USAspending.gov---allows visitors to search for information about federal assistance, including grants, loans, insurance, etc

What Company Is Offering:
USAspending.gov, a re-launch of www.federalspending.gov, provides this information to the public, as collected from federal agencies, in an easy to use website. The data is largely from sources: the Federal Procurement Data System, which contains information about federal contracts; and the Federal Assistance Award Data System, which contains information about federal financial assistance such as grants, loans, insurance, and direct subsidies like Social Security.

How It Works:
The Assistance tab of USAspending.gov allows visitors to search for information about federal assistance, including grants, loans, insurance, etc. Navigation links on the left side of this page function as the main navigation interface for users. Currently, visitors can search three main categories: by grant recipient, by place of performance, and by granting agency.

Recipient searches can be performed by simply entering a search term in the cell and clicking go. Search for all recipients that include a search term by simply entering an asterisk before the term. The sidebar also provides quick tables for Top 100 Recipients per year, as well as award totals based on the state or congressional district location of the recipients (which is not necessarily where the money is actually spent). The advanced search allows users to modify a simple name search with other factors such as amount of total award amount, type of recipient, etc.

Location searches allow users to find out how much money is being spent in a location. The sidebar permits quick searches by states. The advanced search uses counties, cities as well as other search modifiers.

Agency searches can be done by either selecting a major agency from the sidebar menu or by selecting a year total for an agency from the "Overview by Major Agency" table. Advanced search allows you to modify you search by changing factors such as the year, type of award granted, type of recipient, etc. The advanced search also allows you to search for sub-offices within major agencies and departments as well as minor agencies such as the Federal Communications Commission or the National Endowment for the Arts.
More at:http://www.usaspending.gov/