Accrued Expenditures
Charges incurred by a recipient during a given period requiring the provision of funds for: (1) goods and other tangible property received; (2) services performed by employees, contractors, sub-recipients, and other payees; and (3) other amounts becoming owed under programs for which no current services or performance is required.
Accrued Income
Sum of: (1) earnings during a given period from (i) services performed by the recipient, and (ii) goods and other tangible property delivered to purchasers; and (2) amount becoming owed to the recipient for which no current services or performance is required by the recipient.
Acquisition Cost of Equipment
Net invoice price of the equipment, including the cost of modifications, attachments, accessories, or auxiliary apparatus necessary to make the property usable for the purpose for which it was acquired. Other charges, such as the cost of installation, transportation, taxes, duty or protective in-transit insurance, shall be included or excluded from the unit acquisition cost in accordance with the recipient's regular accounting practices.
Adobe Reader
Software that will allow you to access, complete and submit application packages electronically and securely through Grants.gov.
Administrative regulations
Are specific to each federal department and implement guidance from OMB contained in circulars, presidential executive orders, and legislation that affects all applicants for, or recipients of, federal grants and cooperative agreements.
Advance Payment
A payment made to a recipient upon its request either before outlays are made by the recipient or through the use of predetermined payment schedules.
Agency Enrollment Code
A federal grantor agency identifier within the Grants.gov system; which links grantor users to their participating grantor agency and enables the grantor agency "Super User" to assign rights and responsibilities to members of their agency. The agency enrollment code is required for grantor registration and is only given to members of a grantor agency responsible for managing opportunities, application review, generating reports and other grantor functions at Grants.gov. This is NOT required for applicants applying for grants.
Agency Specific Data Sets
Data that an agency collects in addition to data on any of the SF-424 series forms.
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009
The economic stimulus - making supplemental appropriations for job preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal stabilization.
Application Package
A group of specific forms and documents for a specific funding opportunity which are used to apply for a grant.
Application Package Template
One or more forms and documents which can be reused for multiple opportunity-specific application packages.
Appropriation legislation
A law passed by Congress to provide a certain level of funding for a grant program in a given year.
Authorized Organization Representative (AOR)
An AOR submits a grant on behalf of a company, organization, institution, or government DUNS’s number. Only an AOR has the authority to sign and submit grant applications.
Authorizing Legislation
A law passed by Congress that establishes or continues a grant program.
Award
Financial assistance that provides support or stimulation to accomplish a public purpose. Awards include grants and other agreements in the form of money or property in lieu of money, by the federal government to an eligible recipient. The term does not include: technical assistance, which provides services instead of money; other assistance in the form of loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, or insurance; direct payments of any kind to individuals; and contracts which are required to be entered into and administered under federal procurement laws and regulations.
Benefits
A payment made or an entitlement available in accordance with a wage agreement, an insurance policy, or a public assistance program.
Brownfields Economic Development Initiative (BEDI)
A large HUD program designed to rehabilitate brownfields, which are former industrial or otherwise environmentally compromised sites. Note that the applicant must be a CDBG formula recipient and the grant is tied to a loan, called a Section 108 Loan. The security for the loan is the jurisdiction’s future CDBG allocation. As a result, there are few takers for BEDI grants or the counterpart EDI, which is the same kind of program but without the Brownfields requirement.
Cage Code
A five-character code which identifies companies doing, or planning to do, business with the federal government and is assigned through the SAM.
Cash Contributions
A recipient's cash outlay, including the outlay of money contributed to the recipient by third parties.
Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) Number
The identifying number that a federal program is assigned in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA). Lists the domestic assistance programs of all federal agencies and gives information about a program's authorization, fiscal details, accomplishments, regulations, guidelines, eligibility requirements, information contacts, and application and award process. Produced by the General Services Administration (GSA), it is composed of a unique two-digit prefix to identify the federal agency, followed by a period and a unique three-digit code for each authorized program. For example, all HHS grants are "93.XXX"; DOJ, "16.XXX"; Education, "84.XXX"; and Labor, "17.XXX." Some departments also use alphanumeric numbers, as in "84.184L."
Close Date
The grantor agency designated deadline for submission of a particular grant application. See also Grace Period.
Closeout
Process by which the awarding agency determines that all applicable administrative actions and all required work of the award have been completed by the recipient and the awarding agency.
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR)
Compilation of all final regulations issued by federal agencies and published annually by the National Archives and Records Administration. These regulations give guidance to groups applying for various federal grants. Each grant program will list which regulations apply to that particular grant. See also Regulations.
Community-Based Organization (CBO)
An organization that provides health and human services and is embedded within a particular community or population. In contrast to Faith-Based Organizations (see below), CBOs do not have a religious affiliation.
Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
A pass-through HUD (Housing and Urban Development) program that allocates funding to “entitlement cities and counties”, as well as states for smaller cities and rural areas, on a formula basis; funds can be used for a variety of affordable housing, economic development, infrastructure and other projects.
Community Services Block Grant Program (CSBG)
A pass-through Office of Community Services (OCS) program that allocates funding to “entitlement cities and counties”, as well as states for smaller cities and rural areas, on a formula basis; funds can be used for a variety of human services, job training and other projects that benefit low-income persons.
Competition ID
A grantor selected ID that allows further distinction of the funding opportunity number which allows applications with the same funding opportunity number to be assigned unique identifiers.
Competitive review process
The process used by the federal government to select discretionary grant and cooperative agreement applications for funding, in which applications are scored by subject-area experts and the most highly scored applications are considered for funding.
Confidentiality
All Grantees are required to comply with applicable State and Federal confidentiality and privacy rules. Grantees shall collect, maintain, and transmit personal information about service recipients in a manner that ensures security and protects individual privacy (e.g., use of identifiers instead of names or Social Security numbers on any information submitted to the Grantor). Any Grantee that is a covered entity under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) shall also comply with the security and privacy safeguards set forth in Public Law 104-191 (45 CFR 160 and 164). Such safeguards shall not restrict the Grantor’s access to protected health information, which may be necessary to determine program compliance (45 CFR 164.512(d)(1)(iii).
Conformance
This test of allowability—conformance with limitations and exclusions contained in the terms and conditions of award, including those in the cost principles—may vary by the type of activity, the type of recipient, and other characteristics of individual awards. “Allowable Costs and Activities” below provides information common to most HHS (Health & Human Services) grants and, where appropriate, specifies some of the distinctions if there is a different treatment based on the type of grant or recipient.
Consistency
Recipients must be consistent in assigning costs to cost objectives. They must be treated consistently for all work of the organization under similar circumstances, regardless of the source of funding, so as to avoid duplicate charges.
Continuation grant
Additional funding awarded for budget periods following the initial budget period of a multi-year discretionary grant or cooperative agreement.
Continuum of Care (CoC)
Authorized under the several “McKinney Act” Programs administered by HUD, Continuum of Care funds are allocated at the local level by regional “Continuum of Care” agencies (see “LAHSA” below) to provide an array of services to the homeless.
Contract
A procurement contract under an award or sub-award, and a procurement subcontract under a recipient's or sub-recipient's contract (Refer to the SAM Section 1500 and NRS 333 for information on Purchasing requirements.)
Contractor
An entity that receives a contract as defined in § 200.22 (Federal Citation) Contract. Contract means "a legal instrument by which a non-Federal entity purchases property or services needed to carry out the project or program under a Federal award," but does not include sub-awards (i.e., sub-grants). Nevertheless, the term would include contracts issued by higher-tiered contractors (i.e., subcontracts).
Controlling Documents
For purposes of administration and decisions regarding compliance and operations, the approved grant proposal, agreement, budget, assurances, and any applicable Federal or State regulations and requirements constitute the controlling documents. Both the Grantee and the Grantor shall reference these documents when interpreting or applying rules.
Congressional District
One of a fixed number of districts into which a state is divided, each district electing one member to the national House of Representatives.
Cooperative Agreement
A type of discretionary grant awarded when a federal department determines that substantial involvement with the grantee is necessary during the performance of a funded project. Substantial involvement might include such things as ongoing departmental participation in the project, unusually close collaboration with the recipient, or possible intervention or direct operational involvement in the review and approval of the successive stages of project activities. An award of financial assistance that is used to enter into the same kind of relationship as a grant; and is distinguished from a grant in that it provides for substantial involvement between the federal agency and the recipient in carrying out the activity described through the award.
Cost allocation
If a Grantee incurs a cost for goods or services used by more than one program, the cost must be charged to all programs. Each program will be charged for the percentage of the cost of the goods or services used by each program. The method for determining that percentage is discussed below under No. 2(a).
Cost Sharing or Matching
The portion of project or program costs not borne by the federal government. Federal money cannot be matched with other federal grant or award money or services. Expenditures, volunteer time etc. can only be used for match or cost-share on one project at a time, or total one FTE.
Cognizant agency
It is the federal agency that represents all others in dealing with grantees in common areas. Determination of the cognizant agency is the one that provides the most grant funds to the entity. Health and Human Services is the cognizant agency for most States and cities. For audit, cognizant agency means the Federal agency designated to carry out the [audit] responsibilities described at § 200.513," but such agency may not be the same agency responsible for determining a nonprofit's indirect cost rate.”
Current Accounting Period
The period of time the recipient chooses for purposes of financial statements and audits.
Data Integrity
The grantee shall protect the confidentiality of all project-related information that identifies individuals. The grantee shall assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in all technical documents and reports submitted. The work products are owned by the funding agency. The funding agency may request and the State will submit copies of analytic data file(s) with appropriate documentation, representing the data developed/used in end-product analyses generated under the award. The analytic file(s) may include primary data collected, acquired or generated under the award and/or data furnished by CMS. The content, format, documentation, and schedule for production of the data file(s) will be agreed upon by the State and the grantor.
Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS)
A unique nine-character identification number provided by the commercial company Dun & Bradstreet.
Date of Completion
The date on which all work under an award is completed or the date on the award document, or any supplement or amendment thereto, on which awarding agency sponsorship ends.
Debarment and Suspension
Debarment and Suspension (E.O.s 12549 and 12689)-- Certain contracts shall not be made to parties listed on the non-procurement portion of the General Services Administration in accordance with E.O.s 12549 and 12689. Each award or contract that is funded with Federal money must be confirmed not to be suspended or debarred. The exclusion information is kept within SAM.gov and can be obtained by doing an Advanced Exclusion record search.
Definition of Grantee (Sub-recipient)
For the purposes of this document, an entity that receives a portion of these funds through the Grantee is known as the Sub-recipient.
Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA ACT)
The DATA Act is a law that aims to make information on federal expenditures more easily accessible and transparent. The law requires the U.S. Department of the Treasury to establish common standards for financial data provided by all government agencies and to expand the amount of data that agencies must provide to the government website, USASpending. The goal of the law is to improve the ability of Americans to track and understand how the government is spending their tax dollars. The purposes of this Act are to: 1) expand the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 by disclosing direct federal agency expenditures and linking federal contract, loan, and grant spending information to federal programs to enable taxpayers and policy makers to track federal spending more effectively; 2) establish government-wide data standards for financial data and provide consistent, reliable, and searchable government-wide spending data that is displayed accurately for taxpayers and policy makers on USASpending.gov; 3) simplify reporting for entities receiving federal funds by streamlining reporting requirements and reducing compliance costs while improving transparency; 4) improve the quality of data submitted to USASpending.gov by holding federal agencies accountable for the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted; and 5) apply approaches developed by the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board to spending across the federal government.
Direct loans
Are not grants and must be paid back. Funds are made available to organizations and individuals for a specific purpose and period of time. To make loans attractive to lenders, the government, for some programs, will insure/guarantee the loan. By insuring or guaranteeing the loan, the government protects the lender by agreeing to pay part or all of any default made by those responsible for repaying the loan.
Direct Payment/Unrestricted Use
Financial assistance provided directly to beneficiaries who satisfy eligibility requirements with no restrictions imposed on the recipient as to how the money is spent i.e., retirement and pension payments and compensation programs.
Direct Payment/Specified Use
Financial assistance is provided directly to individuals, private firms, and other private institutions to encourage or support a particular activity. They may be tax credits, rent payments, scholarships, etc. Usually there is a condition for receiving this type of assistance. Often, the condition is based on a particular performance by the recipient.
Direct services
May include counseling, referrals or public safety assistance – must directly provide service to intended target.
Disallowed Costs
Charges to an award that the awarding agency determines to be unallowable, in accordance with the applicable federal cost principles or other terms and conditions contained in the award. Funds expended on disallowed costs cannot be reimbursed, if reimbursement has occurred, funds must be returned to the granting agency.
Discretionary Grant
A grant (or cooperative agreement) for which the federal awarding agency generally may select the recipient from among all eligible recipients, may decide to make or not make an award based on the programmatic, technical, or scientific content of an application, and can decide the amount of funding to be awarded. Funds are awarded on the basis of a competitive process. Agencies review applications in light of the legislative and regulatory requirements established for a program. The review process gives an agency discretion in determining which applications best address the program requirements and are therefore most worthy of funding.
Download
Transferring data (usually a file) from another computer to the computer you are using.
Earmark Grants
Earmark grants are grants that are appropriated by Congress prior to a peer review. The term "earmark" is a reference to the Congressional Record where the awards are written into the legislation specifically with the grant applicant's name, activity and dollar amounts.
eRA Commons
Web based system for applicants and institutions to participate in the electronic grant administration process for health programs.
E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC)
An E-Business Point of Contact is responsible for the administration and management of grant activities in his/her organization. The E-Biz POC authorizes representatives of their organization (See: Authorized Organization Representative (AOR)) to submit grant applications through Grants.gov. An E-Biz POC must also register as an AOR to submit an application.
E-Gov
Office of E-Government & Information Technology (E-Gov) is a part of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) electronic government initiative. Created in an effort to use technology to provide and improve government services, transactions and interactions with citizens, businesses, and other arms of government.
Entitlements
A government program that guarantees and provides benefits to a particular group.
Equipment
Tangible non-expendable personal property, including exempt property, charged directly to the award and having a useful life of more than one year and an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit. However, consistent with recipient policy, lower limits may be established.
Evaluator
An evaluator must be an independent and credentialed outsider to the grant. They must not have any other active role with the grant, except to evaluate performance during the post-award phase. The evaluator must have experience with instrument design, control groups and conducting statistical analysis. An evaluator must have the appropriate credentials. Appropriate credentials include a minimum of a Master’s Degree in the subject matter area for the evaluation, and a minimum of five years providing evaluation in the subject matter, or statistical analysis. An evaluator must have subject matter expertise. An example of subject matter expertise is using the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR), or and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV), as they both have subject matter expert teams; Nevada Cooperative Extension as an evaluator for Agriculture research projects; or Desert Research Institute.
Excess Property
Property under the control of an awarding agency that, as determined by the head of the awarding agency or his/her delegate, is no longer required for the agency's needs or the discharge of its responsibilities.
Exempt Property
Tangible personal property acquired in whole or in part with federal funds, where the awarding agency has statutory authority to vest title in the recipient without further obligation to the federal government. An example of exempt property authority is contained in the federal Grant and Cooperative Agreement Act, 31 U.S.C. 6306, for property acquired under an award to conduct basic or applied research by a nonprofit institution of higher education or nonprofit organization whose principal purpose is conducting scientific research.
Faith-Based Organization (FBO)
A FBO is an organization that provides human services, and affiliated with a religious or spiritual movement. These organizations are generally separated from a particular religious body itself (i.e. the church, synagogue, mosque, temple, etc.), but still can retain ties to that body. Although FBOs cannot use Federal funds for religious activities or restrict access to services based on the religion of recipients, services are often provided from their religious point of view.
FedBizOpps.gov
Single point-of-entry for commercial vendors and government buyers to post, search, monitor and retrieve opportunities solicited by the entire federal contracting community.
Federal Register
A daily compilation of promulgated federal regulations and legal notices, presidential proclamations and executive orders, federal agency documents having general applicability and legal effect, documents required to be published by act of Congress, and other federal agency documents of public interest.
Federal Share of Real Property, Equipment, or Supplies
The percentage of the properties or supplies acquisition costs and any improvement expenditures paid with federal funds. This will be the same percentage as the federal share of the total costs under the award for the funding period in which the property was acquired (excluding the value of third party in-kind contributions).
Federal Funding Opportunity (FFO)
An announcement used by federal agencies to announce an upcoming opportunity.
Fedgrants.gov
This website no longer exists. At one point it was used to search for grant opportunities.
Financial Assistance
The transfer of a thing of value from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. 6101(3)). An agency may provide financial assistance through various types of transactions, including grants, cooperative agreements, loans, loan guarantees, interest subsidies, insurance, food commodities, direct appropriations, and transfers of property in place of money.
Formula grant
A grant that the department is directed by United States Congress to make to grantees, for which the amount is established by a formula based on certain criteria that are written into the legislation and program regulations, and that is awarded and administered directly by the department's program offices.
Funding offer
A proposal by a federal agency, either orally or in writing, to award a successful applicant a level of funding that is less than the applicant requested. This occurs when the department either (1) does not accept certain items of cost in the applicant's original budget or (2) does not have a sufficient level of program appropriations to fund all recommended projects at the requested level.
Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA)
A publicly available document by which a federal agency makes known its intentions to accept applications to award formula, discretionary grants, or cooperative agreements. May also be referred to as program announcements, notices of funding availability, solicitations, or other names depending on the agency and type of program. Funding opportunity announcements can be found at Grants.gov/FIND and on the Internet at the funding agency's or program's website.
Funding Opportunity Number
The number that a federal agency assigns to its grant announcement.
Funding Period
The period of time when federal funding is available for obligation by the recipient.
Government
A State or local government or a federally recognized Indian tribal government.
Grace Period
A grace period may be created at the grantor agency's discretion to extend the application submission period. This period reflects the number of days after the closing date that Grants.gov will continue to accept applications for a grant opportunity, for example, an agency might include a grace period to accept revised applications. It also represents the day (Closing Date + Grace Period) that applicants will no longer be able to download the application package. This value is entered by an agency when creating a grant opportunity and is not visible to grant applicants.
Grant
An award of financial assistance, the principal purpose of which is to transfer a thing of value from a federal agency to a recipient to carry out a public purpose of support or stimulation authorized by a law of the United States (see 31 U.S.C. 6101(3)). A grant is distinguished from a contract, which is used to acquire property or services for the federal government's direct benefit or use.
Grant Agreement
A legal instrument of financial assistance between a Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity and a non-Federal entity that aims to carry out a public purpose and not to acquire goods or services, and does not provide for "substantial involvement" by the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity.
Grantee
An individual or organization that has been awarded financial assistance under a grant or cooperative agreement program.
Grantor
The individual or organization this is providing the funding. The Grantor cannot be limited in its rights by the Grantee, as Grantor rules and regulations shall supersede Grantee rules and regulations. The State’s ability to evaluate the grant includes full access to any fiscal or any other document and/or record pertinent to the program and the right to interview staff, clients, agency personnel or board members in accordance with the procedures of confidentiality and any pertinent State or Federal regulations.
Grants.gov
A storefront web portal for use in electronic collection of data (forms and reports) for federal grant-making agencies through the Grants.gov site.
Grants.gov Tracking Number
A number set used by Grants.gov which is used to identify each application it receives.
Grant Review Methods
There are three primary types of grant review methods. The on-site review panel meets together at a central location, has about 3-4 members, and lasts about 5 days, and all voting members read and score the same applications. Panelists are often required to discuss their scores and reach some kind of consensus. This is called on-site because all work is done at a single location. The field review panel involves 10-12 panelists and meets for 2-3 days. Panelists receive the applications they are supposed to score in advance and should plan to do their work before coming to the central location meetings. A tele-review session involves panelists who read and score the applications on their own and then share their thoughts and scores via teleconference.
Indian Tribal Government
The governing body of any Indian Nation, band, tribe, or other organized group or community (including any Native village as defined in section 3 of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act certified by the Secretary of the Interior) as eligible for the special programs and services provided through the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Indirect Costs
Costs of an organization incurred for common or joint objectives, which cannot be identified readily and specific to a particular grant project or other institutional activity.
Indirect Cost Rate
A percentage established by a federal department or agency for a grantee organization, which the grantee uses in computing the dollar amount it charges to the grant to reimburse itself for indirect costs incurred in doing the work of the grant project.
Insurance
Financial assistance that is provided to assure reimbursement for losses sustained under specific conditions. For example, flood insurance.
Intangible Property and Debt Instruments
Includes trademarks, copyrights, patents, patent applications, and such property as loans, notes and other debt instruments, lease agreements, stock and other instruments of property ownership, whether considered tangible or intangible.
Inter-Agency Electronic Grants Committee (IAEGC)
An organization which encourages and assists federal agencies in developing electronic grants systems and standardizing electronic commerce methodologies throughout the federal government. The IAEGC is chartered to Grants.Gov Program Management Office.
Local Government
A local unit of government, including specifically a county, municipality, city, town, township, local public authority, school district, special district, intra-state district, council of governments (whether or not incorporated as a nonprofit corporation under State law), any other regional or interstate entity, or any agency or instrumentality of local government.
Login
The act of connecting to a computer system by giving your credentials (usually your "username" and "password").
Mandatory Forms
The forms required for an application. Please note that a mandatory form must be completed before the system will allow the applicant to submit the application package.
Mandatory Grant
A grant (or cooperative agreement) awarded under a program where the authorizing statute requires the head of the agency or designee to make an award to each eligible entity under the conditions and in the amount (or based on the formula) specified in the statute.
Marketing Partner ID (MPIN)
A personal code that allows you to access other government applications such as the Past Performance Automated System, DoDBusOpps and TeDS. The MPIN may act as your password in these other systems. You make up the code and register it in SAM. The MPIN must have 9 digits containing at least one alpha character (must be in capital letters) and one number (no spaces or special characters permitted).
NAIC
A code that was used to classify business establishments.
Nevada Administrative Code (NAC)
The codified administrative regulations of the executive branch of Nevada government.
Nevada Revised Statute (NRS) – State Law
The current codified laws of the State of Nevada. Grants must follow the Budget Section NRS 353, in addition to any specific requirements by each Agency.
North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) Code
A code with a maximum of six digits used to classify business establishments. This code will be replacing the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) code.
Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA)
This is synonymous with “RFP” and means a document issued by a funder to solicit proposals.
Notice of Grant Award (NOGA)
When a state agency receives a grant award from the federal awarding agency it will receive an official notice of grant award (NOGA). The state agency notifies agency budget officials of the actual award amount. The NOGA should be sent per the administrative directions to budget, Legislative Council Bureau (LCB) and the Grant office.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB)
This is the federal agency that determines financial policy and guidelines for grant awards. A federal agency must request a waiver from OMB to exempt their programs from specific policy set by OMB.
Obligations
The amounts of orders placed, contracts and grants awarded, services received and similar transactions during a given period that require payment by the recipient during the same or a future period. Binding agreements that will result in outlays (government spending), either immediately or in the future.
OMB Circulars
Administrative policy documents issued by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that give instruction to federal agencies on a variety of topics, including the administration of federal grants and cooperative agreements.
Opportunity Category
A field located on the Grant Opportunity Properties screen within Grants.gov. The Opportunity Category field values include Discretionary, Mandatory, Earmark, and Continuation. The Opportunity Category field was added to the site to assist Grants.gov with aggregating opportunities and application packages for public and private displays on the site. For example, there are links which show grant opportunities and packages recently posted to the site. Those opportunities and packages with a category type of Earmarked or Continuation will not show up on these public listings.
Optional Forms
Optional forms are the forms that can be used to provide additional support for an application, but are not required to complete the application package.
Organization
A grant applicant who is submitting a grant on behalf of a company, state, local or tribal government, academic or research institution, not-for-profit, or any other type of institution.
Outlays or Expenditures
Charges made to the project or program, which may be reported on a cash or accrual basis.
Oversight Agency
For audit means the Federal awarding agency that provides the predominant amount of funding directly to a non-Federal entity not assigned a cognizant agency for audit.
Panel Summary Reports
Reports that describe the strengths, weaknesses, and final scores for each application.
Password
A code used to gain access to Grants.gov along with a username. Good passwords contain letters and numbers (i.e., Virtue7) and must not be found in any dictionary.
Performance Period
See Project Period.
Personal Property
Property of any kind (excluding real property). It may be tangible, having physical existence, or intangible, having no physical existence, such as copyrights, patents, or securities.
Point of Contact (POC)
An individual who is designated as the person responsible for authorization and maintenance of information on behalf of a SAM registrant, coordinating communication among organizations.
Prefixed Filename
Attachment filenames may appear verbose because many are prefixed to include the form name, field name, unique number and attachment name (attachment name which was entered by the applicant) as one entire filename. Not all attachments are prefixed exactly the same, but you will be able to recognize the filename entered by the applicant by reading through the entire line of the filename text.
Prior Approval
Written approval by an authorized awarding agency official evidencing prior consent.
Profile
Applicant information stored in the Grants.gov system for the purpose of identifying a user.
Program Income
“Gross income earned by the non-Federal entity that is directly generated by a supported activity or earned as a result of the Federal award during the period of performance."
Project Costs
All allowable costs, as set forth in the applicable federal cost principles (Example: 45 CFR 74.27), incurred by a recipient and the value of the contributions made by third parties in accomplishing the objectives of the award during the project period.
Project Period
The period established in the award document during which awarding agency sponsorship begins and ends. The total amount of time (sometimes several years) during which the department authorizes a grantee to complete the approved work of the project described in the application. Project periods of more than one year are divided into budget periods. Sometimes referred to as "performance period."
Project grant
Awarded through a competitive process (also known as discretionary funds) and provide funding for fixed or known periods of time. The funding is for specific projects or the delivery of specific services or products. For example, fellowships, research grants, technical assistance grants, experimental and demonstration grants, and planning grants, etc.
Program Office
Conducts the daily work of administering the grant or cooperative agreement program, including the review and ranking of applications.
Program Regulations
Regulations that implement legislation passed by Congress to authorize a specific grant program. They include applicant and participant eligibility criteria, nature of activities funded, allowability of certain costs, selection criteria under which applications will be selected for funding, and other relevant information. Program regulations are rules that apply to all applicants and/or grantees under a particular program. They implement legislation passed by Congress to authorize a specific program and include applicant and participant eligibility criteria, nature of activities funded, allowable costs, criteria under which applications will be selected for funding, and other relevant information.
Property
Real property, equipment, intangible property and debt instruments.
Real Property
Land, including land improvements, structures and appurtenances thereto, but excludes movable machinery and equipment.
Recipient
An organization receiving financial assistance directly from an awarding agency to carry out a project or program.
Regulations
There are two types of regulations to award and administer grants and cooperative agreements: program and administrative.
Request for Funding Assistance (RFA)
This is synonymous with “RFP” and means a document issued by a funder to solicit proposals.
Request for Proposal (RFP)
This is the basic acronym that is used indiscriminately to describe documents that offer guidelines for grant funding. Other terms are also used, depending on the agency issuing the grant: for example, program announcement (PA) or guidance for applicants (GFA). They are published in the Federal Register (the official announcement site) and at the various agency Web sites. They describe each program that is being funded and include what groups are eligible to apply (e.g., nonprofits and states); the background for the program; what each applicant is required to include in its application; how much money the applicant plans to award and to how many groups; the dollar amount in terms of the range of the awards; and more.
Request for Qualification (RFQ)
Refers to the pre-qualification stage of the procurement process. Only those proponents who successfully respond to the RFQ and meet the qualification criteria will be included in the subsequent Request for Proposals (RFP) solicitation process.
Research and Development (R&D)
All research activities, both basic and applied, and all development activities that are supported at universities, colleges, hospitals, other nonprofit institutions, and commercial organizations. Research is defined as a systematic study directed toward fuller scientific knowledge or understanding of the subject studied. Development is the systematic use of knowledge and understanding gained from research directed toward the production of useful materials, devices, systems, or methods, including design and development of prototypes and processes. The term research also includes activities involving training of individuals in research techniques where such activities utilize the same facilities as other research and development activities and where such activities are not included in the instruction function.
Researcher
A researchers is someone who conducts research, i.e., and organized and systematic investigation into something. Scientists are often described as researcher. A Grant Researcher can write, prepare, or advise on grant applications. A Researcher CANNOT be compensated through travel, stipend or other AND be written into a grant, per CFR, Title 2,Part 200.
Role Manager
The person listed as the Point of Contact for a specific grantor agency or sub-agency. This person will receive any email notifications about application submissions, depending on the option selected in the agency's profile.
SAM.gov
See System for Award Management.
Solicitation for Grant Applications (SGA)
Like a Request for Proposals (RFP), an SGA is a document issued by a funder to solicit proposals.
(SF-424) Standard Form 424 Forms Family
Standard Form 424: This is the basic cover form for most federal grant applications. Even though it is supposed to be a “Standard Form,” different agencies, such as Department of Education, use variants of the SF-424. Also, SF-424s included in grants.gov application files are different than the paper versions. So, SF-424s are not “standard”. (See Appendix A for example).
- Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424)
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Individual
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Mandatory
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Short Organizational
- Application for Federal Domestic Assistance - Research and Related
- Budget Information for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424A)
- Assurances for Non-Construction Programs (SF-424B)
- Budget Information for Construction Programs (SF-424C)
- Assurances for Construction Programs (SF-424D)
- Research& Related forms (various)
- Key Contacts
- Attachments Form
- Budget Narrative Attachment Form
- Grants.gov Lobbying Form
- SF-LLL Disclosure of Lobbying Activities
- Project Abstract
- Project Narrative Attachment Form
- Project/Performance Site Location(s)
State Administrative Manual (SAM)
Policy statements regarding the internal operations of state government based on statute of regulations.
State Education Agency (SEA)
State-level government organization over the education agency.
Sub-award
Financial assistance awards in the form of money, or property in lieu of money, made under an award by a recipient to an eligible sub-recipient or by a sub-recipient to a lower tier sub-recipient. The term includes financial assistance when provided by any legal agreement, even if the agreement is called a contract, but does not include procurement of goods and services nor does it include any form of assistance which is excluded from the definition of award.
Sub-recipient
The legal entity to which a sub-award is made and which is accountable to the recipient for the use of the funds provided.
Supplies
All personal property excluding equipment, intangible property, and debt instruments as defined in this section, and inventions of a contractor conceived or first actually reduced to practice in the performance of work under a funding agreement.
Suspension
A post-award action by the awarding agency that temporarily withdraws the agency's financial assistance sponsorship under an award, pending corrective action by the recipient or pending a decision to terminate the award.
Synopsis of Funding Opportunity
Summary information extracted from or based on the funding opportunity announcement that is electronically posted at the government-wide website known as Grants.gov/Find. The posting at Grants.gov/FIND includes a direct link to the funding opportunity announcement or includes an uploaded copy of the funding opportunity announcement.
System Requirements
Computer functionality and programming which is required in order for a specific program to operate.
Technical Assistance (TA)
Staff providing advice and assistance to Agencies, local governments, individuals and/or other organizations in completing specific tasks such as preparing plans, developing projects, etc. Agency staff also may provide assistance for the publication and distribution of information or data of a specialized technical nature.
Termination
The cancellation of awarding agency sponsorship, in whole or in part, under an agreement at any time prior to the date of completion.
Third Party In-Kind Contributions
The value of non-cash contributions provided by non-federal third parties. Third party in-kind contributions may be in the form of real property, equipment, supplies and other expendable property, and the value of goods and services directly benefiting and specifically identifiable to the project or program.
Trading Partner Identification Number (TPIN)
An identification number. The restricted access number assigned by SAM to the main SAM Point of Contact who manages information for the SAM registrant.
Transparency Act
The Transparency Act was enacted by Congress that requires the full disclosure to the public of all entities or organizations receiving federal funds. The Digital Accountability and Transparency Act of 2014 (DATA Act) is a law that aims to make information on federal expenditures more accessible and transparent.
Uniform Application Form (SF-424)
Also known as the Application for Federal Assistance, this is a standard form that accompanies all federal grant applications and that applicants are required to fill out with basic information (such as name of organization, address, contact person, and total budget request). It is two pages long.
Unobligated Balance
The portion of the funds authorized by an awarding agency that has not been obligated by the recipient and is determined by deducting the cumulative obligations from the cumulative funds authorized.
USA.gov
The official web portal of the United States Government created to improve U.S. Government interactions with the public by offering links to every federal agency to help website visitors quickly find information to the services they seek. USA.gov features links to every federal, state, local, and tribal government agency.
USAspending.gov
The public system used to view grant awards to specific States, organizations, and agencies.