Fiscal year 2009 has been a year of unprecedented growth for Grants.gov. On September 18, 2009 Grants.gov surpassed 300,000 submissions for fiscal year 2009. Submissions have grown by nearly 50 percent over fiscal year 2008. In fiscal year 2008 there were a total of 202,366 application submissions for the entire fiscal year. Much of the growth experienced this year may be attributed to the Recovery Act, which resulted in increased overall website traffic and application submissions.

Many challenges were presented this year due to the rapid influx of traffic and subsequent strain placed on the system. Grants.gov however rose to the challenge by maintaining the single electronic entry-point for accessing grants from all 26 federal grant-making agencies. Grants.gov provides a unified and streamlined process for finding and applying for all federal grant opportunities.

Grants.gov was invited to the 26th Annual Consumer Conference of the National Indian Health Board to record an informative, hour-long presentation on finding and applying for federal grant opportunities specific to Indian Country. The recorded presentation will be made available on Grants.gov shortly after the conference.

In addition to Grants.gov, the conference featured:

• Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Day
• NIHB Awards Luncheon to honor outstanding individuals from across the nation for their contribution in healthcare
• Engaging speakers from Indian Country, the White House, and Congress
• Special Celebration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Culture Night Celebration