UEI

In detail

The UEI is generated by SAM.gov during registration and stays with the organisation. It is not bought from a third party the way a DUNS number was, and it is not a string an applicant picks. Federal application forms ask for it, which is why most people meet it at the worst possible moment: mid-application, on a deadline.

Because it is issued at registration, holding one is evidence that an organisation registered at some point. It is not evidence that the registration is current, and a lapsed registration blocks an award as effectively as never having registered at all.

Against an EIN

An EIN is issued by the IRS and identifies a taxpayer. A UEI is issued by SAM.gov and identifies a federal award registrant. One organisation has both, and neither is derivable from the other. We store `funder.ein` because it is the join key for 990 filings — a fact about the grantmaker. A UEI would be a fact about the applicant, and the applicant is not in this database.

How GrantTrove stores it

• We do not store a UEI. This entry exists to say so rather than leave a reader guessing: the only organisation identifier in the schema is `funder.ein`, printed on a funder page as “EIN” with the note that it is the join key for 990 filings.
• No identifier here is ever derived from another. A funder with no EIN on record reads Not stated rather than showing a number inferred from a name match.

Common questions