Agencies migrate most funding applications to Grants.gov

Grants.gov, the federal government's online portal for finding and submitting applications electronically for federal grant funding, achieved its goal last year that agencies make at least 25 percent of their funding opportunities available at the site.

Grants.gov, one of the original federal e-government projects and a component of the President's Management Agenda, is managed by the Health and Human Services Department.

In fiscal 2005, 20 out of 26 federal grant-making agencies posted one-fourth of their opportunities at Grants.gov and received more than 15,000 applications, said Charles Johnson, HHS assistant secretary for budget, technology and finance in the Federal Register. Those agencies included HHS and the Agriculture, Education, Homeland Security, Housing and Urban Development, and Justice departments.

This year, agencies must make 75 percent of their funding opportunities available for electronic submission, and in 2007 that figure rises to100 percent, according to Office of Management and Budget guidance.

Federal grant applicants must complete a three-step registration process before applying for a federal grant opportunity through Grants.gov. Registration is meant to protect the applicant's information and assure agencies that they are interacting with officials authorized to submit applications for funding on behalf of applicants.

Registering in advance of agencies posting their grant opportunities will eliminate many of the issues that applicants have faced by not meeting registration requirements in time to meet application deadlines. It usually takes up to five days to complete registration with Grants.gov, based on past experience.

Last month, Grants.gov folded Fedgrants.gov, which it also managed, into the Grants.gov site. It also fully integrated its search and apply functionalities, giving it a single look and feel for Find and Apply and standardizing terminology between the two functions.

Mary Mosquera is a staff writer for Washington Technology's sister publication, Government Computer News.