**IMPORTANT -- PLEASE READ FIRST**

**U.S.D.A., Risk Management Agency**

***[Grants.gov Submission Procedures and Tips for
Applicants]{.underline}***

To facilitate your use of Grants.gov, this document includes important
submission procedures you need to be aware of to ensure your application
is received in a timely manner and accepted by the USDA, Risk Management
Agency.

**ATTENTION -- Microsoft Vista and Word 2007 Users**

Please note that Grants.gov does [not]{.underline} currently support the
new Microsoft Vista Operating system. The PureEdge software used by
Grants.gov for forms is not compatible with Vista. Grants.gov will be
reviewing this new product to determine if it can be supported in the
future.

In addition, the new version of Microsoft Word saves documents with the
extension .DOCX. The Grants.gov system does not process Microsoft Word
documents with the extension .DOCX. When submitting Microsoft Word
attachments to Grants.gov, please use the version of Microsoft Word that
ends in .DOC. If you have any questions regarding this matter please
email the Grants.gov Contact Center at [support@grants.gov]{.underline}
or call 1-800-518-4726.

1)  **REGISTER EARLY** -- Grants.gov registration may take five or more
    business days to complete. You may begin working on your application
    while completing the registration process, but you cannot submit an
    application until all of the Registration steps are complete. For
    detailed information on the Registration Steps, please go to:
    [http://www.grants.gov/applicants/get_registered.jsp]{.underline}.
    \[Note: Your organization will need to update its Central Contractor
    Registry (CCR) registration annually.\]

2)  **SUBMIT EARLY** -- **We strongly recommend that you do not wait
    until the last day to submit your application. Grants.gov will put a
    date/time stamp on your application and then process it after it is
    fully uploaded.** The time it takes to upload an application will
    vary depending on a number of factors including the size of the
    application and the speed of your Internet connection, and the time
    it takes Grants.gov to process the application will vary as well. If
    Grants.gov rejects your application (see step three below), you will
    need to resubmit successfully before 4:30 pm on the deadline date.

> **Note: To submit successfully, you must provide the DUNS number on
> your application that was used when your organization registered with
> the CCR (Central Contractor Registry).**

3)  **VERIFY SUBMISSION IS OK** -- You will want to verify that
    Grants.gov and the USDA, Risk Management Agency receive your
    Grants.gov submission timely and that it was validated successfully.
    To see the date/time your application was received, login to
    Grants.gov and click on the Track My Application link. For a
    successful submission, the date/time received should be earlier than
    4:30 p.m. on the deadline date, AND the application status should
    be: Validated, Received by Agency, or Agency Tracking Number
    Assigned.

> If the date/time received is later than 5:00 p.m. Washington, D.C.
> time, on the closing date, your application is late. If your
> application has a status of "Received" it is still awaiting validation
> by Grants.gov. Once validation is complete, the status will either
> change to "Validated" or "Rejected with Errors." If the status is
> "Rejected with Errors," your application has not been received
> successfully. Some of the reasons Grants.gov may reject an application
> can be found on the Grants.gov site:
> [http://www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp#10]{.underline}.
> For more detailed information on why an application may be rejected,
> you can review Application Error Tips
> [http://www.grants.gov/section910/ApplicationErrorTips.pdf]{.underline}.
> Note: You will receive a series of confirmations both online and via
> e-mail about the status of your application. Please do not rely solely
> on e-mail to confirm whether your application has been received timely
> and validated successfully.

# Submission Problems -- What should you do?

If you have problems submitting to Grants.gov before the closing date,
please contact Grants.gov Customer Support at 1-800-518-4726 or use the
customer support available on the Web site:
[http://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp]{.underline}.

Electronic submission is [optional.]{.underline} If you have problems
that you are unable to resolve before the deadline date and time for
electronic applications, please follow the transmittal instructions for
hard copy applications in the Federal Register notice and get the hard
copy application delivered by the deadline date and time.

# Helpful Hints When Working with Grants.gov

Please note, once you download an application from Grants.gov, you will
be working offline and saving data on your computer. Please be sure to
note where you are saving the Grants.gov file on your computer. You will
need to logon to Grants.gov to upload and submit the application. **You
must provide on your application the DUNS number that was used when your
organization registered with the CCR.**

Please go to
[http://www.grants.gov/applicants/applicant_help.jsp]{.underline} for
help with Grants.gov. For additional tips related to submitting grant
applications, please refer to the Grants.gov Submit Application FAQs
found on the Grants.gov
[http://www.grants.gov/help/submit_application_faqs.jsp]{.underline}.

#  

Applicants who submit their applications via the Grants.gov website are
not required to submit any hard copy documents to RMA.

When using Grants.gov to apply, RMA strongly recommends that you submit
the online application at least two weeks prior to the application due
date in case there are problems with the Grants.gov website and you want
to submit your application via a mail delivery service.

# 

# Dial-Up Internet Connections

When using a dial up connection to upload and submit your application,
it can take significantly longer than when you are connected to the
Internet with a high-speed connection, e.g. cable modem/DSL/T1. While
times will vary depending upon the size of your application, it can take
a few minutes to a few hours to complete your grant submission using a
dial up connection.

# MAC Users

If you do not have a Windows operating System, you will need to use the
Citrix solution discussed on Grants.gov or a Windows Emulation program
to submit an application using Grants.gov. For additional information,
review the FAQs for non-windows users
[http://www.grants.gov/resources/download_software.jsp#non_window]{.underline}.
Also, to view white paper for Macintosh users published by Pure Edge go
to the following link:
[http://www.grants.gov/section678/PureEdgeSupportforMacintosh.pdf]{.underline},
and/or contact Grants.gov Customer Support
([http://www.grants.gov/contactus/contactus.jsp]{.underline}) for more
information.