Grants.gov Proposal Overview

Grants.gov is a website developed by the federal government to be the single portal for submitting grant applications to 26 federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov lists all federal grant opportunities and provides a mechanism for applying for those opportunities. Grant applications must be submitted through Grants.gov when required by the federal agency program’s guidelines. Applications sent to Grants.gov are then forwarded to the respective agencies.

Early Submission of Proposals is Highly Recommended. By submitting your Grants.gov application early, SPS will be able to help identify problems that can be corrected to allow submission and acceptance of the proposal by Grants.gov. As such, SPS highly recommends that every effort is made to submit your application to our office no less than 5 business days prior to the agency deadline.

Registration. The University of Connecticut is already registered with Grants.gov. Investigators and departmental personnel need not register.

Receive Grant Opportunity Notifications. Use the Email Subscription feature within Grants.gov to register to receive email notifications of new grant postings. Select the appropriate email subscription option. Enter your email address and other required information if applicable. Click the “Subscribe to Mailing List” button.

Find Grant Opportunities. Use the Search Grants feature within Grants.gov to locate possible funding opportunities. Once you have located the opportunity you want to apply to, select and open. Make note of the CFDA and/or solicitation number (also known as Funding Opportunity Number).

Apply for Funding. Use the Apply for Grants feature within Grants.gov to download the application package. First, under “Step 1 Download a Grant Application and Instructions” click the link to verify that your Adobe software version is compatible with Grants.gov, and download the compatible software if the verification feature indicates that your current version is not compatible. Next, click the “Step 1 Download a Grant Application and Instructions” link. Enter the Funding Opportunity Number or CFDA number. Under “Instruction and Application”, click the download link. Download the application instruction and application package to your computer. (Make note of where the file was saved).

Receive Notifications of Changes to Grant Opportunity. To receive notification of any changes to the opportunity enter your e-mail address and submit prior to downloading the application and instructions. You will be e-mailed if the opportunity is changed and republished on Grants.gov before its closing date.

Complete Application Package

  1. Complete the application by filling in the forms and uploading the required attachments into the application package. (Fields required by Grants.gov are highlighted in yellow).  NOTE:  All documents should be converted to PDF using Adobe Acrobat.
  2. Save the application and e-mail it to Sponsored Program Services for review and submission.

Submission of Application. SPS will submit the electronic application through Grants.gov. The application package should be forwarded to SPS 3-5 days prior to the agency deadline along with the routing form, budget, budget justification, project abstract, and any consortium documents.  The PI may submit draft attachments in the application for review and continue to update their science during the review process. The final application should be submitted to SPS no later than noon before the deadline date.

Grants.gov Customer Support. Visit Grants.gov support page for help 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.