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Status

The status of the funding opportunity detailed in this site corresponds to where the funding is in the process of making its way to the ultimate recipients of the funding.

Definitions of Grant Status

Grants Office defines grant status using five terms- pending, appropriated, open, closed, and special. We define these terms as follows:

Pending

Pending programs are those that we expect to be offered in the coming year, based on:

* Past years' program history,

* Political support for the program, and/or

* News from Capitol Hill that funding for the program will be appropriated.

However, if a program is identified as "Pending," no funds have yet been appropriated for it. To learn more about the status of a particular Federal appropriation, visit the Library of Congress's Thomas Web Site.

Note that when a grant's status is listed as "Pending," the deadline we list, though based on our best information, is subject to change until it is "Open," and an official deadline is published by the administering agency.

Appropriated

Once funding for a program has been appropriated by Congress and signed into law by the President, its status changes to "Appropriated." Appropriated programs have a budget but have not yet been officially announced by the administring agency.

Official announcement (generally in grants.gov, the federal grants information portal) defines what is required of funding applicants, including narrative, budget, and submission guidelines.

Open

Official announcement of a grant program by the administering agency creates an "open" grant program...and the clock really begins ticking!

The official Request for Proposals (or RFP, which may also be called a NOFA, "Notice of Funds Availability," or RFA, "Request for Applications," among other things) provides the first public glimpse into the current application requirements and fixed deadline.

Closed

Once a program's application deadline has passed, it is "closed," meaning the administering agency is no longer accepting applications.

Since many grant programs are offered each fiscal year, the status could well shift back to "Pending" as the program undergoes consideration for inclusion in the next federal budget.

Special

"Special" status is currently used to describe earmark funding programs, because they have loose, informal time frames and do not follow many of the rules that govern traditional grant programs.

The deadlines we provide for grants in "Special" status are intended to communicate when we believe, based on our experiences, are the best times to submit requests for these types of funding. They are not based on official guidance or published opportunities.

For earmarks, it is most important to follow the advise of your Representative with respect to timing and organizing your request.