Congratulations! You’ve determined you are Federal Grant Ready, and it’s time for you to apply for federal grants! Before you can jump in, there are many administrative steps to take care of first. Applying for federal grants is tedious. Getting set up to apply requires attention to detail. You also have to build in enough time to wait for your submissions to be processed. From beginning to end, it could be longer than a month, so get started now!
Although it takes attention and time, the whole process is free. At Transform Consulting Group (TCG), we have successfully helped several organizations apply for and receive multi-million dollar federal grants. We know this process, and we’ll guide you through the steps.
3 Steps to Get Registered to Apply for Federal Grants
Your ultimate goal is to get your organization registered on grants.gov. This registration will allow you to apply for federal grants. You’ll complete these 3 steps to get everything set up.
- Confirm that you have a DUNS # with up-to-date organization information.
- Use the Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S® Number Lookup to find out what your 9-digit DUNS # is.
- Look at the information associated with your organization to make sure it’s up-to-date.
- Contact Dun & Bradstreet if you need to update your organization information.
Pro Tip: Be sure that the organization name associated with your DUNS # matches your legal name exactly. That includes commas and periods that are part of your legal name, such as “, Inc.”
- Register with SAM, or reactivate your organization’s SAM registration.
SAM is the System for Award Management, and it is the key to being able to receive federal grants!
- Contact SAM if you’re not sure if your organization has never had a SAM registration or if you think you may have an inactive registration.
- If your SAM registration is inactive, then someone at your organization probably already has a user account they can use to log in.
- Once you know whether you’re creating a new registration or reactivating an old registration, follow the appropriate steps.
- You’ll need your organization’s Tax Identification Number (TIN).
- You’ll also send a notarized letter to SAM from your organization’s authorizing official. You may need to email that letter as well.
Pro Tip: You can (and should!) contact SAM’s help staff for free.
- Register with grants.gov.
- Refer to these details when setting up your grants.gov registration.
- Then, connect your grants.gov account to your SAM registration.
Renewing Your Registration
Once you’ve completed all these steps, set a reminder for next year. Each year, you’ll need to complete SAM’s annual renewal process. Completing your renewals on time means you won’t have to go through the more lengthy reactivation process!
If you need help seeking federal grant opportunities or completing a grant proposal, let us know!
