No Surprises in GAO Report on Grants.gov

On July 15th, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released their report analyzing Grants.gov. Titled "Grants.gov has Systemic Weaknesses that Require Action," (PDF) they report, unsurprisingly, that the portal has significant technical and management problems.

In the GAO Summary are recommendations along four broad categories, which have been endorsed by OMB and HHS: 

"... for OMB to develop Grants.gov performance measures, clarify the governance structure, develop a structured means for applicant input about system functionality and establish uniform policies for processing grant applications. Barbara Pisaro Clark, acting assistant secretary for legislation at HHS, also emphasized the need for standard procedures across the federal government for grant application."

In general, the applicant community supports the idea of one grant portal - the original intention behind Grants.gov is sound. But unless it's reliable, support for the concept will erode.

Grants.gov has definitely stabilized since the Spring and they have taken a proactive and positive approach to improving communication, performance and support. In the fall, the agencies that stopped participating in Grants.gov are slated to return. If the recommendation of the GAO are followed, it is reasonable to expect that Grants.gov will continue to improve and deliver on its mission.

In the meantime, among the things that Grants.gov does well, is their support for the S2S standard of grant preparation and submission. S2S has been instrumental in reducing the load on Grants.gov during heavy submission deadlines and in making the applicant experience easier and less stressful.

And, of course, Cayuse customers have the S2S advantage, plus the advantage of Cayuse's 15 years in the federal grant application business. You can be sure that we continue to monitor the progress of Grants.gov and the funding agencies.