APPLICATION PRE-SUBMISSION CHECKLIST

Before you submit your application, you should perform the following to help ensure a successful application.  If your application is NOT complete, your application may be automatically rejected.

IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT ANY OF THE ITEMS BELOW OR NEED ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ABOUT ANY OF THE APPLICATION WORKFLOW STEPS, USE THE SEARCH FUNCTIONALITY IN THE HELP SECTION OF THE GRANT PORTAL TO QUICKLY FIND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR.

1. Review application workflow Step-4 (Project Partners): You'll need at least two project partner support contacts along with letters from your partners.

• Ensure you have a partner support or commitment letter uploaded for each project partner listed.
• Each letter should NOT exceed 1 page.
• Each letter must be signed.

2. Review your PROJECT NARRATIVE workflow:

• Make sure that you used the Project Narrative Template provided in the "Forms, Templates, and Resources" section of the Grant Portal to complete your Project Narrative.
• Make sure you did not alter the Project Narrative Template other than entering your responses under each numbered section of the Project Narrative.
• Make sure your Project Narrative does not exceed 10 pages. (Note, if you have any maps in support of your project narrative that would cause your narrative to exceed 10 page limit, instead, upload those maps (as a single PDF file) under the ADDITIONAL INFORMATION workflow step.
• Make sure your PDF file uploaded is sized/formatted appropriately to print on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Additionally, the PDF file should not exceed 15 MB.

3. Review your BUDGET application workflow: Ensure that the budget totals in your Budget, EQUAL the Federal funding requested and non-Federal matching funds you entered in the PROJECT ABSTRACT AND FUNDING application workflow step.

4. Review your SF-424 application workflow step:

• Make sure line 8(c) in your uploaded SF-424 form contains your entity's UEI (NOT your DUNS ID). You UEI is a 12 character alphanumeric field vs. DUNS which is a 12 character numeric field.  Your UEI must be received before grants are awarded.  If you don't have your UEI before submitting your application, enter 'TBD' on line 8(c) and make sure you email your UEI to the Grant Opportunity contact listed at the bottom of the web site before grants are awarded.
  See https://SAM.gov if you need help getting your UEI.
• Make sure the Federal funds requested and non-Federal matching funds on line 14 EQUAL the requested and matching funds you entered in Step-3.
• Make sure your SF-424 is signed (wet signature or electronic signature only).  Your signed SF-424 must be scanned and saved as a PDF file before uploading to the Grant Portal.

5. Review your SF-424A application workflow step:

• In SECTION A lines 1-5 of your SF-424A form, make sure you use columns (e) and (f) for New Funding, NOT column (c) and (d) for Un-obligated Funds.
• Make sure the totals on line 5 (e) and (f) EQUAL your Federal and non-Federal Matching funds you entered in Step-3 (PROJECT ABSTRACT AND FUNDING).

6. Review your SF-424B application workflow step: Make sure your SF-424B is signed.  (wet signature or electronic signature only).  Your signed SF-424 must be scanned and saved as a PDF file before uploading to the Grant Portal.

7. Review your NICRA application workflow step: If your organization has a negotiated indirect cost rate agreement and you are including indirect costs in your budget, make sure you used the correct rate.  Example: For universities, make sure you are using the correct 'on-campus' or 'off-campus' rate based on the agreement's on and off campus definitions and rates.

8. Review you ADDITIONAL INFORMATION application workflow step: This step is optional.  If you uploaded a PDF file here, make sure you are not including any unsolicited information such as program or application documentation or marketing material, personal resumes, CVs, or bios.  This step is for uploading other information the UCF Grant Program team may have asked you to include in your application.  If you do upload a PDF document here, it should NOT exceed 15 MB.

HOW TO ALLOW YOUR COLLEAGUES TO ACCESS AND/OR EDIT YOUR ONLINE GRANT APPLICATION:

The only method available to gain access to your online application in the Grant Portal is by: 1) using the email address of the Primary Contact,  2) using the system issued application tracking ID, and 3) using the answer to the secret question you setup when you originally created your application. 

If you wish others on your group to edit or submit your application, you’ll need to consider the following:

1. Provide a group email address for the Primary Contact’s email address.  That way everyone in the group will receive email notifications related to the application.  You would also then use the group email address to access your application.

2. Setup a secret question/answer that you can share with your group.

3. Provide your application tracking ID to everyone in your group that needs to access your application in the online Grant Portal.

The Primary Contact's email address and the secret question/answer can be changed anytime by editing STEP-1 of your application workflow.

It is our policy not to collect sensitive personal identifying information (PII) on this website.  PII information such as birth dates, social security numbers, and passwords are not asked for, are not collected, and are not stored by the Grant Portal. 

Do not enter sensitive PII information on any web-form and do not upload any PDF or other document to the Portal that contains sensitive PII information.

If you think you mistakenly entered sensitive PII information and are unable to remove it, please contact the Admin or Technical contact listed at the bottom of this page for assistance.  If we find any sensitive PII information during our review of your application, we will delete the sensitive PII information or PDF documents containing the sensitive PII information without notice.

NOTE: PDF documents you upload must NOT be password or content protected and must NOT contain any personal identifying information such as social security numbers or birth dates.

The preferred PDF document type for upload to the Grant Portal is the standard PDF formatted document.  Standard for flat PDF documents are basic PDF documents without any special functionality, embedded logic, or buttons.  The follow PDF documents are NOT standard PDF documents:

• PDF Fillable Forms (AcroForm, XFDF or XDP  fillable forms),
• PDF documents with embedded XML code (embedded logic, calculations, or buttons),
• PDF documents that allow file attachments, and
• PDF documents with digital signature functionality.

Although not mandatory, you should try to convert these non-standard PDF documents to a flattened PDF format before uploading to the Grant Portal.  Non-standard PDF documents are NOT combined into your Generated Application document, instead, they are included in the document as a link to the separate non-standard PDF document.  See the section below on how to flatten or convert your non-standard PDF documents to the standard PDF format.

Any office documents you want to upload to the Grant Portal such as Microsoft Word or Excel, must be saved as a PDF document.  PDF documents created using Microsoft's office applications are Adobe PDF compliant and compatible with the Grant Portal.

Flattening/Converting Non-Standard PDF Documents and PDF Forms to Grant Portal Compatible PDF Documents:

You should attempt to convert any PDF fillable forms and PDF documents with buttons, calculations or attachments before uploading them to the Portal.  To flatten these non-standard PDF files to a standard PDF file for upload to the Portal,  you have a few options:

Option 1:  (Preferred Method #1) Print the PDF Form to your computer's 'PDF File' printer device. To do this in Windows, open the PDF Form in your default Adobe Reader or Editor software; select Print; in the Print dialog window, change the printer to 'Microsoft Print to PDF' (or similar 'Print to PDF' printer device); click print; enter the file name and location where the flattened PDF file will be saved.  The PDF file created from this step is now a flattened/normalized PDF file that should be able to be uploaded to the Grant Portal.

Option 2: (Preferred Method #2) Flatten your fillable PDFs using the online or desktop version of Sejda's PDF tools.  These tools are free to use (with daily limits) and you can either use their online PDF services at https://sejda.com or you can download and install the desktop version of their PDF tools from https://sejda.com/desktop.  You'll find Sejda's 'Flatten PDF' utility under their 'security' tools. 

To flatten your non-standard PDF file using Sejda's online PDF tools, click the 'Flatten PDF' link, then simply upload your PDF file.  Sejda will flatten your PDF and you'll be able to download to your computer.  Your new 'flattened' PDF file can now be uploaded to the Grant Portal.

Option 3:  Print the Adobe Form PDF document, then scan it and save it as an Adobe PDF file.  This method requires that you have a printer and scanner connected to your computer.

Note: Some scanning software may not create compliant Acrobat PDF files so if you receive a compatibility error after trying to upload the generated Acrobat .pdf file to the Grant Portal, you should try opening the PDF file in Adobe Acrobat Pro and saving it as a 'reduced size' PDF file.  This should fix the compatibility issue.

Option 4:  Open your Acrobat Form PDF document in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC or Adobe's DocumentCloud and convert/export it as a Microsoft Word Document.  Then use Microsoft Word to save the document as an Adobe PDF document that can be uploaded to the Grant Portal.  This option requires you to have the Acrobat Pro DC application installed on your computer.

Converting Image Files to Compatible PDF Documents:

If you have images that need to be uploaded to the Grant Portal, you have two options:

Option 1:  Copy/paste your images into a Microsoft Word document, size and arrange your images, add text if necessary and then save the Word document as an Adobe PDF document.  You should then be able to upload the PDF document to the Grant Portal.

Option 2:  Convert your image files to PDF format using the online or desktop version of Sejda's PDF tools.  These tools are free to use (with daily limits) and you can either use their online PDF services at https://sejda.com or you can download and install the desktop version of their PDF tools from https://sejda.com/desktop.  You'll find the 'JPG to PDF' tool under the Sejda's 'Convert To PDF' utilities.

To flatten your non-standard PDF file using Sejda's online PDF tools, click the 'Flatten PDF' link, then simply upload your PDF file.  Sejda will flatten your PDF and you'll be able to download to your computer.  Your new 'flattened' PDF file can now be uploaded to the Grant Portal.

Option 3:  Use Adobe Acrobat Pro DC or Adobe's DocumentCloud to convert your images into a Adobe PDF document.  Then upload the PDF document to the Grant Portal.

Converting Paper Images and Documents to PDF Documents:

You can scan images and documents using your scanner and save them as either a Word document (.doc) file or an Adobe PDF file.  If saving as a Word document, you'll need to open the Word document and then save as an Adobe PDF file before uploading to the Grant Portal.  NOTE: Some scanning software does not create fully compliant Adobe PDF files.  If that happens, you can try opening the PDF file using Adobe Acrobat Pro and saving it as a 'reduced size PDF' file or you can try exporting the PDF file as a Microsoft Word document and then use Microsoft Word to edit the file and save it as an Adobe PDF file that can be uploaded to the Grant Portal.

Converting Other Non-Standard Adobe PDF Documents:

If the above steps fail to produce a compatible Adobe PDF file that will upload to the Grant Portal without errors, one of the following options may work to produce a standard Adobe PDF document compatible with the Grant Portal.

Option 1:  Contact our Technical Support for personal assistance with converting or uploading your PDF documents.

Option 2: Open the PDF document in Adobe Acrobat Pro then save it as a 'Reduced Size PDF'.

Option 3:  Open the PDF document in Adobe Acrobat Pro, export it to a Microsoft Word document, then open the Word document and save it as an Adobe PDF document.

Other Resources:

Sejda's PDF Tools at https://sejda.com are available both as an online service and from their downloadable desktop application.  These tools are free to use (with daily limits) and you can either use their online PDF services at https://sejda.com or you can download and install the desktop version of their PDF tools from https://sejda.com/desktop.

Adobe Acrobat Pro DC is a desktop application program that allows you to edit PDF file directly and save them as 'Reduced Size PDF' files, export PDF files to to other document formats such as Microsoft Word, combine multiple PDF files in to one PDF file and convert images and other files into PDF files.

Adobe DocmentCloud at https://www.adobe.com/documentcloud.html is a web based application that allows you to convert almost any file into an Adobe PDF document.  It also allows you the ability to directly edit PDF files and reduce the size of PDF files.  Adobe offers a 7-day free trial for this online service if you do not already subscribe.

There are other online resources on the web that allow you to repair damaged and non-compliant/non-standard PDF files that may also work.

If see the message "File can not be normalized and will be included as a linked document" when hovering over an upload PDF file, or if the 'Page Count' for the uploaded PDF file is 'unknown' after uploading a PDF document, this message indicates that the uploaded PDF file is a non-standard PDF file that can NOT be merged with or combined with your generated application.  Instead of combining it with your Generated Application PDF file, this uploaded file will be referenced in the Generated Application PDF as a link to the actual non-standard PDF file you uploaded.

This situation is ok. however, if you are able to convert the file to a standard PDF format, that would be preferred.  See the FAQ on help with Adobe PDF files for more information on converting the PDF file.

If see the message "Page Count: unknown (Warning: Unknown PDF Type)" after uploading a PDF document, this message indicates that the uploaded PDF file is a non-standard PDF file that can NOT be merged with or combined with your generated application.  Instead of combining it with your Generated Application PDF file, this uploaded file will be referenced in the Generated Application PDF as a link to the actual non-standard PDF file you uploaded.

If you uploaded a fillable PDF form or a PDF document that contains buttons or attachments without first converting it to a standard PDF document, you will encounter this issue.

This situation will not disqualify your application, however it will make the application more difficult to review by the grant review team.

PLEASE CONSIDER FIXING THIS PDF FILE AND RE-UPLOADING THE CORRECTED PDF. 

How to Fix?

To flatten these non-standard PDF files to a standard PDF file for upload to the Portal,  you have a few options:

Option 1:  (Preferred Method #1) Print the PDF Form to your computer's 'PDF File' printer device. To do this in Windows, open the PDF Form in your default Adobe Reader or Editor software; select Print; in the Print dialog window, change the printer to 'Microsoft Print to PDF' (or similar 'Print to PDF' printer device);  click print;  enter the file name and location where the flattened PDF file will be saved.  The PDF file created from this step is now a flattened/normalized PDF file that can be uploaded to your online application in the the Grant Portal.

Option 2:  Print the Adobe Form PDF document to your printer, then scan it and save it as an Adobe PDF file.  This method requires that you have a printer and scanner connected to your computer.

Option 3:  Open your Acrobat Form PDF document in Adobe Acrobat Pro DC or Adobe's DocumentCloud and convert/export it as a Microsoft Word Document.  Then use Microsoft Word to save the document as an Adobe PDF document that can be uploaded to the Grant Portal.  This option requires you to have the Acrobat Pro DC application installed on your computer.

If you click to a PDF file and it does not download or you get a message similar to:

These type messages indicates that your browser is unable to display / render the selected PDF file within the browser.  Your browser is configured to open PDF files within the browser and it is unable to display / render the selected PDF file.  In general, browser PDF viewing engines are not full functional and more than likely, the PDF file you are trying to view is a non-standard PDF document (such as a fillable PDF form or a PDF document with digital signatures).  If your browser is unable to display / render these non-standard PDF files, you have two options:

OPTION 1: The PDF file you are trying to download/view is being downloaded to your browser's download folder.  To access the PDF file after it is downloaded to your browser and open it with an Adobe PDF Reader (desktop application, NOT your browser), you'll need to navigate to your browser's download folder, right click on the PDF file you want to view, then select the PDF Reader desktop application (such as Adobe PDF Reader), you want to open the file with.  Do NOT select your browser to open the PDF file.

OPTION 2: You'll have to tell your browser to download PDF files instead of trying to open them within the browser.

You can also try using the FireFox browser instead as it's PDF support is more capable than that of the other browsers.

To force your browser to download PDF files instead of viewing them within the browser, you can following the step below (depending on your browser).

Chrome Settings – Automatically download PDF files so that they can be opened with your computer's default PDF viewer, such as Adobe PDF Viewer.

1. In Chrome, go to the “Menu” icon, then choose “Settings“.
2. In the “Privacy and Security” section, select “Site Settings“.
3. Select “Additional content settings”.
4. Scroll down and select “PDF documents“.
5. Switch the “Download PDF files instead of automatically opening them in Chrome” to “On“.
6. PDF files will download in Chrome just like any other file. You can select the downloaded file at the bottom of the window, then choose “Always open with system viewer”, then the file will open in the default PDF viewer.

Edge Settings – Automatically download PDF files so that they can be opened with your computer's default PDF viewer, such as Adobe PDF Viewer.

1. Ensure that Power PDF is installed on the computer and set as the default application for PDF’s.
2. In Edge, go to the “Menu” icon, then choose “Settings“.
3. In the “Cookies and Site Permissions” section, select “PDF Documents“.
4. Select “Additional content settings”.
5. Switch the “Always download PDF files to “On“.
6. PDF files will download in Chrome just like any other file. You can select the downloaded file at the bottom of the window, then choose “Always open with system viewer”, then the file will open in the default PDF viewer.

Direct vs. Indirect Cost

Understanding direct costs and indirect costs is important for properly tracking your organization’s expenses. Knowing the difference between the types of costs will help you to prepare a competitive budget proposal and you will have a better grasp on your accounting, thus better equipped to plan.

In cases of government grants or other forms of external funding, identifying direct and indirect costs becomes extra important. Grant rules are often strict about what constitutes a direct or an indirect cost and may allocate a specific amount of funding to each classification.

Often, funding for a specific project will largely support direct costs. Certain government agencies might allow you to explain why indirect costs should be funded, too, but the decision to grant funding is at their discretion.

When a company accepts government funds, the funding agency may also have several strict mandates in place regarding the maximum indirect cost rate and which expenses qualify as indirect costs.

Contractual costs are those services carried out by an individual or organization, other than the applicant, in the form of a procurement relationship. The costs a contractor, including an individual consultant, incurs for travel are included in the contractual line item of the budget.

The budget justification should address each of major cost categories (salaries, fringe benefits, equipment, travel, supplies, other direct costs, and indirect costs), as well as any additional categories required by the sponsor.

Fringe benefits include but are not limited to the cost of leave, employee insurance, pensions, and unemployment benefit plans. The budget narrative should identify the applicant's fringe benefit rate. The applicant should not combine the fringe benefit costs with direct salaries and wages in the personnel category.

Matching/Cost-share

There are two kinds of matching/cost-share: cash and in-kind.

1. Cash:  includes cash spent for project-related costs. The allowable cash match must include costs that are necessary, reasonable, and allowable under the federal program.
   
   Matching and cost share funds have the same restrictions as federal funds. These funds must follow the same allowable and unallowable guidelines in their federal award. If, for example, a conference is unallowable under the grant award that has matching requirements, then grantees would not be able to use the matching funds instead. The expense must be allowable with federal funds for it to be allowable with matching or cost share funds.
   
   
2. In-Kind: this includes, but is not limited to, the valuation of non-cash contributions provided by the applicant or the applicant's project partners.. An in-kind match may be in the form of services, supplies, real property (excluding land donations or purchases), and equipment. The value of the service may be used for the matching requirements, if the services are necessary, reasonable, and allowable under that federal program. Grantees are allowed to use un-recovered indirect costs for matching or cost sharing requirements; however, this requires prior approval of the federal awarding agency.
   
   For third-party in-kind matching—such as supplies, equipment, or space—the value must not exceed the fair market value at the time of the donation.
   
   For volunteer services, the rates must be consistent with the rates normally paid for similar work in the organization. If an employee from another organization conducts services free of charge, the services should be valued at that employee's regular rate of pay, in addition to their fringe benefits and allowable indirect costs. There are online resources to help you determine the value of volunteer time, such as: https://independentsector.org/resource/value-of-volunteer-time/.  It is important to maintain a record for tracking and reporting volunteer time and services.
   
   Grantees are required to maintain records, which clearly show the source, amount, and timing for all matched contributions. While grantees are not required to submit their supporting documentation to the Department of Justice, their records must be available in the event of an audit or site visit.

NICRA

To be reimbursed for indirect costs, you must first establish an appropriate negotiated indirect cost rate agreement (NICRA). To do this, prepare an indirect cost rate proposal and submit it to the cognizant federal agency. The cognizant federal agency is generally determined based on the preponderance of federal dollars you receive.

An entities indirect cost rate is with its cognizant agency that it predominantly does business with.  This can be any Federal Agency.

The term “de minimis rate” refers to the rate that is available to certain recipients (and certain subrecipients, which is 10% of “modified total direct costs” (MTDC). This is specifically defined in 2 CFR 200.68. This definition must be followed. If your indirect cost rate is over 10%, you will need a NICRA with your cognizant agency, which is the Federal agency responsible for reviewing, negotiating, and approving cost allocation plans and indirect cost proposals on behalf of all Federal agencies.

All direct salaries and wages, applicable fringe benefits, materials and supplies, services, travel, and up to the first $25,000 of each subaward (regardless of the period of performance of the subawards under the award)

If the Forest Service (FS) is your cognizant Agency and you need to obtain a NICRA, please visit FS Resource Audit branch (RAB)  Audit and Assurance Staff | US Forest Service (usda.gov).  Refer to the Appendix for the FS NICRA application that you may be required to submit. Please contact the RAB before filling out the form below.

You have 2 to 3 years to complete your project.

The award date is the date when the Forest Service signed the award (not the start date). We encourage early closeout of grants by submitting the final report and final invoice when the project is completed.

System for Award Management (SAM)

General

Sam.gov is an official website for U.S government.  All entities must register with SAM in order to conduct business with the federal government. On April 4, 2022, the unique entity identifier used across the federal government changed from the DUNS Number to the Unique Entity ID (UEI). Once you go to this website for the first time, you will see a window pops up below:

Additionally, you will see all announcements and alerts posted on its homepage.  It is important to review them. For example, the latest alert below addresses the delay of validation applicants’ information. Therefore, it is recommended that you register very early on to avoid delays. This link provides FAQ to validating your entity.

Registration and Validation

• Register/Renew your registration early. You will need to register SAM to do business with the U.S federal government. Every year you will need to update and renew your registration. If your SAM registration expires, there will be a delay in receiving funding or adding new funding through a modification.

• Gather Up Your Basic Information. Before you get started with SAM registration, you will need to know some important information. For instance, you will need your company tax ID number, which should be listed on tax forms. You also will need the routing number and account number for your business bank account, as payments to you will be made through SAM so this info is stored in your SAM account. You also might need to know your North American Industry Classification System Codes if you will be applying for Contracting. These codes identify the specific goods or services (or both) that your company provides.

• Tax ID and Physical Address. Make sure to use the Tax ID number that you have with the federal government.  Use the same name as you register with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).  Once you registered, you can add another name as “doing business as” inside of SAM.  Use the physical addresses to register for your UEI and have address proof ready to show (i.e., lease) if being requested by SAM.gov for validation.

• Entity Registration Checklist: See checklist link to help you prepare your registration. If you are applying for Financial Assistance award only, click on the 2^nd link which will get you straight to the checklist.

• Socio-Economic Entity: Under General information, make sure that you click all that applies to your organization, especially if you qualify under socio-economic categories, Native-American entity, or Disadvantaged business category. This is important as some grants have set asides if you qualify under this category. Visit https://www.sba.gov/ to learn more about these programs.

• Two or more administrators for your organization. It is recommended to have multiple people who can renew and update your SAM registration. If you lose access to the email that has the access to SAM, you will have to create a new account and submit a notarized letter to SAM granting you access again. If you leave the organization, the new person will have to go through the same process of submitting a notarized letter and gaining access to the organization’s SAM. This can lead to delays in receiving your funding related to a grant or agreement. A backup person from your organization can go into SAM and give that access immediately removing the delay.

• Review twice!  Double check everything and make sure it matches your documentation exactly when setting your SAM account up for the first time or for SAM recertification process. Any information entered incorrectly will create a delay in the process. During times of high volume, it may add several weeks to the time it takes to register your entity.

Project Partner:

A project partner can be an individual or someone that officially represents a company, organization, or community who will individually or through the organization they represent, be providing direct support or value to your project.  The support they provide should be of value (providing tangible support or adding value) to the project.  Support can range from direct consulting and community advocacy to providing services, supplies, material, labor, etc. that is needed to manage, coordinate, design, develop, or implement your project.

Your project partner's support letter must identify their involvement and state their commitment to the project (identify what they will be doing or providing).  The partner must also identify their qualifications as they directly relate to their involvement in the project. Partner letters must be signed by an authorized representative of the partner entity.

Stakeholder Supporter:

You may include support letters stakeholders such as from government officials (i.e. a Mayor or State Forester) and other organization leaders who are dedicated to supporting or advocating for your proposal as it relates to their area of oversight or management. An example might be a support letter from a city Mayor or city/county manager stating their approval or strong desire and community need for the implementation of your proposal.

Do NOT include resumes from Project Partners or Stakeholders in your online application.

Entities eligible to apply for funding under this NOFO include:

• Local government entity
• Agency or governmental entity of the District of Columbia
• Agency or governmental entity of an insular area (as defined in section 1404 of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, and Teaching Policy Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 3103)
• Federally Recognized Tribes, Alaska Native Corporations/villages, and Tribal organizations as defined in 25 USC 5304 (l) and operating within the United States, or its territories
• Non-profit organizations
• Public and State-controlled institutions of higher education
• Community Based non-profit Organizations

The applicant is responsible for grant reporting.   It may require  data, accomplishment summaries, and other content from contractors to aid in reporting.

(Q) Can I include my resume or resumes from individual contributors or project partners in my online application?

(A) NO, do not include resumes of any type in your online application.  If a section of the online application asks for you to provide the qualifications of an individual or entity as their qualifications relate to the project, ONLY include their qualifications/capabilities as they directly relate to their involvement in the project. Those qualifications must only be described in the section of the online application in which they are being requested.  Do not upload individual qualifications or resumes to the 'Additional Project Information' section of the online application.

As of April 2022, the Federal government stopped using entity DUNS and switched to the UEI (unique entity identifer) .  You MUST enter your entity's UEI on Federal Financial form FS-424 line 8(c). If your FS-424 is asking for a DUNS number on line 8(c), you should instead enter your UEI.

NOTE: A DUNS number is a 12 character numeric number vs. a UEI with is a 12 character alphanumeric identifier.

If you have a DUNS number and don't know your UEI, please see https://SAM.gov for information on how to obtain your UEI.

More information about your UEI can be found at https://SAM.gov

If you require assistance with entering your UEI on for FS-424, please contact technical support at the email located at the bottom of this page.