If your organization plans to pursue federal grant funding now or in the future, the first step in that process is to complete your System for Award Management (SAM) registration and obtain a Unique Entity ID (UEI). We’ve found that a number of rural organizations have come across a stumbling block almost immediately in this process. To move forward with registration, you must first validate your “entity” by searching for it in the entity validation service (EVS), and signing off that yes, this is who you are. This is how the federal system knows that you are, in fact, a legitimate organization.
The EVS essentially pulls information from hundreds of official sources (like state records) to verify that your organization exists and is unique. The problem seems to be that many rural organizations are either not showing up at all in the system, are showing up with errors (most frequently address errors), or cannot meet the physical address requirement due to not having a USPS-formatted street address (P.O. Boxes are not accepted). This triggers a validation process that can slow your SAM registration to a crawl!
Here are our tips for how to deal with this hurdle:
Before You Gather Documents: Rules That Apply to Everyone
Whichever situation you are in, these rules from the Federal Service Desk will help your documents get accepted the first time:
- SAM.gov’s Upload Documents screen will tell you which details you need to prove: your legal business name, physical address, start year, and/or state of incorporation. Use as many documents as you need.
- At least one document must show both your full, correct legal business name and your current physical address.
- Some documents must be 5 years old or less, including bank statements, utility bills, certificates of good standing, and your IRS tax exemption letter. Many nonprofits received their IRS determination letter long ago, so an older letter will not be accepted. Articles of incorporation and the IRS letter assigning your EIN have no age limit.
- If a document shows an old name or address (for example, articles of incorporation filed before you moved), you must also submit a document showing your current name and address, and explain the change in the details box.
- Documents must be official. Applications, word processing documents, screenshots of website forms, and screenshots of federal websites (such as IRS.gov) will be rejected. The exception is a current screenshot or PDF of your organization’s record on the Kentucky Secretary of State website, which must show the web address.
- Scans must be clear, with nothing cut off and any seals, stamps, or signatures visible. SAM.gov accepts PDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG, and BMP files.
- Local governments cannot certify their own documents. Town charters, state documentation of your formation, and formal council resolutions are among the accepted alternatives.
If you find your organization in the system but something in the listing is incorrect (the name or address for example):
- Update/correct your entity details.
- Confirm your new details
- Gather documentation to prove your new details are correct. The Upload Documents screen will tell you which details you need to prove. Here’s what we recommend for the quickest turnaround:
- Your Articles of Incorporation with the State Seal are the gold standard for proving your start year and state of incorporation. If your name or address has changed since you incorporated, you will also need a document showing your current name and address.
- A current printout or screenshot of your organization’s record on the Kentucky Secretary of State website, showing the web address. This can prove your name, address, start year, and state.
- A bank statement (black out account numbers and other details that aren’t needed) or a water, gas, or electric bill that is less than 5 years old and showing your correct, current address.
- Make sure your information matches what you have entered on the screen exactly. For example, if your documentation doesn’t have your suite number on it, but you type in a suite number on your form, that can cause a problem.
- Make sure you’re entering the exact legal name of your organization.
- Submit the documents. If you do not have access to a scanner, you can use a smart phone to create a scanned version using a free app like Adobe Scan. Some libraries also have free scanners available for use. Again, make sure your scanned documents are complete and no information is cut off. Keep any seals, stamps, and signatures visible, and save your files as PDF, PNG, JPG/JPEG, or BMP. For a full list of acceptable documents, see the Federal Service Desk article What documentation can I use to validate my entity?
- At this point your incident ticket will be created with the Entity Validation Service and they will begin their review. In our experience, the process generally takes at least 10 business days if all proper documentation is submitted, and it can take longer during busy periods.
- During this time, be patient. DO NOT submit any additional incident tickets, this will only delay the process. If you need to send more documents, add them to your existing case instead. DO check your registered email frequently. If the EVS needs further documentation they will message you through your incident ticket, which will generate an email. All correspondence on the validation process must be through the incident ticket, they cannot correspond via phone or chat.
- Once your entity has been verified, you will receive an email that your entity is validated, and you may then proceed with your SAM registration.
If your organization is not in the system at all:
- Don’t panic. This is often due to some sort of typo in the official documentation database the EVS is drawing from.
- Start an incident report. Follow the instructions on SAM.gov to submit a ticket and documentation (look for the “Create Incident” option on the validation screen).
- Gather your documentation. You will need documentation that provides:
- Proof of your organization’s name and physical address.
- Proof of your organization’s start year and state.
- We recommend submitting 3 documents to hopefully speed the process:
- Articles of Incorporation with the Kentucky stamp.
- A bank statement less than 5 years old showing your current name and physical address.
- Department of Treasury IRS letter assigning you your EIN.
- Or, in place of any of these, a current printout of your record from the Kentucky Secretary of State website, showing the web address.
- These are not the only documents you can use. You can find the full list in the Federal Service Desk article What documentation can I use to validate my entity?
- Submit your documents by uploading them to your incident ticket.
- Make sure your information matches what you have entered on the screen exactly. For example, if your documentation doesn’t have your suite number on it, but you type in a suite number on your form, that can cause a problem.
- Make sure you’re entering the exact legal name of your organization.
- Make sure you scan your documents completely and do not cut off any important information. If you do not have access to a scanner, you can use a smart phone to create a scanned version using a free app like Adobe Scan. Some libraries also have free scanners available for use.
- You MUST use a physical address. P.O. Boxes are not accepted. If you don’t have an office, use the address where you keep your records, which may be a home address. See below if you do not have a USPS-formatted address.
- At this point your incident ticket has been started and the Entity Validation Service will begin their review. Expect this to take, at minimum, 10 business days, but it can often take longer.
- During this time, be patient. DO NOT submit any additional incident tickets, this will only delay the process. If you need to send more documents, add them to your existing case instead. DO check your registered email frequently. If the EVS needs further documentation they will message you through your incident ticket, which will generate an email. All correspondence on the validation process must be through the incident ticket, they cannot correspond via phone or chat.
- Once your entity has been verified, you will receive an email that your entity is validated, and you may then proceed with your SAM registration.
Your organization is located in an area that does not have a USPS-formatted street address
- Don’t panic. You can still validate your physical address and your SAM registration, but it may take more time.
- Start an incident report. Follow the instructions on SAM.gov to submit a ticket and documentation (look for the “Create Incident” option on the validation screen).
- Gather your documentation. You will need documentation that provides:
- Proof of your organization’s name and physical address.
- We recommend submitting 2 documents to hopefully speed the process:
- Articles of Incorporation with the Kentucky stamp.
- A bank statement less than 5 years old with your address.
- These are not the only documents you can use. You can find the full list in the Federal Service Desk article What documentation can I use to validate my entity?
- Write a note explaining your challenge meeting the standard validation requirements due to lack of a USPS-formatted street address.
- Submit your documents by uploading them to your incident ticket.
- Make sure your information matches what you have entered on the screen exactly. For example, if your documentation doesn’t have your suite number on it, but you type in a suite number on your form, that can cause a problem.
- Make sure you’re entering the exact legal name of your organization.
- Make sure you scan your documents completely and do not cut off any important information. If you do not have access to a scanner, you can use a smart phone to create a scanned version using a free app like Adobe Scan. Some libraries also have free scanners available for use.
- Your case will be thoroughly reviewed, and further instructions will be provided via email.
- Once your validation is successful, you WILL be able to provide a mailing address during your registration if you do not want to, or cannot receive mail at your physical address.
These are just our tips on navigating through this challenge based on some common issues that have been reported to us, but the true experts on this process are at the Federal Service Desk. Our last tip is if you run into any issues with the validation process (or any other part of your SAM registration), get in touch with the FSD on their site. In addition to a huge bank of resources, there’s also a live chat feature there.
Other Resources
Validating Your Entity in SAM.gov
Entity Registration: Quick Access Links – Validating Your Entity
Seven Common Reasons Entity Validation Documents Get Rejected
Why don’t I see a match for my entity when I try to validate in SAM?
What documentation can I use to validate my entity?