§ 200.204 - Notices of funding opportunities.

§ 200.204 Notices of funding opportunities.

For discretionary grants and cooperative agreements that are competed, the Federal awarding agency must announce specific funding opportunities by providing the following information The Federal agency must announce specific funding opportunities for Federal financial assistance that will be openly competed. The term openly competed means opportunities that are not directed to one or more specifically identified applicants. To the extent possible, the Federal agency should communicate opportunities to the public in plain language to ensure the announcement is accessible to diverse communities of eligible applicants, including underserved communities. The Federal agency should also make efforts to limit the length and complexity of the announcement and only include the information that is necessary for the effective communication of the program objectives. Federal agencies may offer pre-application technical assistance or provide clarifying information for funding opportunities. However, Federal agencies must ensure these resources are made accessible and widely available to all potential applicants (for example, by posting answers to questions and requests on Grants.gov). The Federal agency should make every effort to identify in the NOFO all eligible applicants (for example, different types of nonprofit organizations such as labor unions and tribal organizations). The following information must be provided in a public notice:

(a) Summary information in notices of funding opportunities. The Federal awarding agency must display the following information posted on the OMB-designated governmentwide website for funding and applying for Federal financial assistanceon Grants.gov, in a location preceding the full text of the announcement:

(1) Federal Awarding Agency Name;

(2) Funding Opportunity Title;

(3) Announcement Type (whether the funding opportunity is the initial announcement of this funding opportunity or a modification of a previously announced opportunity);

(4) Funding Opportunity Number (required, if applicable). If the Federal awarding agency has assigned or will assign a number to the funding opportunity announcement, this number must be provided);

(5) Assistance Listings Listing Number(s);

(6) Funding Details. To the extent appropriate, the total amount of funding that the Federal agency expects to award, the anticipated number of awards, and the expected dollar values of individual awards, which may be a range or average;

(7) Key Dates. Key dates include due dates for submitting applications or Executive Order 12372 submissions, as well as for any letters of intent or

pre-applications

preapplications. For any announcement issued before a program's application materials are available, key dates also include the date on which those materials will be released; and any other additional information, as deemed applicable by the

relevant

Federal

awarding

agency. If possible, the Federal agency should provide an anticipated award date. If the NOFO states that applications will be evaluated on a “rolling” basis (that is, at different points during a specified period of time), the Federal agency should provide an estimate of the time needed to process an application and notify the applicant of the Federal agency's decision;

(8) Executive Summary. A brief description that is written in plain language and summarizes the goals and objectives of the program, the target audience, and eligible applicants. The text of the executive summary should not exceed 500 words; and

(9) Agency contact information.

(b) Availability period. The Federal awarding agency must generally should make all funding opportunities available for application for at least 60 calendar days. The However, the Federal awarding agency may make a determination to have a less than 60 calendar day availability period but agency may modify the availability period of an opportunity as needed. For example, extending the period may be necessary to provide technical assistance to an applicant pool that was not anticipated when the announcement was made or has less experience with applying for Federal financial assistance. The Federal agency may also determine that an availability period of less than 60 days is sufficient for a particular funding opportunity. However, no funding opportunity should be available for less than 30 calendar days unless exigent circumstances require as determined by the Federal awarding agency head or delegateagency determines that exigent circumstances justify this.

(c) Full text of funding opportunities.

(1) The Federal

awarding

agency must include the

following

information in

the full text of each funding opportunity. For specific instructions on the content required in this section, refer to appendix I to this part.

(1) Full programmatic description of the Appendix I for every funding opportunity.

(2) Federal award information, including sufficient information to help an applicant make an informed decision about whether to submit an application. (See also § 200.414(c)(4)).

(3) Specific eligibility information, including any factors or priorities that affect an applicant's or its application's eligibility for selection.

(4) Application Preparation and Submission Information, including the applicable submission dates and time.

(5) Application Review Information including the criteria and process to be used to evaluate applications. See also §§ 200.205 and 200.206.

(6) Federal Award Administration Information. See also § 200.211.

(7) Applicable terms and conditions for resulting awards, including any exceptions from these standard terms.

agencies should ensure that funding opportunities are written using plain language. To the extent possible Federal agencies must streamline opportunities to make them accessible, particularly for funding opportunities that are new, targeted to underserved communities, or intended to reach inexperienced applicants.

(3) To reduce application burden, Federal agencies should consider whether programmatic or administrative requirements specific to the agency, program, or funding opportunity must be met at the time of application or as a requirement of receiving a Federal award.