Portal ID
The identifier a state or federal portal assigns to one opportunity. It is how a record can be traced back to the exact source listing rather than to a search result, and it is the field that makes a citation checkable instead of merely plausible.
Part of the GrantTrove grant funding glossary — one entry for every field the catalogue stores.
Also called Opportunity number · Funding opportunity ID · Listing ID
In detail
Portal IDs are not standardised across portals and are not always stable within one. An agency that reissues a program in a new cycle usually issues a new ID, so an ID identifies a listing rather than a program.
Every record we hold stores the ID of the page it was read from, alongside the URL of that page. Together they are what makes the verification stamp mean something: the stamp says a check was run, and the ID and URL say against what.
Against our own record address
Our record address is ours; the portal ID is the grantmaker’s. Where the two disagree, the portal’s page governs — that is stated in our terms and it is the reason every record links out rather than asking you to trust our copy.
How GrantTrove stores it
- The portal ID and the source URL are stored on every record and shown on the record page, so any figure we publish can be checked against the page it came from.
- IDs are rendered mono and tabular for the same reason as every other figure on the site: they are copied into forms, and a copied identifier has to match character for character.
Common questions
Is a portal ID stable across years?
Usually not. A reissued program normally gets a new ID, which is why we treat an ID as identifying a listing rather than a program.
What if the source page has moved?
The sweep marks the record for recheck rather than deleting it, and a link that stays dead is corrected by hand. A dead link never silently becomes a closed program.
Which governs, your record or the portal?
The portal, always. Our record is a copy with a date on it; the grantmaker’s page is the thing itself.