The Federal DUNS Number

Effective October 1, 2003, the Federal government adopted a policy requiring all grant seekers to submit for a DUNS (Data Universal Numbering System) number with all grant and cooperative agreement applications. Therefore, all subcontractors, vendors, and/or potential grant recipients should be sure to acquire this number, available from the credit and marketing firm Don & Bradstreet (D&B). This code is a random nine-digit ID number assigned to your company that allows other organizations to easily identify and learn more about you. This number also allows the government to track how grant funds are allocated and to validate address and point of contact information. While a separate DUNS number is required for parents, subsidiaries, headquarters and branches of a single organization, these numbers will all be linked to the organization as a whole. Many large organizations are beginning to require this number in addition to the Federal government; some of them include the United Nations, the Australian Government, and the European Commission.

D&B currently has files on more than 64 million corporate family members around the world. The application procedure may be completed by telephone in one day by calling D&B's special number for federal grant applicants at 1-866-705-5711. Organizations may also register via the internet at https://eupdate.dnb.com/requestoptions.html, but this option may take as long as 30 days to complete. Registration is free. A DUNS number is not required for individual grant applicants. For more information, visit the D&B web site at www.dnb.com/us/duns_update/index.html?link=duns.

The Central Contractor Registry

Additionally, all Federal grant applicants or prospective applicants must register with the Central Contractor Registry (CCR), soon to be the Business Partner Network (BFN). Acquisition of a DUNS number is a prerequisite for this registration, which is mandatory for any institution to submit Federal grant applications online through grants.gov. This system allows organizations to easily provide information, clarify where government payments should be made, as well as make any edits to any existing information, in one place and one time for all Federal agencies. For more information on how to enroll with CCR, please visit www.ccr.gov.