SAM simplifies the grants process

By Jerry Brant

If you have been awarded a grant by the federal government or if you are applying for a grant through the federal government, then there is a new sheriff in town and his name is SAM.

No, this isn’t good old Uncle Sam, but this is the System for Award Management.

SAM consolidated the capabilities of several other government sites like CCR into one common entity. For those of you who only deal with FEMA programs, you may have been unaware that there were several different programs like CCR running across other federal agencies. For fire departments, EMS agencies or local governments that applied to other grant programs through the federal government, they would have to input their information into other programs like CCR in order to apply for grants through the other federal programs.

Depending on their grant activities departments, they may have had to supply the same information up to four different times just to apply for grant funding. Now there is one system, SAM, which operates across all federal agencies and programs.

If you applied for a 2012 AFG, SAFER or FP&S Grant, and you were successful, then you had to register with SAM before you could receive your award. Starting in 2013, you must be registered with SAM before you apply for the particular grant.

Here are some important items to keep in mind concerning SAM:

• All grant applicants: Please ensure that your department has an active registration in SAM.gov. Registration is required to award all new grants for FY 2012 and 2013. It may take several days for a newly submitted registration to become active. This could delay your receipt of funds.
• Potential SAFER, AFG, FP&S grant applicants: If you are thinking about applying for FY 2013 funds, you should register your organization on SAM.gov as soon as possible. Beginning with the 2013 AFG application period, all applicants will be required to be registered in SAM.gov before submitting their applications. So, to be safe, register in SAM.gov as soon as you can – and don’t wait for the application period to open.
• Current grantees: Current grantees must have an active registration in SAM.gov to avoid delays in receiving approval of amendment and payment requests.
• Everyone: Make sure the banking information, employer ID number and DUNS number you report in SAM.gov are accurate. The data you enter in SAM.gov and in your grant applications must match. Some departments are experiencing delays, because they are not inputting the same information into SAM as they are on their grant applications. Remember: If you are the Lincoln Volunteer Fire Company #1 in SAM, you must continue to use this exact name in all your applications or the system will not recognize you. Several departments have experienced problems because they are using different variations of their legal name.
• SAM registration is FREE: There is a number of websites that offer to register you in SAM for a fee. These sites are private entities and they are not affiliated with the federal government. Registration in SAM is completely free.

Remember, if you are not registered with SAM, please do so now. Don’t wait until you are going to file your AFG or SAFER application because you may experience delays in registering which could affect your application and potential award.

If you are having difficulty in registering with SAM, of if you just want additional information before you begin the process, here are some helpful sites:

• Visit the SAM.gov website: First, become familiar with SAM.gov. Browse through and read the Guides, Top FAQs, and other information that can be found online at the SAM.gov website, the SAM helpful hints page , and the Federal Service Desk .
• View the SAM webinar: Next, view the prerecorded SAM webinar for users, which covers topics like creating a new SAM user account, Migrating permissions from the legacy Central Contractors Registry (CCR) system into SAM and updating and renewing an existing registration.
• Contact the AFG Grants Management Specialists (GMS): Next, send questions you have by e-mail to the AFG Grants Management Specialist for your FEMA region. A list of the GMS for each FEMA Region is shown below and also can be found on the AFG website . Faxes for the GMS staff may be sent to 202-786-9905.

About the author
Jerry Brant is a Senior Grant Consultant and Grant Writer with FireGrantsHelp and EMSGrantsHelp. He has 40 years of experience as a volunteer firefighter in rural west central Pennsylvania. He is a life member of the Hope Fire Company of Northern Cambria, where he served as chief for 15 years. He is currently an active member of the Patton Fire Company #1. For 20 years, Jerry was employed as the executive director and then president of a small non-profit community development corporation. Jerry has successfully written more than $52 million in grant applications and proposals. Jerry can be reached at Jerry.Brant@FireGrantsHelp.com .