Example: Grant application kit
Made for Sierra Lift, a sample company. Sierra Lift is not a real company.
For an SBIR or STTR Phase I, an application through Grants.gov or a state grant: the registrations and accounts it needs, the deadlines, and the sections an application usually has, each with the official link. You write the application and submit it yourself. With a Pro plan, drafts from your company file (project summary, budget, team, past performance, commercialization and a list of letters of support), in Word and PDF, with the budget in Excel.
Everything here is made up: the company, the topic, the people, the budget and the letters.
What are you preparing?
DoD SBIR Phase I, Air Force or Space Force (AFWERX, SpaceWERX)
Your topic or funding notice: AF26-EXAMPLE-01, Example topic: heavy-lift drone resupply for remote sites (made up)
Checklist
The registrations and accounts the application needs, each where it is made. Mark an item done when you have done it; the kit never marks one for you and never checks a registration.
Every federal application
- A Login.gov accountDone
SAM.gov sign-in is run by Login.gov. DSIP (DoD) and Grants.gov also sign in with it.
Official source: Login.gov: signing in to SAM.gov
- SAM.gov entity registration: your UEI (Unique Entity ID) and your CAGE code (Commercial and Government Entity code)Done
The registration every federal award needs: it gives your company the UEI that every application asks for.
How long it takes. SAM.gov: "up to 10 business days". NASA's Broad Agency Announcement (BAA): "several weeks". USDA's Request for Applications (RFA): "4-6 weeks". DOE: "Up to 8 weeks".
Renewed every year.
DoD and DHS ask for the CAGE code too.
Free: the government never charges to register, update or renew.
Official sources: SAM.gov: entity registration; GSA: register your business; DOE: required SBIR/STTR registrations; Grants.gov: applicant registration
SBIR and STTR, every agency
- SBA Company Registry on SBIR.gov: your SBC Control ID and the registration PDFDone
SBC means small business concern. The SBC Control ID is the number the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Company Registry gives your company, and the applications ask for it.
The PDF comes from Dashboard, "Download SBC Registration".
The DoD BAA: SBIR.gov's identity verification "requires additional processing time … cannot be expedited".
Official sources: SBIR.gov: company registration; SBIR.gov: company registry questions; DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Department of Defense (DoD)
- A DSIP account, signed in with Login.govDone
DSIP is the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal, where DoD proposals are prepared and submitted.
DSIP can only be reached from within the United States.
Proposals sent any other way are disregarded.
Official sources: DSIP: the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal; DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- The Firm Admin creates the Firm PIN and completes the firm-level forms
The BAA: each company has a DSIP Firm Admin, who creates the Firm PIN, controls access for the company's other users and completes and maintains the firm-level forms.
Needed before any proposal can be submitted.
Official sources: DSIP: the Defense SBIR/STTR Innovation Portal; DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- An open topic
One proposal per open topic.
Amount, period and page limit are set per topic or component.
Check the solicitation. Official sources: DSIP: topics; DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- The CMMC level your topic states
CMMC is the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification, DoD's program for checking that contractors protect the information they handle. Check your topic for its level.
The BAA (Amendment 2): on July 13, 2026, DoD announced "the immediate suspension of the CMMC Phase II implementation", and "All CMMC Phase I self-assessment requirements remain firmly in place."
Check the solicitation. Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Company Commercialization Report (Volume 4)
Upload the Company Commercialization Report (CCR) PDF from SBIR.gov if the firm has prior SBIR or STTR awards; otherwise select No.
Official sources: SBIR.gov: company registry questions; DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Fraud, Waste and Abuse training (Volume 6)
Required. A 3-page PDF, reviewed by the Proposal Owner each year.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Disclosures of Foreign Affiliations or Relationships to Foreign Countries (Volume 7)
A DSIP web form of 8 questions; PDF uploads are no longer accepted.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Organizational conflict of interest (OCI) disclosure
Required.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- The Volume 5 documents that apply
Letters of support, additional cost information, funding agreement certification, technical data rights assertions, lifecycle certification, allocation of rights, joint venture (JV) eligibility, and DD Form 2345 if the work is ITAR-controlled (the International Traffic in Arms Regulations).
Check the solicitation. Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Certified and submitted in DSIP by the close
The BAA: "no later than 12:00p.m. ET on the close date" of the release, unless the topic says otherwise.
Each release has its own close date: the Deadlines section below lists the program's date.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Deadlines
On your own kit, the deadlines come from the grant programs on the Financing page, each checked against its official page. See the grant programs
Outline
The sections an application usually has, in the agency's order, with what goes in each and the official link. The solicitation or notice you apply under is what counts.
Keep export-controlled technical data out of the kit. Do not type ITAR or EAR technical data, controlled unclassified information (CUI), classified material, technical drawings or source code in these fields. Write the technical detail in your own files.
DoD SBIR or STTR Phase I
From the BAA, section 3.7. Each component sets its own page limit.
Volume 1: Cover sheet, with the technical abstract and the anticipated benefits
What goes here: Prepared in DSIP. No proprietary information: it may be released publicly.
Each 3,000 characters or less.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
Project summary
Project title. Field-repairable heavy-lift airframe for remote resupply
You typed thisSierra Lift Aerospace, Rancho Cordova, CA. Founded 2021. Team size: 14.
From your company pageSierra Lift designs and assembles carbon-fiber multirotor airframes rated for 25 to 60 lb payloads. The frames are built for line inspection, fire mapping and rural delivery, with field-swappable arms and a sealed electronics bay.
From your company fileCore competencies
- Carbon-fiber airframe design and layup for 25 to 60 lb payloads
- Field-swappable arms and sealed electronics bays
- Custom frames built to an integrator's payload and flight controller
- Structural testing and short production runs in-house
The problem or opportunity. Remote sites wait days for parts and supplies when roads close. Heavy-lift drones that carry 25 to 60 lb exist, but a damaged arm or frame grounds the aircraft until it goes back to the factory.
You typed thisThe innovation. A carbon-fiber airframe whose arms and motor mounts swap in the field with hand tools, with an arm joint load-tested to keep the frame's rated strength after a swap.
You typed thisAnticipated benefits
Resupply flights that continue after a field repair, fewer grounded aircraft at remote sites, and a frame that U.S. crews repair themselves.
You typed thisOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Volume 2: Technical volume
What goes here: One PDF, 10-point type or larger, 1-inch margins. Each page header carries the company name, the topic number and the proposal number. The template is in the BAA's Appendix A. Its sections, in this order:
The page limit is set per component.
1. Problem/Opportunity
What goes here: The specific problem or opportunity the work addresses.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
Remote sites wait days for parts and supplies when roads close. Heavy-lift drones that carry 25 to 60 lb exist, but a damaged arm or frame grounds the aircraft until it goes back to the factory.
You typed thisOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
2. Phase I Technical Objectives
What goes here: What Phase I sets out to show.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
- Show that a field-swapped arm holds the frame's rated load in bench tests.
- Show a full arm swap in under 20 minutes with hand tools.
- Fly a 40 lb payload for 10 km after a field swap.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
3. Statement of Work
What goes here: The work to be done, task by task, to meet the objectives.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
You typed this# Task What is done Who Months Milestone or deliverable 1 Arm joint design Design and model the quick-release arm joint. Sam Okafor 1 to 2 Joint design review 2 Prototype arms Build two sets of prototype arms and joints. Sam Okafor 2 to 4 Two prototype arm sets 3 Bench load tests Load test each arm on the test bench before and after swaps. Sam Okafor 3 to 5 Load test report 4 Flight trials Fly the prototype with a 40 lb payload after a field swap. Alex Rivera 5 to 6 Flight trial report Place of performance. 2150 Airframe Way, Suite 4, Rancho Cordova, CA 95670
From your company fileOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
5. Relationship with Future R/R&D
What goes here: How Phase I leads to the work that follows it.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
A Phase II would build a pre-production batch of field-repair kits and test them with crews at remote sites.
You typed thisOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
6. Commercialization Strategy
What goes here: How the results are to reach buyers, in government and outside it.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
Utility cooperatives and fire crews already fly the SL-60. A field-repair kit is sold with each new frame, and as an upgrade for frames in service.
You typed thisProducts and technology. Two airframes and the service around them. The SL-60 carries 25 to 60 lb payloads on eight arms; the SL-25 carries up to 25 lb and folds to fit a truck toolbox. Both share one arm joint that swaps in the field without tools, and a sealed electronics bay. Integrators order custom frames built to their payload and flight controller.
From your business plan, section 3Market and customers. Utilities, public safety agencies and integrators who fly heavy inspection and mapping payloads and want frames built in the U.S. Utilities buy for line inspection and fire season; public safety agencies buy through state and county programs; integrators buy custom frames for their own systems.
From your business plan, section 4Market sizes, each with its source
- Heavy-lift frames bought a year in our segments: About 2,400 frames (source: Sierra Lift's own estimate (sample))
- What those frames sell for a year: $34 million (source: Sierra Lift's own estimate (sample))
- Utilities and agencies we reach first, California and Nevada: About 140 buyers (source: Sierra Lift's own count (sample))
Competition. Buyers compare us with imported frames, which cost less and wait on shipping and supply-chain questions, and with the in-house frames some integrators build. We compete on payload, field repairs and a documented U.S. bill of materials.
From your business plan, section 5Sales. Our Director of Sales sells directly to utilities and county agencies, and integrators order custom frames for their own systems. Pilots lead to orders: the cooperative's six-frame pilot led to a letter of intent for 20 more.
From your business plan, section 6Revenue by year
- Year 1: $2,395,200
- Year 2: $3,395,910
- Year 3: $4,485,167
Key numbers
- Break-even month: Month 14 (December 2027), the first month with revenue whose profit before tax is zero or better and stays so
- Lowest cash: -$60,492 in month 15 (January 2028)
- Cash needed to stay above zero: $60,492
- Cash at the end: $829,829
- Months of cash left at the end: Cash is not falling at the end
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
7. Key Personnel
What goes here: The key people, their roles and their experience.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
Principal investigator. Sam Okafor, Lead Composites Engineer
You typed thisAlex Rivera. Chief Executive Officer; Program lead; 14 years of experience; B.S. Aerospace Engineering; Certifications and licenses: FAA Part 107 remote pilot; 120 hours on the project.
From your company file, key personnelLed airframe programs at two composite shops before founding Sierra Lift. Runs customer programs from quote to delivery.
From your company file, key personnelMaria Chen. Director of Sales; Customer lead; 9 years of experience; B.A. Economics.
From your company file, key personnelSells to utilities, public safety agencies and integrators, and manages every quote and delivery schedule.
From your company file, key personnelSam Okafor. Lead Composites Engineer; Engineering lead; 11 years of experience; M.S. Mechanical Engineering; 520 hours on the project.
From your company file, key personnelDesigns the layup schedules and test plans for every frame, and runs the structural test bench.
From your company file, key personnelOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
8. Foreign Citizens
What goes here: Foreign citizens expected to work on the project, as the BAA asks.
You write this section. The kit keeps no citizenship details.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
9. Facilities/Equipment
What goes here: The facilities and equipment the work uses.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
A composites shop in Rancho Cordova, CA, with a layup line, a curing oven and a structural test bench.
You typed thisOfficial source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
10. Subcontractors/Consultants
What goes here: Any subcontractors or consultants, and the work each does.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
- Load testing at an outside lab: $12,000
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
11. Prior/Current/Pending Support
What goes here: Prior, current and pending support for similar work.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
You typed thisAgency or source Title Status Amount A state innovation program Composite arm tooling Pending $50,000 Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
12. Data-rights assertions
What goes here: Any assertions of restrictions on technical data or software.
You write this section.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Check the solicitation. Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Volume 3: Cost volume (a DSIP web form)
What goes here: Key personnel with their hours, justified travel, subcontractor costs at the same level of detail as the prime, and any Phase I option costed separately.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
From the kit's budgetCategory Amount Personnel $42,440 Fringe benefits $11,883 Travel $6,500 Equipment $18,000 Supplies $14,000 Contractual $12,000 Other $4,000 Indirect charges $12,000 Total direct costs $108,823 Total cost $120,823 Fee or profit $7,000 TABA $6,500 Total $134,323 Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Volume 4: Company Commercialization Report
What goes here: See the checklist item.
You write this section.
Official sources: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026); SBIR.gov: company registry questions
Volume 5: Supporting documents
What goes here: Letters of support and the other items that apply.
Draft: review and edit before you submit
You typed thisOrganization Signer and title Relation Status Sierra Foothills Utility Cooperative Dana Whitfield, Operations Manager Customer Asked Foothill Fire Protection District Chief of Operations Customer To ask Check the solicitation. Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Volume 6: Fraud, Waste and Abuse training
What goes here: See the checklist item.
You write this section.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Volume 7: Foreign affiliations web form
What goes here: See the checklist item.
You write this section.
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Official source: DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
Beside the drafts
Facts from the sources, for you to read beside your drafts.
- The technical abstract (your project summary): 1,030 characters. The BAA's limit: 3,000 characters or fewer.
- The anticipated benefits: 140 characters. The BAA's limit: 3,000 characters or fewer.
- The SBIR BAA says the principal investigator's (PI's) primary employment is with the small business.
- Your work plan runs 6 months. The period you entered from your topic is 6 months.
- Your total is $134,323. The amount you entered from your topic or notice is $150,000. DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- Contractual costs are 9.93% of your total cost. The SBIR BAA says the small business does at least two-thirds of the Phase I work. DoD 2026 SBIR BAA, Release 6 preface (Amendment 3, September 2, 2026)
- The BAA says TABA is up to $6,500 a Phase I. You entered $6,500. AFWERX: get funded
- 2 CFR 200.414(f): the de minimis rate is up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs. You entered 15%. 2 CFR 200.414, indirect costs
What you get
Free with a company account: the checklist, the deadlines and the outline. With a Pro plan: drafts from your company file, the application in Word (.docx) and PDF, and the budget in Excel (.xlsx).
Autonomy Runway is not a law firm, an accounting firm or a financial adviser, and nothing we publish is legal, tax or financial advice. The guides are general information with links to the official sources, and the tools organize your own facts and decisions. For advice about your situation, talk to a lawyer, an accountant or a financial adviser. See all our disclaimers.