Grants.gov API Integration

Track federal grant opportunities and match them to nonprofits in your database.

Overview

The Grants.gov API provides access to federal grant opportunities from all federal agencies. This integration adds a NEW dimension to your data by tracking available grants (future opportunities) alongside your existing IRS Form 990 data (past awards).

API Documentation: https://www.grants.gov/api

What You Get

Data NOT in Your Current System

✅ Federal Grant Opportunities:

• Grant titles, descriptions, and purposes
• Funding amounts and award ceilings
• Eligibility criteria
• Application deadlines
• Opportunity status (forecasted, posted, closed, archived)
• Assistance Listing Numbers (ALN/CFDA)
• Agency contact information

✅ Search Capabilities:

• Filter by keyword (e.g., "oral health", "dental care")
• Filter by funding category (HL = Health)
• Filter by federal agency (HHS, NIH, CDC)
• Filter by opportunity status

Authentication

NO API KEY REQUIRED for public endpoints (search2 and fetchOpportunity)!

Use Cases

1. Grant Opportunity Alerts

Alert nonprofits in your database about relevant funding opportunities:

from discovery.grants_gov_integration import GrantsGovAPI, GrantMatcher

# Initialize API
api = GrantsGovAPI()
matcher = GrantMatcher(api)

# Find all oral health grants
oral_health_grants = matcher.find_oral_health_grants(
    opp_statuses="forecasted|posted"
)

print(f"Found {len(oral_health_grants):,} opportunities")

2. Match Grants to State Nonprofits

import pandas as pd

# Load MA nonprofits
nonprofits = pd.read_parquet("data/gold/states/MA/nonprofits_organizations.parquet")

# Match grants to MA organizations
matches = matcher.match_grants_to_state(
    state_code="MA",
    grants_df=oral_health_grants,
    nonprofits_df=nonprofits
)

# Save results
matches.to_parquet("data/gold/states/MA/available_grants.parquet")

3. Track Funding Trends

Compare available opportunities (Grants.gov) with received funding (IRS 990):

# What grants are AVAILABLE?
available = api.search_to_dataframe(
    keyword="oral health",
    funding_categories="HL",
    opp_statuses="posted"
)

# What grants were RECEIVED? (from IRS 990)
received = pd.read_parquet("data/gold/states/MA/grants_revenue_sources.parquet")

# Analysis: Are there gaps?
# - High demand categories with few opportunities?
# - Opportunities that aren't being utilized?

Quick Start

Search for Oral Health Grants

python discovery/grants_gov_integration.py \
  --oral-health \
  --output data/gold/grants

Custom Search

python discovery/grants_gov_integration.py \
  --keyword "fluoridation" \
  --funding-category HL \
  --agency HHS \
  --output data/gold/grants

API Endpoints

search2

Search for grant opportunities:

api = GrantsGovAPI()

results = api.search_opportunities(
    keyword="oral health",
    funding_categories="HL",      # Health
    agencies="HHS",                # Health & Human Services
    opp_statuses="forecasted|posted",
    rows=100
)

Parameters:

• keyword: Search term (e.g., "oral health", "dental")
• funding_categories: Category codes (HL=Health, ED=Education, ENV=Environment)
• agencies: Agency codes (HHS, HHS-NIH, HHS-CDC, EPA)
• opp_statuses: Pipe-separated statuses (forecasted|posted|closed|archived)
• eligibilities: Eligibility codes
• aln: Assistance Listing Number (formerly CFDA)
• rows: Results per page (max 100)

fetchOpportunity

Get detailed information about a specific grant:

details = api.fetch_opportunity(opportunity_id=289999)

# Access detailed data
synopsis = details['data']['synopsis']
eligibility = details['data']['eligibility']
funding = details['data']['fundingDetails']

Data Schema

Opportunity Fields

Field	Description	Example
id	Opportunity ID	289999
opportunityNumber	Grant number	HHS-2024-ACF-001
opportunityTitle	Grant title	Oral Health Community Programs
agencyCode	Agency code	HHS
agencyName	Agency name	Health & Human Services
openDate	Application open date	2024-10-15
closeDate	Application deadline	2024-12-31
opportunityStatus	Status	posted, forecasted, closed
cfdaList	Assistance Listing Numbers	[{"cfdaNumber": "93.223"}]
fundingCategories	Funding category codes	HL (Health)

Integration with Existing Data

Complete Grant Lifecycle Tracking

┌─────────────────────────┐
│  Grants.gov API         │  ← FUTURE: Available opportunities
│  (This Integration)     │
│  • Posted grants        │
│  • Eligibility          │
│  • Deadlines            │
└───────────┬─────────────┘
            │
            ▼
┌─────────────────────────┐
│  Your Dashboard         │  ← PRESENT: Alert & match
│  • Match to nonprofits  │
│  • Send alerts          │
│  • Track applications   │
└───────────┬─────────────┘
            │
            ▼
┌─────────────────────────┐
│  IRS Form 990           │  ← PAST: Received funding
│  (Existing Data)        │
│  • Government grants    │
│  • Foundation grants    │
│  • Revenue sources      │
└─────────────────────────┘

Combined Analysis

# Which MA nonprofits received federal health grants last year?
past_grants = pd.read_parquet("data/gold/states/MA/grants_revenue_sources.parquet")
federal_recipients = past_grants[past_grants['government_grants'] > 0]

# What federal health grants are available NOW?
current_opportunities = api.search_to_dataframe(
    keyword="health",
    funding_categories="HL",
    agencies="HHS",
    opp_statuses="posted"
)

# Analysis: Success rate, funding gaps, opportunity awareness

Funding Categories

Common funding category codes:

Code	Category	Examples
HL	Health	Oral health, mental health, public health
ED	Education	School programs, literacy
ENV	Environment	Clean water, pollution control
FA	Food & Agriculture	Nutrition, food safety
CD	Community Development	Housing, economic development
O	Other	Multi-purpose grants

Agency Codes

Major federal agencies:

Code	Agency	Focus Areas
HHS	Health & Human Services	Health programs
HHS-NIH	National Institutes of Health	Medical research
HHS-CDC	Centers for Disease Control	Public health
HHS-HRSA	Health Resources & Services	Healthcare access
EPA	Environmental Protection Agency	Environmental health
ED	Department of Education	School health programs

Rate Limiting

The API does not publish official rate limits, but best practices:

• Recommended: 1-2 requests per second
• Polite: 0.5-1 second delay between requests
• Batch operations: Use pagination (rows=100) to minimize requests

Our implementation includes automatic rate limiting (500ms delay).

Error Handling

All API responses include an error code:

response = api.search_opportunities(keyword="health")

if response.get("errorcode") == 0:
    # Success
    opportunities = response['data']['oppHits']
else:
    # Error
    print(f"Error: {response.get('msg')}")

Next Steps

1. Test the integration:

   python discovery/grants_gov_integration.py --oral-health

2. Schedule regular updates:

   • Daily cron job to fetch new opportunities
   • Weekly digest emails to nonprofits
   • Dashboard widget showing "Latest Grants"

3. Enhance matching:

   • Filter by NTEE codes (oral health orgs only)
   • Check organization size (capacity to apply)
   • Historical success rate analysis

4. Build alerts system:

   • Email notifications for relevant grants
   • SMS alerts for approaching deadlines
   • Dashboard notifications for new opportunities

Additional Resources

• Grants.gov API Documentation
• API Guide
• Assistance Listings (formerly CFDA)
• Grants.gov Learning Center

Related Data Sources

• USAspending.gov API: Actual grant awards and spending data (complements Grants.gov opportunities)
• SAM.gov: Entity registration and contract opportunities
• IRS Form 990 (your existing data): Nonprofit financial reports showing received grants