Frequent Questions
This document contains questions frequently asked about Grants.gov, both for your use in understanding Grants.gov, as well as for distribution to others who need to know about Grants.gov, internal and external to your organization. You may want to distribute this information to your Contact Center to aid them in addressing questions they may receive about Grants.gov.
1. What is Grants.gov?
Grants.gov is the official Federal government website where applicants may Find and Apply to funding opportunities from all 26 Federal grant-making agencies.
2. Why was Grants.gov developed?
There are over 900 individual grant programs from 26 Federal grant-making agencies that issue over $350 billion in annual awards. Many of these programs operate independent, paper-based processes, which makes finding and applying for Federal grants difficult. Grants.gov centralizes information on grant opportunities and provides the ability to apply for those grants in one convenient online location!
3. Who is responsible for developing Grants.gov?
Grants.gov was developed as part of the Presidents Management Agenda (PMA) and related E-Government Strategy. It is one of 24 PMA initiatives dedicated to improving government services via the Internet. Grants.gov is a collaborative initiative, developed in partnership by 11 Federal agencies. The Program is led the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which is the largest grant-making agency. The partner agencies include the U.S. Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Labor, Transportation and the National Science Foundation.
4. What steps are necessary to Find and Apply for grants on Grants.gov?
Getting started with Grants.gov is easy! While you can begin searching for grant opportunities immediately, it is recommended that you complete all Get Started steps sooner rather than later, so that when you find an opportunity for which you would like to apply, you are ready to go. More information on each can be found on the Grants.gov site.
Step 1 Find Grant Opportunity For Which You Would Like to Apply
Step 2 Download Application Package
Step 3 Register with Central Contractor Registry
Step 4 Register with Credential Provider
Step 5 Register with Grants.gov
4a. Information about how the CCR to SAM migration affects Grants.gov applicants
What is SAM?
The System for Award Management (SAM) is a free web-site which consolidates Federal procurement systems and the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
What happened to CCR?
On July 30, 2012, the Central Contractor Registration (CCR), FedReg, ORCA and EPLS were migrated into the System for Award Management (SAM).
Why should I Register with SAM?
Grants.gov will actively reject submissions from organizations without current SAM registration. Per 2 CFR Part 25, all grant applicants must have current SAM status at the time of application and throughout the duration of any Federal award. In addition, registering with SAM will allow you to access the full functionality of the SAM system.
How do I register with SAM?
You can register with SAM at http://www.sam.gov. You only need your personal information to create an account on SAM.
I was registered with CCR, do I need to register with SAM?
If you were already registered with CCR, you dont need to do anything now. If your record was scheduled to expire between July 16, 2012 and October 15, 2012, CCR/SAM is extending your expiration date by 90 days. You will receive an e-mail notification from CCR when your expiration date is extended. You will then receive standard e-mail reminders to update your record based on this new expiration date. Those future e-mail notifications will come from SAM.
What if my CCR/SAM registration has expired?
Grants.gov will actively reject submissions from organizations with expired CCR registration. If your SAM registration is expired and you attempt to submit an application, you will receive a rejection email indicating that your SAM account is expired. Your organization will be required to go to SAM and renew the registration.
How can I check my CCR/SAM registration status?
Applicants should verify their SAM status and renew registration if needed. You can check your SAM status at SAM.gov.
Who should I contact if Grants.gov rejected my grant application because of problems with my SAM account?
Grants.gov has no control over your CCR or SAM account. You must contact SAM.gov to ensure that your SAM registration is current. You may also contact the grantor if you believe that you were unable to meet the application deadline due to a problem caused by SAM.gov.
Where can I learn more about SAM?
Please visit SAM.gov for more information, including an overview video, quick start guides, future plans, and technical information for System to System users.
5. Why do grant applicants have to register with the Central Contractor Registry to use Grants.gov?
Grant applicant organizations need to be registered with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR) before being able to submit a grant application through Grants.gov. When an organization registers with the CCR, they are required to designate an E-Business Point of Contact (EPOC). The EPOC is the sole authority of the organization capable of designating, or revoking, an individuals ability to submit grant applications on behalf of their organization via Grants.gov. The CCR also houses organizational information that Grants.gov uses to verify applicant organization identity and to pre-fill repetitive information on grant applications.
6. Why do grant applicants have to register with a Credential Provider?
In order to safeguard the security of electronic information, Grants.gov utilizes E-Authentication, the Federal program that ensures secure transactions. E-Authentication defines the level of trust or trustworthiness of the parties involved in a transaction through the use of Credential Providers. It is the process of determining, with certainty, that someone really is who they claim to be. The Credential Provider for Grants.gov is Operational Research Consultants (ORC). When a grant applicant registers with ORC, they receive a username and password, which is then used to Register with Grants.gov as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). AORs are individuals designated as authorized to submit grant applications for their organization via Grants.gov. Once an individual has registered with Grants.gov as an AOR, their EPOC is asked to validate the registration. Once the EPOC validates the request, the individual requesting AOR status for their organization will receive notification via email confirming they are able to submit grant applications through Grants.gov.
7. Why do grant applicants have to Register with Grants.gov?
Grant applicants must register with Grants.gov as an Authorized Organization Representative, (AOR), in order to submit grant applications electronically through Grants.gov on behalf of their organization. The E-Business Point of Contact (EPOC) listed on an organization's Central Contact Registry (CCR) registration will receive email notification stating that the grant applicant has registered to submit grants. The EPOC will then need to log onto the EBiz section of Grants.gov and assign the "Authorized Applicant" role to the grant applicant. Once the EPOC does this, the applicant will receive email notification stating that they have been designated as an AOR and will be able to submit applications through Grants.gov.
8. What resources are available to learn more about Grants.gov and how to use it?
Grants.gov is designed to be user friendly and offers a range of online user support tools, including:
· Tutorial: A computer-based training tool
· Context-Sensitive Help: Information specific to the web page being viewed
· User Guide: An indexed comprehensive guide to reference information on Grants.gov: Viewable online and downloadable in PDF and Word formats
· Quick Reference: Reference support likely to be used most often
· Frequent Questions and Answers
These tools should provide grantors and the grant community with everything needed to know to use the site. These links can be found by clicking on the Customer Support tab on the site.
Personalized support is also available through the Grants.gov Contact Center (support@grants.gov).
9. Who should grantors and grant applicants contact if they have technical problems with Grants.gov?
All technical issues should be addressed with the Grants.gov Contact Center (support@grants.gov).
10. Who should grant applicants contact if they have questions about the grant program they would like to apply for via Grants.gov?
All grant program specific questions should be addressed to the appropriate agency contact listed within the grant opportunity listings, found in the Search Grant Synopses page in Find Grant Opportunities section of the site.
11. What are the hours of the Grants.gov Contact Center?
The Grants.gov Contact Center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. We are closed on federal holidays.
12. I am an individual, where can I find information on government benefits that I personally may be eligible to receive?
If you are an individual looking for information on government benefits, refer to GovBenefits.gov , the official government benefits website. It is a free, confidential tool that helps individuals find government benefits they may be eligible to receive.
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