All Federal Government projects, programs, services and activities that provide assistance and benefits to citizens are cataloged in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance. All financial and non-financial assistance programs implemented through departments and establishments for the United States Federal government are recorded in the CFDA.

In 1984, Public Law 98-169 authorized the transfer of responsibilities of the Federal Program Information Act from the Office of Management and Budget to the General Services Administration. The transfer took place in July 1984. These responsibilities include the dissemination of Federal domestic assistance program information through the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance, pursuant to the Federal Program Information Act, Public Law 95-220, as amended by Public Law 98-169.

The General Services Administration is responsible for the database of Federal assistance. The Office of Management and Budget acts as the conduit agency between the Federal agencies and the General Services Administration delivering the required oversight to the program data related to domestic assistance.

As the basic reference source of Federal programs, the primary purpose of the Catalog is to assist users in identifying programs that meet specific objectives of the potential applicant, and to obtain general information on Federal assistance programs. In addition, the intent of the Catalog is to improve coordination and communication between the Federal government and State and local governments.

The CFDA lets grant seekers access all domestic programs managed by Federal agencies and departments in a single resource. All information is cross referenced by functional classification, Subject Index, Applicant Index, Deadlines Index, and Authorization Index. All of this information is invaluable as resource tools that can make it easier to identify specific areas of program interest more efficiently.

For years, GSA has published a printed version of the CFDA, as required by legislation dating to 1977 and 1983. That same legislation allowed GSA to distribute free copies of the printed Catalog to designated recipients. In fiscal year 2003, nearly 10,000 paper copies of the Catalog were distributed at no cost to the recipients.

Current legislation, however, authorizes GSA to determine in what form to prepare and publish the Catalog. Consistent with the Administration’s Electronic-Government initiatives, the Government Paperwork Elimination Act, and a move to a paper free environment, GSA will now disseminate the Catalog electronically through the CFDA website on the Internet. As a result, effective immediately, GSA will no longer print and distribute free copies of the Catalog.

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