How do I apply for a grant under the Inflation Reduction Act?

All applicants must have an active SAM.gov and Grants.gov registration in order to apply for a grant under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). You should register in these systems now if you think you may apply for a federal grant. The process can take a month or more for new registrants.

•  If you have applied for a federal grant in the past, ensure your registrations are active. You can check your entity status using your government issued unique entity identifier (UEI) to determine if your registration is active.
• SAM.gov requires you renew your registration every 365 days to keep it active.

If you have never done business with the Federal Government, follow the below steps to register your organization in SAM.gov and Grants.gov. Registration on both of these platforms is FREE.

1. Register your organization in SAM.gov

a)       Click “Get Started” on the SAM.gov home page to register your organization.

b)      Follow the instructions on the website to complete your registration.

• SAM.gov will direct you to create an account on login.gov to complete registration.
• You will need to obtain a UEI, a 12-character alphanumeric ID assigned an entity by SAM.gov, and fill in other information about your organization.
• Please review the Entity Registration Checklist for details on this process.
• Please note that SAM.gov registration is different than obtaining a UEI only. Obtaining a UEI only validates your organization's legal business name and address. Please review the Frequently Asked Question on the difference for additional details.

2. Register your organization in Grants.gov

a)       Once your SAM.gov account is active, you must register in Grants.gov. Please review the Grants.gov Applicant Registration instructions.

• Grants.gov will require you to fill in your organization information, such as e-Business (EBiz) point of contact email address and UEI.
• The EBiz point of contact is the only person that can affiliate and assign applicant roles to members of an organization.
• In addition, at least one person must be assigned as an Authorized Organization Representative (AOR). Only person(s) with the AOR role can submit applications in Grants.gov.
• Please review the Intro to Grants.gov-Understanding User Roles and Learning Workspace - User Roles and Workspace Actions for details on this important process.

b)      If necessary, contact Grants.gov for assistance at 1-800-518-4726 or support@grants.gov to resolve technical issues with Grants.gov.

• Applicants who are outside the U.S. at the time of submittal and are not able to access the toll-free number may reach a Grants.gov representative by calling 606-545-5035.
• The Grants.gov Support Center is available 24 hours a day 7 days a week, excluding federal holidays.