Ask HN: Have you successfully solicited government projects?

Have you had success proposing a new project (not one that was listed on a RFP/grant page) to a government at any level to obtain funding to develop it? Numerous government departments offer SIBRs and other grants, but have you been able to obtain funding for something that's not covered by those grants? Who did you contact to start negotiations?

I'm curious because I have an idea that I would like to develop within my company for government-related software, but a quick search for relevant government grants to put together a prototype yields no results. I need to convince a (U.S.) state government that they should fund this, but what if there are no grants that would cover this?