Guides

What is an Assistance Listing (CFDA number)?

How the numbers work

Each number has two parts separated by a dot. The two digits before the dot identify the federal agency that runs the program: 10 is the Department of Agriculture, 20 the Department of Transportation, 47 the National Science Foundation, 84 the Department of Education, 93 Health and Human Services and 97 Homeland Security. The three digits after the dot identify the program within that agency.

The listing itself describes the program: its legal authority, objectives, who may apply, and how money is awarded. Agencies update it, and SAM.gov publishes it.

Why the number matters when you look for grants

A funding opportunity on Grants.gov names the program it funds, and every award reported to USAspending.gov records the same program number. That is how our program pages can show, for each program, how much it awarded in recent years, who received the money and in which states.

Researching a program by its number before you apply tells you what an opportunity does not: whether the program usually funds organizations like yours, and how large a typical award really is.

One program, many opportunities

A program can post several funding opportunities a year, each with its own deadline and rules, and one opportunity can draw on more than one program. When you find an opportunity that fits, look up its program to see the others it has funded before and when they were posted.