Want to Apply for Government Grants? You Need to Register with SAM First!

GrantNews recently talked about how beneficial it is for nonprofit organizations to apply for and receive a DUNS number. The question is, what should nonprofits do next? Well, in order to be eligible for financial assistance from the government, businesses and nonprofits must be registered with the System for Award Management, through the SAM.GOV website. 

You might be asking at this point, what is the System for Award Management, why do I need to register with the website, and how do I even start that process? Well, as luck may have it, GrantNews has all the answers to those questions. In this article, GrantNews will help you get a clear understanding of your next steps so that you can focus on searching for federal grants on GrantWatch. 

So What Is System for Award Management (SAM)? 

To begin with, the Systems for Award Management (SAM.GOV) is an official website of the U.S government. It is a completely free resource, that can enable users to perform several functions including: 

• Access publicly available data on awards 
• Register to do business with the U.S government 
• Search for entity registration & exclusion records
• Search for assistance listings wage determinations, contract opportunities, and contract data reports. 
• Update, renew, and check the status of your entity registration 

Nonprofits and other entities must register with SAM.Gov to receive any form of federal assistance. This includes any and all federal loans and federal grants. This is done through registration on the website itself. 

How to Register With SAM.GOV

Before nonprofits start the process of registering, they need to ensure they have all the necessary information and documents handy. 

Here’s a list of exactly what you’ll need to get through this application process: 

• Your DUN’s number. Since you’ve already read our blog post on how to apply for and receive a DUN’s number, you should already have this handy. 
• If you are a tax-paying entity located in the United States, you’re going to need your taxpayer ID (TIN), as well as your taxpayer name. (your TIN can either be an employer ID number or a social security number, depending on your corporate structure)
• Your CAGE or NCAGE number if you already have one. If you don’t have one, you’ll be automatically assigned one after you complete your SAM.GOV registration. 
• You will also need your electronic funds transfer information (EFT) so that you can receive any funds. 

Now that you have all of these documents, the actual process of registering with SAM.Gov is two-fold. Firstly, you’re going to need to register as a new user. Then when you have your User ID and password, you’re going to have to register as an entity (meaning your business, nonprofit, or organization). 

To make this as simple as possible, we’re going to walk you through each set of steps, so that you can navigate this process with ease. 

Registering as a New User 

1) Start out on the SAM.Gov website. 

2) Click on the button on the right that reads Create New User Account.

3) Choose the account type that is right for your needs.

There are two types of accounts available: 

1. Create an Individual User Account: Choose this account if perform tasks such as registering/updating your entity, creating and managing exclusion records, or viewing FOUO level data for entity records
2. Create a System User Account: This account is if you need system-to-system communication or if performing data transfer from SAM to your government database system. 

Complete all requested information and hit the submit button. 

Step 4) Click done on the confirmation page. You will receive a corresponding email confirming that you have created a new user account in SAM> 

Step 5) Activate your user account within 48 hours by clicking on the validation link in the email. Now you can register your entity! 

Register a New Entity within SAM: 

1) log in to SAM.GOV using your User ID and password. 

2) Gather all the required documentation you are going to need to complete your registration. 

3) On the left side panel, you’ll find a button that says register a new entity, click on it. 

4) Click “start registration” near the bottom of the registration overview page. 

5) Now you’re going to go through and complete this online registration. It’s estimated to take around 45 minutes to complete the entire thing if you already have all the documentation at hand. Time to complete will also be dependent on the size and complexities involved in your entity. 

Step 6) Once you have submitted the online registration, you should receive a congratulations message directly from SAM.Gov. You should also receive an email confirming that your registration is in process. Note that all new registrations take an estimated 7-10 business days and that SAM may reach out for additional details and information before approving your account. 

Additional Details

If you have any additional questions, you can reach out directly to SAM.Gov through their SAM Customer Service. Contact: Federal Service Desk URL: www.fsd.gov Hours: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Eastern Time) 866-606-8220. 

And if you’re looking to find the federal grants you’ll now be eligible to apply for, make sure you check out GrantWatch.com! There you’ll find thousands of grants, including those awarded by the federal government. Paid subscribers can further narrow down their search criteria, so consider subscribing to GrantWatch today!