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A Request for Application is a funding announcement that invites organizations to apply for a federal grant or other assistance award. It is most common in the world of grants, research funding, and cooperative agreements, where agencies such as health, science, and education funders use RFAs to solicit applications for a defined program with a set pot of money.
The distinction is fundamental. A Request for Proposal leads to a contract, where the government buys a specific good or service for its own use. An RFA leads to an assistance award, where the government funds a recipient to carry out a purpose that benefits the public, with no direct deliverable to the government in the same sense. The rules, evaluation, and reporting differ accordingly.
If you respond to an RFA expecting it to behave like a contract solicitation, you will misread it. Assistance awards are governed by grant regulations rather than the FAR, judged on the merit of your proposed project and your capacity to deliver public benefit, and administered very differently after award. Recognizing that you are looking at an RFA tells you which rulebook applies and how to frame your application.
Are you curious about the networking events near you? Together we can expand your network and watch your pipeline exponentially grow.
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