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Understanding the Data

The Foreign Assistance Dashboard aims to incorporate all U.S. Government foreign assistance budget planning, financial, program, and performance data in a standard format. It will enable users to track, analyze, and monitor aid investments over time from initial Congressional request to expenditure at the activity level. The Dashboard is not an accounting tool, but a way to help the U.S. Government be more transparent. Thus, it may not always be possible to trace funding amounts through the stages of the U.S. financial processes (appropriation, obligation, disbursement) on a dollar for dollar basis within the Dashboard data.

The U.S. government disburses foreign assistance through more than 20 agencies. This pie chart shows the slice of the federal budget that is appropriated for foreign assistance managed by the Department of State, USAID, and the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), which represents about 1% of the U.S. Government’s federal budget.


These funds are invested around the world in many different sectors, and are implemented through a wide variety of partners. The Foreign Assistance Dashboard will assemble all of this information, and much more, into one central, standardized repository. This effort has just begun and not all of this information is yet available.

Data is being added to the Foreign Assistance Dashboard in phases. Over time, the Dashboard will contain budget planning, financial, program, and performance data for all of the U.S. Government agencies that receive appropriated foreign assistance funds. In its current phase, the Foreign Assistance Dashboard presents foreign assistance budget planning data for the Department of State, and budget planning, obligation, and expenditure data for USAID and MCC. This is only an initial data set. Other U.S. Government agencies that receive appropriated foreign assistance funds will be phased into the Foreign Assistance Dashboard over time. Additionally, the request and appropriations data will be accompanied by financial, program, and performance data.

For more information about how funding is requested and appropriated and what it means to obligate and expend funds, visit the About the Budget Process. The Glossary of Terms is also available to provide definitions of terms used throughout the site.