Submit Your Application
Once you have written the grant proposal, you must complete the application package and submit it online.
Remember, competitive/discretionary grant applications generally are submitted through Grants.gov and formula grants, congressional earmarks, and continuation grants must be submitted through OJP’s Grants Management System (GMS).
Before You Try To Submit, Did You—
- Get a DUNS Number?
- Register With CCR?
- Register With GMS or Grants.gov?
If not, do so as soon as possible. You cannot submit applications to OJP without first completing these steps, which can add several weeks to your schedule.
See Before You Apply: Get Registered for more information about these important steps.
Note the Solicitation Deadlines
Solicitations carry both a registration deadline and an application submission deadline.
- The registration deadline occurs first, it refers to when you should start the online registration and submission and save it in the system.
- In Grants.gov, you start by aquiring a user name and password. You will need a DUNS number, CCR registration, and conformation from the E-business Point of Contact that you are an Authorized Organization Representative to receive your user name and password.
- In GMS, you start by creating a user profile and receiving a username and password. You will need a DUNS number to receive a username and password. You will need a CCR registration to receive funding. Next you click the "apply online" link in the Funding Opportunities section. Even if you are not ready to complete your application, you must register and click the "apply online" button before the registration deadline expires. If you miss this deadline, you cannot apply for the grant.
- The submission deadline refers to the deadline when all steps of the application must be complete.
- In Grants.gov, you should receive an e-mail validation message from Grants.gov within 24-48 hours after submitting your electronic application. The validation message will tell you whether the application has been received and validated or rejected, with an explanation. Important: You are urged to submit your application at least 72 hours prior to the due date of the application to allow time to receive the validation message and to correct any problems that may have caused a rejection notification.
- In GMS, once an application is submitted, GMS will display a confirmation screen stating your submission was successful.
- If you miss the submission deadline due to an extreme emergency (e.g., power outages lasting several days, extreme inclement weather), immediately contact OJP to see if alternate procedures apply.
- You must contact OJP staff within 24 hours after the deadline and request approval to submit your application. OJP staff will require you to e-mail the complete grant application, your DUNS number, and provide a GMS Help Desk tracking number(s).
- After the program office reviews all of the information submitted, and contacts the GMS Help Desk to validate the technical issues you reported, OJP will contact you to either approve or deny your request to submit a late application.
- If the technical issues you reported cannot be validated, your application will be rejected as untimely.
To complete the application package, you must fill out or review several forms online, in addition to uploading the documents you created during the proposal writing stage. Note that Grants.gov and GMS have different screens you will need to either complete or confirm. Allow yourself enough time to become familiar with the screens and to gather the types of information that will be requested from you.
Attaching Documents
Once you are ready to submit your application, you will need to upload these completed documents to the online application package. Uploading a document is similar to attaching a document or picture to an e-mail; follow the onscreen prompts when uploading files. If you have any questions about the process, refer to the GMS and Grants.gov instructions.
For required documents that need to be signed and dated, print the document out, complete and sign it in a dark ink, scan it into a PDF format, and upload the PDF file as you would upload other documents. If you don’t have equipment that allows you to scan documents, check with your local library, school administration office, or a local business, all of which normally have this equipment available.
Check Everything, and Then Submit
Check and recheck everything in your application package to ensure that it complies with the solicitation’s requirements. Use the Sample Application Checklist and Sample Program Narrative Checklist to help in this last review.
After you submit your application, you should remain at your computer until you receive a submission confirmation screen. Many Internet browsers have preestablished time limits. If a browser time limit expires while the application is being processed by the grant system, your application submission may also be terminated. If this occurs, you will need to resubmit your application.
Quick Tip: Verification Process
- In Grants.gov, you will receive a confirmation receipt when your application is submitted, but then it will undergo a validation process. You should receive an e-mail validation message within 24-48 hours after submitting your electronic application that will tell you whether the application has been received and validated or rejected, with an explanation.
- In GMS, once an application is submitted, GMS will display a confirmation screen stating your submission was successful.