The process of searching a funding opportunity in grants.gov is simple. Grants.gov publishes all Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA) from the US federal government into one database.
To search grants, visit http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/search-grants.html. This page will bring you to the database of all FOAs. At the top left, three different ways to find possible grants opportunities. All three searches should be conducted to ensure no grant opportunity is excluded.
The Basic Search Criteria includes:
- Keywords: Funding Opportunities can be searched easily through focus keywords. You can type in relevant themes, activities, locations, US agencies, etc. for results. As you type, suggested search terms will appear in a drop-down list.
- Funding Opportunity Number: Each entry in the Grants.gov database has a unique Funding Opportunity Number. Save this number for all opportunities that interest you so that you may immediately find a particular entry again later.
- CFDA Number: CFDA stands for Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.All US Assistance programs are indexed with a CFDA number, so one you know the number of your category you can easily search for all entries within that category. Find the list of CFDA numbers and categories here: https://www.cfda.gov/index?s=program&mode=list&tab=list.
TIP: The CFDA number for USAID Foreign Assistance Programs Overseas is 98.001.
Below the Basic Search Criteria boxes are more search options. For NGOs working outside the US in development we suggest using selecting the following criteria:
- Opportunity Status: Open
- Funding Instrument Type: Grant and Cooperative Agreement
- Eligibility: Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education as well as Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education to include overseas NGOs as well
- Category: All categories
- Agency: All Agencies