As of October 1 all federal grant applicants must have a "DUNS" number, which the federal government will use as a universal identifier. It will no longer be necessary to have separate identifying numbers with each federal agency. For more information on the "DUNS" number, see the Questions and Answers below: Q 1: What is a "DUNS" number? A 1: Dun and Bradstreet is a company that provides business information for credit, marketing, and purchasing decisions. It has the world's largest business database of information about more than 64 million businesses worldwide. Its "Data Universal Numbering System", known as "DUNS", is a unique nine-digit number widely used in the business for identifying and keeping track of over 70 million businesses worldwide. The federal government requires all contractors to have a DUNS number. Q 2: Who needs a DUNS number for federal grant applications? A 2: The DUNS number must be included in every application for all organizations applying for a new grant award, renewing a grant award, and/or submitting plans under mandatory grant programs on or after October 1, 2003. A DUNS number will be required whether an applicant is submitting a paper application or using the government-wide electronic portal, Grants.gov. Q 3: Who is a federal grant "applicant"? A 3: The Office of Management and Budget published a standard in the Federal Register in June 2003, which says: "For the purposes of this policy, the applicant is the entity that meets the agency's or program's eligibility criteria and has the legal authority to apply. Q 4: Should large nonprofits with separate chapters or departments (i.e. universities) get more than one DUNS number? A 4: It is up to each organization to determine what internal divisions meet the eligibility criteria and have the authority to apply without permission or clearance from anyone above. Then the organization has the option of getting one DUNS number that is an umbrella for all grant applications, or having each eligible department, chapter or division get their own. Q 5: The D&B website and materials say we should get a DUNS number for every separate physical facility, even if all the sites are part of the same organization or program. This conflicts with the standard published by OMB. What do I do? A 5: Follow the guidance from the Office of Management and Budget. (See Question 4 above.) The separate physical facility standard applies to for-profit businesses. D&B is working to create a special section on their website for nonprofits to avoid confusion. Q 6: What is the easiest way to get a DUNS number? A 6: It only takes 24 hours to get a DUNS number from D&B by phone, but Internet applications can take up to 30 days. Call D&B's dedicated DUNS number request toll-free line for grant applicants, 1-866-705-5711. D&B has special customer service representatives to answer questions from nonprofits and help them through the process. You can apply on the Internet at D&B's web site, but calling is better. Q 7: What information do I need to request a DUNS number? A 7: First you should ask if your organization already has a DUNS number. After asking this question, many organizations have found that they already had a DUNS number without knowing it. This is because D&B sometimes assigns numbers to organizations that "conduct business", such as hiring a printer or holding a conference at a hotel. Otherwise, D&B will be asking each organization 5 questions. The 5 questions are:

• (1) Legal Name, Physical Address, and landline phone number that coordinates with physical address;
• (2) Number of employees and/or board members and name of executive director;
• (3) Is your organization ran by a minority or woman and what does the organization do (they call it "line of business");
• (4) Is your organization an independent contractor, receiving federal grants or do you want to be; and
• (5) Do you authorize D & B to issue you a DUNS number, and do you know that they may contact you in the future for updating your information? (These two questions must be answered yes in order for D & B to issue an organization a DUNS Number.)

Q 8: The D&B website looks like it makes credit information public for groups that have a DUNS number. Will this happen to my group if we get a DUNS number? A 8: No. The application for a DUNS numbers allows you apply for the number only, and not sign up for the credit reporting service. Many businesses and some nonprofits find it convenient to have this information online, but it is not required. Q 9: How can I avoid getting on D&B's marketing list? A 9: As a result of obtaining a DUNS number you have the option to be included on D&B's marketing list that is sold to other companies. If you do not want your name/organization included on this marketing list, request not to be listed or deleted from D&B's marketing file when you are speaking with a D&B representative during your DUNS number telephone application. Q 10: Why doesn't the federal government use the IRS Employer Identification Number instead of complicating the process with the DUNS number? A 10: Good question! The Office of Management and Budget had already required contractors to have a DUNS number, and decided to extend it to nonprofits. OMB Watch opposed this proposal (see our Comments submitted last year) as unnecessarily complicated. However, OMB did not accept our recommendation.