The federal government provides assistance to the American public in the form of projects, services, and activities. It supports a broad range of assistance listings—in various areas such as education, health care, research, infrastructure, economic development, and others—through grants, loans, scholarships, insurance, and other types of financial assistance.

SAM.gov system provides detailed, public descriptions of federal assistance listings available to state and local governments (including the District of Columbia); federally recognized Indian tribal governments, territories (and possessions) of the United States; domestic public, quasi-public, private for profit, and nonprofit organizations and institutions; specialized groups; and individuals.

As an entity looking for federal assistance, you can conduct your preliminary planning using SAM.gov. Browse assistance listings across all government agencies to form a “big picture” of your funding options.

Each assistance listing is associated with a unique Assistance Listing (AL) number. Once you identify a federal assistance listing you're interested in, you can link directly to grant opportunities on Grants.gov or follow up with that specific agency using the contact information provided.