USDA Phase I SBIR Proposal Checklist

Confirm Eligibility and RFA Alignment

Before investing time into proposal writing, confirm that your innovation fits the USDA’s mission—and that you meet every eligibility requirement. Start by downloading the current USDA SBIR Phase I Request for Applications (RFA) from Grants.gov or the NIFA website. Review the RFA multiple times, paying close attention to topic areas, submission deadlines, page limits, and required documents.

USDA SBIR funding is not general-purpose; it’s aligned with specific topic areas such as plant production, animal health, rural development, or food science. Your project must fall clearly within one of these areas. If your innovation seems to overlap multiple categories, select the one most aligned with your core technical goals. For ambiguous fits, contact the National Program Leader (NPL) for guidance.

Next, confirm your company qualifies as a Small Business Concern (SBC). To be eligible, your company must:

• Be for-profit and located in the U.S.
• Have 500 or fewer employees
• Be at least 51% owned by U.S. citizens or permanent residents
• Perform at least two-thirds of Phase I R&D work internally
• Have a Principal Investigator (PI) primarily employed by the business during the project

Also, check the “Benchmark for Success” rule if your firm has received 20+ prior Phase I awards: you’ll need at least five Phase II awards over the past five years to apply again.

If you’re unsure about topic fit or your eligibility, contact USDA program staff early. Most RFAs include NPL contact details for each topic area. Prepare a one-page summary or “quad chart” outlining your idea and how it aligns with USDA goals before you reach out.

Complete All Required Registrations

Before you can submit a USDA Phase I SBIR proposal, your business must be fully registered with several federal systems. These registrations can take days or weeks, and must be completed in a specific order. Delaying any step could jeopardize your ability to apply on time.

Start with SAM.gov. This system issues your Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), which is now required for all federal grants. If your business is new to SAM.gov, expect the registration to take at least 7–10 business days. You’ll need your Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), your business’s legal name as filed with the IRS, and to assign an Electronic Business Point of Contact (EBiz POC).

Once your SAM.gov account is active and your UEI is issued, register your organization on Grants.gov. The EBiz POC from SAM.gov must also create the Grants.gov account and link the UEI. Within Grants.gov, assign roles—particularly the Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR), who will be responsible for submitting the application. This cannot be the Principal Investigator unless they’re also the AOR.

Separately, register your company at SBIR.gov via the SBA Company Registry. This quick process will generate a Small Business Concern (SBC) Control ID, which must be included in your proposal submission package.

Finally, confirm whether any other agency-specific systems are required. For USDA SBIR Phase I, you do not need to register with eRA Commons or Research.gov—only the systems mentioned above.

Start SAM.gov Registration at Least 3 Weeks in Advance
Processing delays at SAM.gov are one of the most common reasons applicants miss USDA submission deadlines.

Once all registrations are complete, store your UEI and SBC Control ID in a safe, accessible location—you’ll need them repeatedly during the application process.

Align Your Innovation with USDA Goals

Not every great idea is a great fit for USDA SBIR funding. To be competitive, your concept must align with the agency’s mission, demonstrate significant technical innovation, and offer public benefit—especially within rural, agricultural, or food-related sectors.

Start by confirming your project addresses a critical need identified in the current RFA’s topic area descriptions. Each topic includes background, focus areas, and example subtopics. A strong proposal directly responds to one of these themes. Beyond technical alignment, USDA emphasizes societal outcomes such as food security, climate resilience, and rural economic vitality.

Next, assess whether your idea represents high-risk, high-reward innovation. USDA SBIR Phase I funding is intended for early-stage feasibility studies—not polished products or incremental upgrades. Reviewers expect your research to explore unproven hypotheses, resolve key technical uncertainties, and yield data that determines whether the innovation can proceed to Phase II.

It’s also essential to define why your proposed approach is novel. Has it never been tried in this context? Are you applying a known concept in a new way to solve a pressing agricultural problem? The technical rationale must be clear and credible.

If your idea aligns, you’ll also need to show potential for commercialization. Even though Phase I focuses on feasibility, reviewers will want to see that your end goal is a deployable product or service with market demand—preferably with a rural or food systems application.

USDA SBIR Phase I funding is equity-free—no dilution of ownership.
Your business retains full control and IP rights while exploring feasibility with federal support.

Articulating this alignment early—and consistently throughout your proposal—can make the difference between a fundable concept and a missed opportunity.

Build a Compliant, Reviewer-Friendly Proposal

Once your concept is validated and registrations complete, it’s time to assemble the USDA SBIR Phase I proposal. Every component must meet the RFA’s formatting, structure, and content requirements. Reviewers will expect a logically organized, technically sound, and readable application.

Start with the Project Summary (Field 7 of the R&R Other Project Information form). It should concisely explain your innovation, objectives, USDA alignment, and potential outcomes. Think of this as your first impression—it’s what reviewers see upfront.

The core of your proposal is the Technical Narrative. This section should be written to directly address the USDA evaluation criteria and cover the following:

• Significance and Innovation
  • What problem are you solving?
  • How is your solution novel or transformative?
  • Why does this matter to USDA priorities?
• Technical Objectives and Work Plan
  • Clearly define 2–3 research objectives.
  • Outline your experimental design and methods.
  • Explain how each objective will be tested and what success looks like.
• Qualifications and Facilities
  • Who is on your team, and why are they qualified?
  • Where will the work take place? List any specialized equipment or facilities.
• Commercial Potential
  • What is the long-term market or use case?
  • How will Phase I findings support future development or Phase II?

The USDA RFA also mandates strict formatting: 12-point font (Times New Roman), one-inch margins, single-spacing, and specified page limits. Use headers, bullets, and charts to enhance clarity—but do not exceed the allowed length.

Avoid jargon. Review panels often include a mix of scientific and applied experts. Your writing should be technically rigorous but accessible.

Before finalizing, cross-check every section against the RFA’s evaluation criteria. These often include “Scientific and Technical Merit,” “Commercial Potential,” and “Qualifications of the Project Team.” Your proposal should explicitly address how it meets or exceeds expectations in each category.

Final tip: have someone unfamiliar with the project review your draft. If they can understand and follow it easily, reviewers likely will too.

Finalize and Submit via Grants.gov

With your proposal complete, it’s time to prepare for submission through Grants.gov. This final stage is where technical errors or missed steps can derail weeks of effort—so precision and early action are essential.

First, make sure your Grants.gov Workspace is fully set up and the correct USDA SBIR Phase I opportunity (typically listed under CFDA 10.212) has been selected. Only your designated Authorized Organizational Representative (AOR) can officially submit the proposal, so confirm their role is correctly assigned.

Check all mandatory forms, including the SF-424, Project Abstract, Budget, and SBIR/STTR Information Form. Each attachment must follow USDA’s formatting guidance—correct font size, margin width, file naming conventions, and page limits. Most proposals are rejected before review due to simple formatting violations.

Validate your entire application package within Grants.gov Workspace to identify missing fields or errors. Do this well before the deadline—validation can fail for minor reasons like incorrect file types or character limits in text fields.

Then, submit the full package no later than 48 hours before the official deadline. USDA deadlines are firm—usually 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the date listed in the RFA. Late submissions, even by one minute, are not accepted.

After submission, confirm receipt of the Grants.gov tracking number and monitor the status in both Grants.gov and your email. Retain digital and hard copies of all submitted files, including the system-generated confirmation pages.

Finally, prepare for next steps. It may take several months for review outcomes. If you’re contacted by USDA program staff with clarification questions or follow-up requests, respond promptly and professionally.

Failure to meet formatting rules (e.g., font size, margins) can result in automatic rejection.
Always double-check every file against USDA’s detailed RFA formatting specifications before uploading.

A strong submission isn’t just about great science—it’s about following every instruction to the letter.