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.
- Source file
- Not reported
- Published
- Not reported
- Retrieved
- Not reported
- Snapshot
- Not retained for this reference page
- Re-check
- USASpending.gov: award search
- Data as of
- Not reported
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
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.
Explore in Fonteum
How Fonteum sources, resolves, and publishes data tied to this term.