A critical part of registering as an applicant organization with Grants.gov involves entering a DUNS number – or obtaining one before proceeding.
A DUNS number is a unique nine-character number that Grants.gov and other programs use to identify your organization. For example, the federal government uses the DUNS number to track how federal money is allocated. Applicants doing business with the federal government can get one for free through Dun and Bradstreet (D&B).
In 2018, the D&B contract with the federal government’s General Services Administration (GSA) expires, and the GSA has released a Request for Information (RFI) for government-wide entity identification and validation services.