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  1. Fonteum
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  5. Federal Award
Federal Contracting · Fonteum Data GlossaryRegulatory

What is a federal award?

A federal award is a government-reported financial assistance or procurement action, such as a contract, grant, loan, direct payment, or other assistance record. In Fonteum's procurement graph, award facts come from USASpending.gov and are joined to entities, agencies, dates, amounts, award types, and source identifiers.

Short explanation

Federal award is the umbrella concept used in public spending data. USASpending.gov publishes both assistance and procurement awards, with transactions and summary fields reported by agencies under federal spending-transparency law. Fonteum uses federal award data for procurement evidence surfaces, but it keeps award facts separate from SAM.gov registration, SAM.gov exclusions, FAPIIS integrity records, and SBA set-aside certification facts.

Related platform: Source library

Last updated: 2026-07-11Reviewed by: Fonteum data standards desk — Source-provenance editorial review. Definitions checked against primary federal sources.

How it’s used

  • Award graph: federal award records connect a recipient, awarding agency, obligated amount, action date, award type, and source identifier.
  • Procurement evidence: Fonteum's `usaspending-awards` family reads award records into contractor, agency, NAICS, and top-contractor surfaces.
  • No derived label: an award fact states that a public record reports an award; it does not state capability, compliance, or future eligibility.

Frequently asked questions

Is a federal award always a contract?
No. Federal awards include procurement contracts and assistance awards such as grants, loans, and direct payments.
Where does Fonteum get federal award facts?
Fonteum gets procurement award facts from USASpending.gov source families and joins them to entity, agency, and NAICS surfaces.
Does a federal award prove current eligibility?
No. It is a dated public award record and should be read beside current SAM.gov registration and exclusion facts.

Related terms

  • USASpending.gov
  • Prime Award
  • FPDS
  • UEI
  • SAM.gov Registration
  • Federal Set-Aside

Explore in Fonteum

How Fonteum sources, resolves, and publishes data tied to this term.

  • PlatformSource library
  • Use caseGovernment procurement evidence hub
  • StudyTop federal contractors

Authoritative sources

  • USASpending.gov: award search↗
  • USASpending.gov API↗
  • DATA Act resources↗
← All glossary terms

What’s on file, by the numbers

Platform snapshot · 2026-07-15

13.4Mproviders & companiesProviders, organizations, owners, and facilities on file
26.2Msource-linked factsSource-linked field facts in the dated platform snapshot
—sources liveCrosswalk-resolved sources with a proved content transition in the preceding 45 days
111sources integratedActive registry rows; integration does not establish a load
13state Medicaid jurisdictionsDistinct states represented in the state-exclusions serving table

Built on the authoritative federal record

The primary sources, named on every page.

These are the federal agencies whose public datasets Fonteum ingests and attributes — the issuing authorities, not customers or partners. Every figure on the site links back to one of them.

  • CMS
  • HHS-OIG
  • HRSA
  • FDA
  • NLM
  • NUCC
  • Census
  • BLS
  • BEA

See the full source registry, with license and refresh cadence for each →

Reproducible by design

Published figures name their source and date.

Source and date

Published research identifies its government file and observation date. Source-file SHA-256 coverage is disclosed separately; facts do not currently link deterministically to signatures.

Reproducible SQL

Each study ships the exact query behind its figures, run against the same dated copy of the federal file we used. Re-run it yourself.

Daily observations

The platform records table row counts daily. Those observations detect local drift; they do not imply that an upstream publisher released or Fonteum ingested new data that day.

Named medical review

Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

Read the full provenance and attestation methodology →

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Reviewed by Jennifer Montecillo, MD, medical reviewer. Non-practicing medical reviewer.

© 2026 Fonteum LLC. All rights reserved.

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A public-records graph that exposes source and observation metadata where supplied.

Fonteum's provenance ledger contained 26.2M source-linked facts on July 12, 2026. All but 14 carried a source-file SHA-256; 0 linked deterministically to a signature. Inspect a supplied snapshot id at fonteum.com/verify · source-mark coverage and limitations.
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