Register and Get Ready

Register and Get Ready At Least One Month Before Your Funding Opportunity Opens

Every applicant organization and sub-recipient organization must complete three registrations to be able to submit a grant application:

  1. DUNS Number registration;
  2. SAM.gov registration; and
  3. Grants.gov registration. 

All three registrations are free, but the process can take one month or longer. If you plan to apply for an ACF grant, do not delay.  Get registered today!  You can say updated on upcoming funding opportunities offered by ACF by visiting the HHS Grants Forecast website.  ACF publishes a basic summary of all anticipated upcoming funding opportunities on this site. 

DUNS Number Registration

  1. You can complete this registration in one day.
  2. Visit the D&B DUNS Numbers for U.S. Government Contractors and Grantees website.
  3. Select the country or territory where your organization is physically located (ACF only provides grants to organizations located in the United States).  Complete and submit the form. You will need to provide basic information about your organization, including physical and mailing addresses, name and title of the chief executive, primary Standard Industrial Code (SIC), whether or not the organization is minority-, woman- or veteran-owned, number of employees, and annual revenue.
  4. Your DUNS number will be e-mailed to you the same day.

System for Award Management (SAM) Registration (Formerly the Central Contractor Registry)

You can complete the initial registration on SAM.gov in three days. SAM.gov registration must be updated every year, which can take five days.

  1. Visit the System for Award Management website.
  2. Select Start a New Registration and complete the form, which will take about an hour. 
  3. You must have your DUNS number and other information about your organization.
  4. You will have to designate an E-Business Point of Contact (E-Biz POC), who will identify a special password called the MPIN. The MPIN will give the E-Biz POC the authority to designate which employees of your organization are Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs) who can submit applications on behalf of the organization.  Soon after submitting your registration, the E-Biz POC will receive an e-mail requesting approval of designated AORs. If your organization already has an EIN (Employer Identification Number), this step can be completed in three days. If not, this step could take up to two weeks.
  5. To keep your SAM.gov registration active, be sure to renew at least once each year. If your registration expires you cannot submit a grant application until it is renewed.

For help with SAM.gov, please visit their support page at: https://www.fsd.gov/app/sam

Grants.gov Registration

One day after receiving notification of final SAM.gov registration, an approved Authorized Organization Representative (AOR) can complete the required registrations by registering your organization with Grants.gov. You can complete the registration in three weeks.

  1. Visit Grants.gov > Get Registered.
  2. You must know your organization's DUNS number and be an AOR who has been approved through the System for Award Management (SAM) to register with Grants.gov.
  3. When the AOR registers with Grants.gov, the E-Biz POC will receive an e-mail, prompting her or him to log into Grants.gov and approve the AOR.
  4. When the registration is complete, the submitting AOR will receive a confirmation e-mail.
  5. Grants.gov registration must be updated every year and passwords must be updated every 90 days.

For further assistance with Grants.gov, please see their support page at: http://grants.gov/help/help.jsp

The content on this page is for informational purposes and should not be construed as instructions for submitting an application.  Please refer to the Funding Opportunity Announcement of interest for detailed instructions.