Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

General Questions

Is there any assistance available to write grant applications for state departments/offices?

OFA is happy to help, but state departments/offices are the expert and knowledge base for the applications. OFA will be a force multiplier. Project management, coordination with meetings, helping answer challenging questions, reviewing etc. But OFA will not be able to write a grant for you.

Will the NV Grant Manual continue to be updated?

Yes! OFA is in the process of updating it right now. OFA staff are being thoughtful to update it to increase usability.

Can we expect to see a conference in the future again?

OFA staff are considering and working towards getting year-round training delivered as well as the creation and implementation of a networking group before building back to the grant conference.

Does the Office of Federal Assistance (OFA) offer a reviews of grant applications? If so, how long does that review process take

Yes, OFA offers reviews of grant applications. Depending on workload for our team, 5 to 10 business days on average for a review. Please reach out to our team at grants@ofa.nv.gov to set up a call so that OFA staff can discuss the type of assistance or review preferred.

Grant Discovery

What is the difference between the USDR tool and the Grant Opportunities Page on the OFA website?

The Grant Opportunities Page is managed manually by OFA staff and powered by the NOFO form. It has a combination of federal funding opportunities, state funding opportunities, and a few foundation funding opportunities. All grants listed are curated to be geographically relevant to Nevada agencies.

The USDR Grant Discovery Tool is a brand new web-based service created in partnership with U.S. Digital Response that ONLY contains federal funding opportunities. This tool does not automatically curate opportunities available to Nevada. The user must set their own search parameters; however it has increased capacity for opportunity tracking, sharing, and collaboration. You can request access to this tool underneath “Grant Discovery” on our website.

Are NV State agencies required to use the NOFO form? E.g. will all grant opportunities offered by all NV State agencies be listed in this database moving forward? 

No. We do our best to upload opportunities as we are aware of them. Please make sure to view state agency websites that align with your projects regularly. You can view a list of state agencies that offer funding and their websites on the link on our Grant Opportunities page.

Reporting

Who is required to report to your (OFA) office when they receive federal funding?

UPDATED 10/17/22: All state agencies are required to report any grants (competitive or formula) they apply for. Any federal funding unused and returned to the federal government also must be reported to OFA.

What is OFA doing with the data collected?

Data helps OFA understand and report the challenges state agencies have in bringing federal dollars to the state or managing them. OFA staff utilize the data to create and support programs like the Grant Matching Program.

When do I have to notify OFA about my grant application?

If your federal opportunity requires that you submit a Single Point of Contact (SPoC) or Intergovernmental Review, then you are required to notify the OFA in order to be compliant with the federal opportunity you are seeking. Go to the OFA website and submit the “Federal Assistance Notification Form” also known as the FANF.

If the federal opportunity does not require that you submit a Single Point of Contact (SPoC) or Intergovernmental Review, then you are not required to notify the OFA, unless you are a Nevada state agency per NRS*. (if you are not a Nevada State Agency, the OFA does encourage that you share this information to foster collaboration).

*NRS 223.480 State agency required to inform Office of any application for or receipt of grant and any unexpended portions thereof. [Effective July 1, 2022.] In addition to any other requirement concerning applying for or receiving a grant, a state agency shall notify the Office, on a form prescribed by the Office, of:

Any grant for which the state agency applies.

Any grant which the state agency receives.

The amount of any portion of a grant received by the state agency that the state agency determines will be unexpended by the end of the period for which the grant was made.

For more information regarding SPoC and FANF please see our compliance FAQs.

Grants.Gov

In grants.gov, when a grant has closed but the Federal partner has advised that they intend to reopen the application period for agencies that may have missed/skipped the window, you will need to have the grant/opportunity number handy and search in “Archived” grants to monitor for the formal announcement. Is that correct?

Obtaining the grant opportunity number will be beneficial when searching for that particular grant and any formal announcements pertaining to that grant opportunity number. If it is the advice of the federal partner to obtain this information for the purpose to apply once an opportunity has reopened, it should be done.

In grants.gov are users able to view/search for grants submitted by other agencies?

Capacity within grants.gov does not currently allow users to be able to view or search for grants submitted by other agencies. If the intent of an agency is to explore potential partnerships and collaboration OFA encourages the submission of the FANF to inform and help OFA make those connections.

Grant Matching

Where can I get answers about the Nevada Grant Matching Program?

We have a dedicated Q&A page for the Nevada Grant Matching program administered by the Governor's Office of Federal Assistance. You can view those under the "Grant Matching Fund FAQs".

If a specialized professional is volunteering his work, can his usual rates when not volunteering be used as a valuation?

Yes, specialized, or professional rates can be used when volunteering his or her work. Note, proper documentation and back up will need to be provided and approved as it deviates from the nationwide or set standard. Backup documents should include 3 to 5 sources demonstrating the specialized skill set and the requested rate. Remember to always speak with your Federal Program Officer and have this approved and documented.

If a Federal Grant is passed through a state agency, is it still federal dollars?

A. Yes, federal funds follow the source.

Can you have a mix of cash and In-Kind match?

Yes, you may have a mix of cash and in-kind match.