logo
Donate
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
    • Collections
    • Glossary
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Magazine
  • Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Federal Website Makes Grants and Contracts Transparent

Rick Cohen
December 9, 2010

December 7, 2010; Source: Government Executive | In many ways Nonprofit Quarterly, like many journalistic enterprises, lives on its access to data. Efforts to make government information accessible and interpretable have been invaluable in recent years, particularly the development of USASpending.gov, which we have used repeatedly to find out about the amounts of money in government grants and contracts that have gone to nonprofit and for-profit vendors.

The Office of Management and Budget just announced a new improvement to USASpending.gov. Until now, the only information available was spending data on prime contractors and grant recipients. Since late November, the site has been making some data available on subcontractors and subgrantees and plans to make more available beginning in 2011. The process won’t be immediate, however. “To minimize the burden on agencies and contractors,” according to OMB, the subgrant and subcontract data will be slowly phased in.

Through February 28, 2011, agencies will be required to post subcontract awards on prime contracts larger than $550,000, and after March 1, the threshold shrinks to reporting on all subcontracts on prime contracts or grants above $25,000. Classified solicitations and contracts are exempt as are data on contractors with less than $300,000 in annual revenue.

Sign up for our free newsletters

Subscribe to NPQ's newsletters to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

The information will still only be for two tiers–prime contractors and subcontractors. If the subs further sub out the money, that will not be posted. Still, despite thresholds and exceptions, this is incredibly important information, allowing us to see which nonprofit contracts and grants get subbed to for-profits and which for-profit contracts pass along money to nonprofits.

Where did all this come from? It was the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006, co-sponsored by a senator named Barack Obama and signed by President George W. Bush. Expect your friends here at NPQ to begin testing USASpending.gov for the subcontactor and subgrantee data and report back to you on what we find. And we hope you’ll tell us about prime contractors and prime grantees whose subcontracting practices to nonprofits and for-profits you would find of interest.—Rick Cohen

About the author
Rick Cohen

Rick joined NPQ in 2006, after almost eight years as the executive director of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Before that he played various roles as a community worker and advisor to others doing community work. He also worked in government. Cohen pursued investigative and analytical articles, advocated for increased philanthropic giving and access for disenfranchised constituencies, and promoted increased philanthropic and nonprofit accountability.

More about: Nonprofit News

Our Voices Are Our Power.

Journalism, nonprofits, and multiracial democracy are under attack. At NPQ, we fight back by sharing stories and essential insights from nonprofit leaders and workers—and we pay every contributor.

Can you help us protect nonprofit voices?

Your support keeps truth alive when it matters most.
Every single dollar makes a difference.

Donate now
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
Why the Threats Against Nonprofit Tax Status Are Unprecedented
Rebekah Barber
How Are Foundations Responding to Federal Cuts?
Rebekah Barber
Tax Provision Would Give Trump Administration Unilateral Power to Strip Nonprofit Status
Rebekah Barber and Isaiah Thompson
We Belong Here: How Immigrants Are Organizing and How Allies Can Help
Elizabeth Aguilera
When Can Volunteers Lead?
Jan Masaoka
Beyond Wishful Thinking: How to Build Lasting Youth Political Infrastructure
Katie Kirchner

Upcoming Webinars

Group Created with Sketch.
May 27th, 2:00 pm ET

Ask the Nonprofit Lawyer

Register
Group Created with Sketch.
June 26th, 2:00 pm ET

From Performance Management to Mutual Commitment

Fostering a Culture of Joyful Accountability

Register

    
You might also like
US Capitol Building
Tax Provision Would Give Trump Administration Unilateral...
Rebekah Barber and Isaiah Thompson
A piggy bank wearing a graduation hat and standing on a pile of cash, symbolizing how endowments for academic institutions can be accessed in difficult times.
Endowments Aren’t Blank Checks—but Universities Can Rely...
Ellen P. Aprill
Saving AmeriCorps: What’s at Stake and Why We Must Act Now
Hillary Kane

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Careers
  • Contact
  • Copyright
  • Donate
  • Editorial Policy
  • Funders

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.