CFDA Reference Guides
Editorial guides for popular federal grant programs. Eligibility, typical award range, what winning applicants look like, common pitfalls. Use these alongside the CFDA Code Finder to figure out which programs fit your work.
Cooperative Extension Service
USDA — National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)
Formula and competitive funding to land-grant universities supporting agricultural research, extension, and education. The largest federal investment in agricultural workforce knowledge transfer.
Economic Development — Public Works and Economic Adjustment
U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA), DOC
EDA's primary infrastructure-and-economic-development grants — including Public Works, Economic Adjustment Assistance, Build Back Better Regional Challenge, Tech Hubs, and Recompete programs. Designed to catalyze regional economic transformation.
Community Development Block Grants — Entitlement Grants (CDBG)
HUD (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development)
Federal block grants to entitlement cities (population 50K+) and urban counties to fund community development activities benefiting low-and-moderate-income residents. The single largest federal community-development funding stream.
Continuum of Care Program
HUD Office of Community Planning and Development
HUD's primary funding mechanism for ending homelessness. Annual competition awarding renewal + new project funding for permanent supportive housing, rapid rehousing, transitional housing, supportive services, and HMIS in geographic Continuums of Care (CoCs).
Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)
HUD
Federal housing assistance for low-income people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Funds permanent housing, short-term assistance, supportive services, and resource identification.
Crime Victim Assistance (VOCA)
DOJ Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)
Formula funding to states for direct services to victims of crime. The largest federal investment in victim services. Funds flow from state administering agencies to community-based providers.
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program (Byrne JAG)
DOJ Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)
The largest federal source of criminal-justice funding for state and local agencies. Supports law enforcement, prosecution, courts, prevention, corrections, treatment, and victim services.
Employment Service / Wagner-Peyser
U.S. Department of Labor — Employment and Training Administration (DOL/ETA)
Formula-based federal funding to states for public employment services delivered through the American Job Center network. Backbone of the federal-state workforce development system.
Promotion of the Arts — Grants to Organizations and Individuals
National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
Federal arts funding supporting public engagement with art, lifelong learning in the arts, and integration of the arts in community development. Highly competitive but accessible to small organizations.
Performance Partnership Grants
EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
EPA's primary funding mechanism for states, tribes, and territories implementing federal environmental programs. Supports air quality, water, drinking water, hazardous waste, pesticide enforcement, and pollution prevention.
Renewable Energy Research and Development
U.S. Department of Energy — Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE EERE's primary mechanism for renewable-energy R&D — solar, wind, hydropower, geothermal, bioenergy, hydrogen, and grid-modernization research and demonstration projects.
Education Innovation and Research (EIR)
U.S. Department of Education (ED) — Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
ED's primary mechanism for evidence-based educational innovation grants. Three tiers (Early-phase, Mid-phase, Expansion) reflecting evidence levels per ESEA Tier 1-4.
Education Research, Development, and Dissemination (IES)
U.S. Department of Education — Institute of Education Sciences (IES)
IES's primary CFDA for education research grants. Covers basic-to-applied education research across pre-K through postsecondary, focused on rigorous evidence generation that meets ESEA Tier 1-4 evidence standards.
Improving Teacher Quality State Grants (Title II Part A)
U.S. Department of Education (ED)
Federal formula and competitive grants supporting teacher and principal recruitment, training, and retention. The largest federal investment in K-12 educator workforce development.
Maternal and Child Health Federal Consolidated Programs
HRSA Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB)
HRSA's primary funding mechanism for maternal, infant, child, and adolescent health programs. Includes the Title V Maternal and Child Health Block Grant and discretionary maternal-health initiatives.
Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)
SAMHSA (HHS)
SAMHSA formula grants to states and territories supporting outreach, case management, and treatment for individuals with serious mental illness experiencing homelessness or at imminent risk.
Health Center Program (Community Health Centers)
HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care
HRSA's flagship program funding Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) — community-based primary care for medically underserved populations. The largest single source of federal safety-net primary-care funding.
Substance Use and Mental Health Services — Projects of Regional and National Significance
SAMHSA (HHS)
Discretionary grants supporting time-limited, research-grounded projects that address gaps in mental health and substance use services. The single most-applied-to SAMHSA assistance listing.
Trans-NIH Research Support
NIH (National Institutes of Health, HHS)
NIH's catch-all CFDA covering trans-institute research initiatives that don't fit a single institute's portfolio. Major source of funding for cross-cutting biomedical and behavioral research.
Cancer Research
NIH National Cancer Institute (NCI)
NCI's primary mechanism for extramural cancer research grants. Covers basic, translational, and clinical research across all cancer types. The single largest federal cancer research investment.
Opioid Affected Youth and Families Initiative
HRSA (HHS)
Targeted federal funding for community-level interventions in opioid-affected populations. Heavily competitive but high mission-fit for nonprofits already serving rural and underserved communities.
Extramural Research Programs in Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders
NIH National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
NINDS's primary CFDA for neuroscience and neurological-disorders research. Covers everything from basic neuroscience to clinical trials in stroke, ALS, Parkinson's, MS, epilepsy, traumatic brain injury, and more.
Aging Research
NIH National Institute on Aging (NIA)
NIA's primary CFDA for research on aging, Alzheimer's disease, and Alzheimer's-related dementias (AD/ADRD). Funding has expanded substantially due to the Alzheimer's Accountability Act bypass-budget process.
Block Grants for Community Mental Health Services (MHBG)
SAMHSA Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS)
Federal block grants to states and territories supporting community mental health services for adults with serious mental illness and children with serious emotional disturbances. The largest federal mental-health funding stream after Medicaid.
More CFDAs coming. Want a guide for a specific Assistance Listing? Reply to any Grants Wire email and we’ll add it.