Grants.gov Workspace & Goodbye to Legacy PDF

The time has come to bid a final goodbye to the Legacy PDF Application Package. After March 31, 2017, Grants.gov will no longer accept Legacy PDF submissions.

Going forward, Grants.gov users should apply by creating a workspace on the View Grant Opportunity page of the desired grant. For first time users, try the basic approach to Workspace:

We have posted below a recording of a recent webinar demonstration that walks you step by step through the application process.

How Applicant Teams with External Collaborators Can Tap Grants.gov Workspace’s Full Potential

As the Legacy PDF retirement deadline nears, some applicant organizations are preparing to apply using Grants.gov Workspace for the very first time.

We recently sketched out application scenarios for organizations new to Workspace – a simple, minimalist approach to applying, as well as a standard approach.

In this post, we sketch out a third scenario – one that involves a team of 5 to 12 (or more) registered applicants who range from grant managers and writers to outside consultants and sub-applicants from partner organizations.

Here’s the scenario:

Questions and Answers from Grants.gov’s Town Hall Webinars

On December 5^th and 7^th Grants.gov held town hall-style webinars so that users could have their questions answered about Grants.gov Workspace and the upcoming retirement of the Legacy PDF application method.

What follows is a summary of the discussion during the two webinars.

In some cases, questions have been combined to minimize repetition. Also, we have added links to relevant training resources where applicable to shorten those answers.

The full video recording, available here and embedded below, is from the Dec. 7^th webinar.

A More Efficient Approach to Submitting a Federal Grant Application

As the Legacy PDF retirement deadline nears, some applicant organizations are preparing to apply using Grants.gov Workspace for the very first time.

We recently sketched out a basic application scenario in which only one or two people have Grants.gov accounts.

In this post, we sketch out another scenario – one that involves a team of 3-5 registered applicants who prefer to fill out Grants.gov webforms instead of PDF forms.

A Basic Approach to Submitting Your First Workspace Application

As the Legacy PDF retirement deadline nears, applicant organizations are preparing to apply using Grants.gov Workspace for the first time.

Let’s flesh out an applicant scenario that some new Workspace users will face:

You are about to begin your first federal grant application using Grants.gov Workspace. For years, you (and sometimes one other colleague) applied using the old Legacy PDF Application Package.

 

You traded a package of PDF forms back and forth until you were ready to cross your fingers and click Submit. It was never easy, but you had grown comfortable with the painstaking process. Now, with the upcoming retirement of the Legacy PDF, you are trying to learn the new Grants.gov method for applying.

 

Below you will find an example approach for applying with Workspace that keeps to the familiar workflow as much as possible.

Attn. Grantors: What Does the Legacy PDF Retirement and Workspace Mean for Me?

With the switch to Grants.gov Workspace as the standard grant application method, some federal grant managers have asked us what this means for them.

To avoid burying the lede, here it is—the system process for grantors has not changed since Grants.gov launched Workspace in October 2015 and will not change as a result of the Legacy PDF Application Package retirement on December 31, 2017.

While Workspace is a new-ish, upgraded user interface for grant applicants, the submissions you (i.e., grantors) receive after the retirement date will not change. Grantors will continue to use the same process to create and post funding opportunities on Grants.gov.

What Do I Need to Do as a Grantor?

Grantors should update any instructions pertaining to Grants.gov that may be included in new Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOA). To make this easier, we have a Grantor Standard Language page that we maintain for agencies to copy into opportunities so that you do not have to re-write Grants.gov instructions.

Conference Q&A: Your Workspace Questions Answered, Part 1

On August 8, 2017, Grants.gov presented on Workspace at the National Council of University Research Administrators (NCURA) Annual Conference to approximately 175 of you in the grants community.

Growing up, our teachers always told us, “Don’t be afraid to ask questions.” Those who made it to the presentation did not disappoint! Our teachers also often followed up with the encouragement that someone else probably has the same question. In that spirit, we are going to share questions and answers from the presentation in case you could not make it.

Big-Picture Questions

Where can I train and play around with Workspace to learn the functionality?

For training, start with this blog post & video to get a basic understanding of Workspace.

Recent Comments & Replies from the Grants.gov Community Blog

This blog supports a growing community made up of applicants, grantors, and individuals who are exploring the world of federal grants – sometimes for the very first time. Here we share a few of the most recent questions and comments posed by community members and readers.

Grantors

Commenting on “It’s Going Away: The Legacy PDF Application Package Will Be Retired”

“As a Grantor, what does this mean for the application packages that we download and process? Our software expects to see a zip file containing the SF424, attachments, manifest, etc. Thanks in advance for any guidance you can provide.” –Kevin

Hi Kevin, Thanks for the question! Nothing will change on your end. You will still get the same zip file containing the SF424, attachments, manifest, etc. –Grants.gov

Grants.gov Workspace: Fast, Easy to Use, and Secure

UPDATES: Click here for the latest Workspace blog posts or training videos.

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It’s Going Away: The Legacy PDF Application Package Will Be Retired.

The legacy PDF application package will be retired on December 31, 2017.

If you don’t know what that means and missed our previous blog posts here and here, or the Grants.gov Notices page, here’s a quick summary:

In the past, applicants have downloaded and filled out a single, big, stitched PDF application package that contained all the forms (i.e., the “legacy PDF application package”). To work as a team, you had to email the file back-and-forth while making sure all are using the same exact version of Adobe software.