Grants.gov has reached a new milestone, exceeding the number of submissions in FY 08 before the end of FY 09, as a result of the Recovery Act grant opportunities. On May 18, 2009, Grants.gov processed a total of 205,591 applications, surpassing the 202,133 applications processed in FY 08 with more than four months remaining in FY09.

The unprecedented number of applications processed so early in the fiscal year illustrates the success of the initiative. Grants.gov supports electronic applications that can be downloaded to any computer and provides online user support tools and personalized assistance from a dedicated customer support team. The result is a simplified and effective environment for the grant community to find and apply for grants.

Grants.gov presented the Find and Apply process, to include registration, to the staff of Senator Barbara Mikulski in Baltimore on May 13. The presentation was tailored to aid Senator Mikulski’s staff in assisting grant seekers and callers to the office of the senator in their search for federal funding. The “Find and Apply Train the Trainer” session, allowed the senator’s staff to learn the ins and outs of finding and applying for grants on Grants.gov as well as the role of Grants.gov in the Recovery Act.

The National Grants Partnership held their quarterly summit, to discuss topics pertinent to the grant community. A GAO Auditor was present to speak on behalf of Grants.gov and the system capacity in regards to the Recovery Act. Grants.gov is expecting a 60% increase in website traffic and application submissions as a result of Recovery Act funding. The audience was engaged and quite interested in how the system would withstand such an enormous surge in traffic.

Grants.gov joined Congressman John Tierney along with 110 attendees for his annual grants seminar. Representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Commerce and Economic Development Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of Labor, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Homeland; were also present for the event.

Grants.gov presented information on finding and applying for grants as well as updates and enhancements to the system; to include the update to the organization registration process. The audience was very engaged and their questions were focused mainly on the registration process. The organization registration credentialing (username and password) process was updated on February 8, 2009; and is now being handled entirely by Grants.gov.

Along with many of the federal grant-making agencies, Grants.gov was invited to present on program activities and status including the transition to Adobe and the proposed system architecture within a "cloud computing" environment. Grants.gov provides regular updates to the FDP. Michael Pellegrino of the Grants.gov Program Management Office (PMO) provided a 30 minute presentation to an audience of approximately 125 members. The audience consisted of university scholars, federal agency representatives, and members of the general public.