If you are interested in researching federal government grant opportunities, a great place to start is the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is a government-wide collection of Federal services and activities, including programs and projects that provide benefits or assistance to residents of the U.S.. The CFDA non-financial and financial assistance programs managed by departments and other entities within the Federal government.
The catalog had its genesis in 1984. The federal government transferred the responsibilities of the Federal Program Information Act from the Office of Management and Budget to the General Services Administration. Included in this transfer was the responsibility for the distribution of all Federal domestic assistance program information through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.
The GSA is responsible for the database of Federal assistance. The Office of Management and Budget acts as the conduit agency between the Federal agencies and the GSA delivering the required oversight to the program data related to domestic assistance.
As the basic reference source of Federal programs, the primary purpose of the Catalog is to assist users in identifying programs that meet specific objectives of the potential applicant, and to obtain general information on Federal assistance programs. In addition, the intent of the Catalog is to improve coordination and communication between the Federal government and State and local governments.
The CFDA lets grant seekers access all domestic programs managed by Federal agencies and departments in a single resource. All information is cross referenced by functional classification, Subject Index, applicant, Deadlines Index, and Authorization Index. All of this information is invaluable as research tools that can make it easier to identify specific areas of program interest more efficiently.
Since 1977 the GSA has published printed editions of the Catalog. Legislation required free dissemination of the Catalog to specific recipients. In 2003 the General Services Administration distributed close to 10,000 copies of the Catalog.
New federal legislation provides discretion to the General Services Administration on how to maintain and distribute the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. In keeping with the GSA’s Electronic-Government initiatives, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act the Administration now disseminates the Catalog electronically through the CFDA Website on the World Wide Web. As a result the GSA no longer prints or distributes free copies of the Catalog.