Every search defaults to open opportunities. Switching the opportunity type to awarded searches what has already been funded instead.
Awarded results are clearly labeled and are not open for application. They are research.
What is in there
- Grant awards — NSF and NIH awards, EU cohesion projects, and other disclosed grants
- Contract awards — from USASpending, for past federal contracting
You can also set the type to all to see both open and awarded together, with awarded results labeled.
Why this is worth your time
Awarded data answers questions that open listings cannot:
What does this funder actually pay for? Stated priorities are aspirational. Funded projects are evidence. The gap is routinely wide.
What is a realistic ask? Seeing the actual distribution of award sizes in your space stops you proposing $400,000 to a program that has never written a cheque above $75,000.
Who is already doing this? Sometimes that is your competition. More often it is a potential partner, a co-applicant, or a letter of support.
Is this space real? A topic with no awards in three years is telling you something, whatever the program language suggests.
The most common use
Before writing a proposal to a specific funder, search their awarded projects. Ten minutes there will do more for the proposal than an hour of general advice about grant writing — you will see the vocabulary, the typical scope and the size of the work they actually say yes to.
For contracts specifically
Past-award data on the contract side is competitive pricing intelligence: who won, at what value, from which agency. That is public information almost nobody looks at before bidding.