The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance – Starting Point for Federal Government Grants

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is a government-wide compendium of Federal programs, projects, services, and activities that provide assistance or benefits to the American public. It contains financial and nonfinancial assistance programs administered by departments and establishments of the Federal government.

The catalog had its genesis in 1984. The federal government transferred the responsibilities of the Federal Program Information Act from the Office of Management and Budget to the General Services Administration. Included in this transfer was the responsibility for the distribution of all Federal domestic assistance program information through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance.

The GSA is responsible for the database of Federal assistance. The Office of Management and Budget acts as the conduit agency between the Federal agencies and the GSA delivering the required oversight to the program data related to domestic assistance.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is the fundamental reference for all Federal programs. Its most important purpose is in assisting visitors in identification of programs that meet their specific requirements. The CFDA also is a great source of information on Federal assistance programs. The CFDA also seeks to enhance communications and improve coordination between State and Local governments and the Federal government.

The Catalog provides the user with access to programs administered by Federal departments and agencies in a single publication. Program information is cross referenced by functional classification (Functional Index), subject (Subject Index), applicant (Applicant Index), deadline(s) for program application submission (Deadlines Index), and authorizing legislation (Authorization Index). These are valuable resource tools that, if used carefully, can make it easier to identify specific areas of program interest more efficiently.

Since 1977 the General Services Administration has published printed editions of the CFDA. Legislation required free dissemination of the Catalog to specific recipients. In 2003 the GSA distributed close to 10,000 copies of the CFDA.

New federal legislation provides discretion to the GSA on how to maintain and distribute the Catalog. In keeping with the General Services Administration’s Electronic-Government initiatives, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act the GSA now disseminates the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance electronically through the CFDA Website on the World Wide Web. As a result the General Services Administration no longer prints or distributes free copies of the Catalog.

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