# Presentation: 777874

## Grants.gov Quarterly Stakeholder Web cast April 18, 2007www.grants.gov 

## Agenda

**Introduction  **
**Grants Executive Board Chair **
**Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA)**
**Spotlight on Federal Grant Agency: Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) **
**Grants.gov Program Management Update**
**Government wide Forms Update**
**System Status and Technical Architecture**
**Update on Outreach Activities**
**Next Quarterly Webcast July 19, 2007**
**Q&A**

## Presenters

**Moderator: Ms. Terry Nicolosi, Acting Program Manager**
**Welcome:  Grants Executive Board Chair: Mr. Michael Burke, CIO, NEA**
**Federal Financial Accountability and Transparency Act: HHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Terry Hurst**
**Featured Agency: Ms. Barbara Dorf, HUD**
**	****Grants.gov Quarterly Update: Ms. Terry Nicolosi**
**Government Wide Forms: Mr. Keenon James, Grants.gov Program Advisor**
**System Status and Architecture: Mr. Harsha Rao, General Dynamics – Grants.gov System Integrator**
**Communications: Mr. Michael Pellegrino, PMO Lead**

## Mr. Michael BurkeChief Information OfficerNational Endowment of the Arts 2007 Grants Executive Board Chair

## WelcomeGrants Executive Board Chair

**26 Federal Grant making agencies**
**In 5****th**** year – grew from 11 to 26**
**Governance of Grants.gov and Grants Management Line of Business (GMLOB)**
**OMB and Grants Policy Committee – GEB Liaisons**
**Charter**
**Supports PL 106-107, Clinger-Cohen, Paperwork Reduction Act**
**Collaborative working partnership among agencies, OMB and E-Government initiatives **

## Grants.gov Quarterly UpdateHHS Deputy Assistant Secretary Terry Hurst Federal Financial Accountability Transparency Act (FFATA)

## Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

**The Act requires OMB to ensure the existence and operation of a website that provides the public with easy access to information about federal expenditures. It does not include payments to individuals. The data elements required in the bill for each transaction include:**
**1) the amount;**
**2) information including transaction type, funding agency, the North American Industry Classification System code or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number (where applicable), program source, and an award title descriptive of the purpose of each funding action;**
**3) the name and location of the recipient and the primary location of performance; and**
**4) a unique identifier for the recipient and any parent entity.**

## Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act

_**STATUTORY DUE DATES**_
**The Act sets the following due dates:**
**July 1, 2007: OMB required to commence a pilot program to test the collection and accession of data about subgrants and subcontracts, and determine how to implement a subaward reporting program across the Federal government.**
**January 1, 2008: OMB will ensure the existence of a single searchable website accessible to the public that will provide the previously mentioned data about each federal award.**
**Oct 1, 2008: Requires information about credit card transactions, although only for amounts larger than $25,000.**
**January 1, 2009: The Act requires the website to include data from subcontractors or subgrantees.**

## Grants.gov Quarterly Stakeholder Web castMs. Barbara DorfSpotlight on Federal Grant Making AgencyDepartment of Housing and Urban Development 

## HUD and Grants.gov

**HUD issues the majority of its funding opportunities in a single announcement called the SuperNOFA.**
**The SuperNOFA contains:**
**A General Section which establishes requirements and policies applicable to all HUD programs; and **
**Program Sections which contain program specific requirements.**

## HUD and Grants.gov

**HUD worked with Grants.gov, worked communication plan, and successfully received 5752 applications for 41 programs in FY 2005.**
**In FY 2005 HUD had 465 rejected applications largely due to registration issues.**

## HUD and Grants.gov

**In FY 2005 HUD conducted 99 Quality Assurance Reviews.  **
**HUD relies on Grants.gov applicant reports, Grants.gov Support tickets, Audit Reports, Organization Reports, and applicant problem discussion to evaluate appeals.**

## HUD and Grants.gov

**HUD analyzed the errors and developed extensive outreach and training materials to address common errors and ensure that all applicants were familiar with Grants.gov**
**HUD’s NOFA was modified in FY 2006 to issue the General Section early so that folks can read all the details before the Program Sections were issued. **

## HUD and Grants.gov

- HUD developed Step By Step: Your Guide to Registering for Grant Opportunities

## HUD and Grants.gov

**HUD created a brochure “Finding and Applying for Grant Opportunities which included registration renewal tips:**

***HUD found a picture is worth 1,000 words***

## HUD developed a Desktop User Guide which provided screen shots and instructions for the entire Grants.gov process.

## Slide 18

## Slide 19

## HUD and Grants.gov

**In FY 2006 HUD received 4489 applications for 38 programs and had 327 rejections.**
**In 2006 there were 47 Quality Assurance Reviews.**

## HUD and Grants.gov

**Key to HUD’s success is getting customer input into issues and problems;**
**Outstanding working relationship with Grants.gov staff to address questions; and **
**Outstanding customer support from Grants.gov in providing help desk staff with protocols for question s they are not prepared to answer. **

## HUD and Grants.gov

**HUD’s 2007 SuperNOFA on Grants.gov now.  **
**Grants.gov posted updated OMB form expiration dates for PureEdge forms used in our NOFA. **

## 
Next Steps for HUD:  

   Working with Grants.gov and grantee community in successfully getting 6,000 Continuum of Care applicants able to apply using Grants.gov in FY 2008.

***Next Steps for HUD:***
-    **Working with Grants.gov and grantee community in successfully getting 6,000 Continuum of Care applicants able to apply using Grants.gov in FY 2008.**

## Ms. Terry NicolosiActing Grants.gov Program Manager Grants.gov Quarterly Update

## Authorized Organization Representatives (AORs) Registered By Quarter 

**Total AORs for FY07 Q1 and Q2 increased 354% from FY06 Q1 and Q2 totals**

## Submission Growth By Quarter

**Total submissions for FY07 Q1 and Q2 increased 293% from FY06 Q1 and Q2 totals**

## Highlights of Agency Participation

| 
Top Five Agencies 
Growth in # of Grants.gov Package Postings and Submissions |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Agency | FY07 through 3/31/07 | FY06 through 3/31/06 |
| DOD | Packages:99
Submissions: 3,124 | Packages: 2
Submissions: 3 |
| DOI | Packages: 111
Submissions: 481  | Packages: 10
Submissions: 206 |
| VA | Packages: 6
Submissions: 16 | Packages: 1
Submissions: 0 |
| NASA | Packages: 40
Submissions: 45 | Packages: 9
Submissions: 26 |
| DHS | Packages: 42
Submissions: 736 | Packages: 10
Submissions: 81 |

## Grants.gov System Status

**Operations and maintenance**
**Oracle Optimization Assessment **
**Hardware upgrades: 4/27 and 4/28**
**System to System Business Process Improvement**
**Documentation**
**Certificate Process**
**Customer Response**
**Lessons Learned and Shared**

## Grants.gov 

**Ensure complete testing and user acceptance of system platform change **
**Complete transition of agencies and applicant System to System users  to new Adobe platform by end of  FY 2007**
**Assess future functionality requirements:  collaborative per Grantor user group; web services and  improvements to current Government wide 4040 forms;**
**Revisit with OMB/OGC on formation of Technical Joint Application Design teams compliant with FACA: Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA);**
**Continued streamlining per PL 106-107, Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act with OMB, GEB, GPC and representatives of the Applicant community: Federal Demonstration Partnership, National Grants Partnership, National Grants Management Association, State and Local groups and all representatives of our stakeholder community**

## Grants.gov Award Nomination for ACT

**2007 Intergovernmental Solutions Awards Nominee**
**The American Council for Technology (ACT) recognizes IT projects that demonstrate how a government agency is using innovative technology to:**
**help the United States lead the world with new ideas and knowledge, **
**help the government move from an “information society” to an “innovation society.” **

## Grants.gov Quarterly Stakeholder Web castMr. Keenon JamesForms

## Forms 

**Adobe forms conversion status**
**508 testing and compliance**
**SF424 Short and Individual update**
**Forms FAQ: Organization Name field length**

## Grants.gov Quarterly Stakeholder Web castMr. Harsha Rao2007 System Status and Technical Architecture

## 2007 System - Features

**Parallel processing vs. serial processing**
**Scalable, reliable, flexible**
**Adobe Forms (platform independent)**
**Enhanced System-to-System (S2S) support for all applicants and agencies **
**Google search**
**Search is not limited to text data**
**Both synopsis data and attachments (MS Word, PDF, and Excel) are searchable**

## Key Project Events

**Sep 06**

**Oct 06**

**Nov 06**

**Dec 06**

**Jan 07**

**Feb 07**

**Mar 07**

**Apr 07**

**May 07**

**Jun 07**

**Jul 07**

**Aug 07**

**Sep 07**

**2007 System Delivered**

**End-user testing**

**2007 Production Release**

**2007 O&M**

**2007 Enhancements**

**2006 Retired**

**2007 Design and Development**

**2006 O&M**

**2006 System at General Dynamics IT Hosting Facility**

**RFP**

**Contract Award**

**Transition**

## 2007 System - Architecture

- Scalable architecture
- Improved search and performance
- Servers dedicated to Adobe API interaction

## Load Optimized Architecture

**Controls**
**Table**

**Storage Area Network**

**Notification**
**Service**

- FILES

**LOAD SERVICE**
**Matching Servers**

- App Server 1

- App Server 2

- App Server 3

- App Server 4

- App Server 5

- Re-engineered services
- Concurrent processing
- Self-regulating and dynamically reconfigured
- Communicate via status table
- Data integrity
- First In First Out (FIFO)

**DATABASE**

**Status**
**Table**

## 2007 System - 508 Compliance

**Result of 508 compliance testing**
**No major usability issues**
**Adobe is complimentary to accessibility**
**508 compliance built into original design**

## Current Testing

**April 2007**
**End-user testing phase began in early April with 3 agencies: NIH, NEH, and ED**
**Beginning April 16, open to all agencies for testing**
**Assessment and development of new forms underway**
**May 2007**
**Begin production on May 1**

## DEMO of the 2007 System

## Grants.gov Quarterly Stakeholder Web castMr. Michael PellegrinoCommunications

## Adobe Day

**May 3, 2007 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. ET**
**Hear from Adobe on the technology platform supporting Adobe 7.0.9 **
**Learn about using the free Adobe Reader to complete grant applications **
**Learn how the new forms will look and act when completing your application**
**View New Grants.gov Adobe Screenshots**
**Discuss Changes between PureEdge and Adobe**

## Training Material

**Grantor and Applicant User Guides Being Updated**
**User Guides Will Include Transition to Adobe**
**Once Complete Material will be Updated on Grants.gov**
- _[http://www.grants.gov/help/user_guides.jsp](http://www.grants.gov/help/user_guides.jsp)_
**Material Includes Input from Testing**
**Outreach Training Material Being Updated**
**Outreach Training Abbreviated Version of User Guides**

## Website Update

**Grants.gov Website Update Ongoing**
**For Applicants Section Complete**
**Streamlined Content**
**More Efficient for Users**
**For Agencies Section Update Occurring Now**
**Revised Technical Library**
**System 2 System (S2S) **
**Includes Updated Process for 2007 Deployment **

## Quarterly Outreach Activities 

**January 29, 2007: 2007 10th District Grants Conference: Loudon County Virginia**
**January 31, 2007: Air Force Office of Scientific Research Training **
**February 5, 2007: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMSHA) Conference**
**February 12, 2007: The Performance Institute Training**

## Future Outreach Scheduled

**April 9, 2007: Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers Applicant Training via Conference Call Spokane Washington**
**April 25, 2007 NGMA Presentation**

## Grants.gov PMO Support

**Visit website and provide feedback via **_[support@grants.gov](mailto:support@grants.gov)_
**Call the Help Desk M-F 7 a.m. – 9 p.m. ET**
** ****1-800-581-GRANTS**
**Visit FAQs: **_[http://www.grants.gov/help/faq.jsp](http://www.grants.gov/help/faq.jsp)__._
**Training others on Grants.gov please contact us and we can provide assistance or materials.**

## Next Stakeholder WebcastJuly 19, 2007

## Q&A