are based on personal preference the vast majority requires applicants to meet very specific guidelines they have established to even qualify.~