Contents

• Overview 
• What are GuideStar and SAM.gov Compliance Checks? 
• Compliance Validation Locations
• Step-By-Step Instructions 
  • For Organization Owners & Client Admin 
    • Validate Compliance from the Participant Network 
      • GuideStar Results Display 
      • SAM.gov Results Display 
  • For Program Owners & Program Managers
    • Before You Begin
    • Validate Compliance During the Application Workflow 
    • Validate Compliance During the Financial Workflow 
• Related Articles 
   

Overview

This step-by-step guide shows Program Administrators how to validate organization compliance using GuideStar (Candid) and SAM.gov in Submittable Next.

What are GuideStar and SAM.gov Compliance Checks?

• GuideStar (Candid) validates an organization's nonprofit status against Candid's database of registered nonprofits.
   
• SAM.gov validates federal compliance status by checking an organization's registration in the System for Award Management, which is required for federal grant recipients.

⚠️IMPORTANT: To run compliance checks, SAM.gov must be enabled by the Organization Owner (GuideStar is enabled automatically). Both SAM.gov and GuideStar must be mapped on the Organization Profile Form. To learn how to set this up, see ➡️Setting Up the Organization Profile Form. (If you do not see SAM.gov and would like to add it, please contact Customer Success). 

Compliance Validation Locations

You can check GuideStar and SAM.gov compliance from multiple points in the platform:

• Participant Network: View and validate an organization's compliance status directly from their profile.
• Program (Application) Workflow: Check compliance during Intake or Review rounds.
• Financial Workflow: Validate SAM.gov compliance at the time of reimbursement approval, ensuring eligibility before funds are released.

📌 Note:  Compliance statuses may change over time. Historical compliance results are not retained, so checks must be re-run as needed to verify the current status.
 

Step-By-Step Instructions 

For Organization Owners and Client Admins* 

(*Client Admin is a role for Partner Organizations)

Validate Compliance from the Participant Network

1. Navigate to the Participant Network.

2. Click the Organization you wish to validate.

3. In the Organization’s profile, click the Compliance Check button in the upper-right corner

4. The Compliance Check box opens.

5. Select SAM.gov Check or GuideStar Charity Check. Click Next to run the validation.

6. The results load. 

GuideStar Results Display

• Eligible (status)
• EIN
• 501(c)(3) status
• IRS Verification Status
• Public Charity: 501(c)(3) Public Charity
• Pub78 Verified
• BMF Status

📌Note: GuideStar also includes a log of previous verifications. 

SAM.gov Results Display

• Organization Name
• SAM.gov current status (Active, Inactive)
• UEI (Unique Entity Identifier)
• Location
• Registration Purpose
• Registration Expiration Date
• Exclusion Status
• Exclusion Effective Date

For Program Owners and Program Managers

Before You Begin 

To run SAM.gov compliance checks, it must be turned on in the Award Cycle's Applicant Profiles:

1. Open your program. 

2. Go to Program Settings > All Award Cycles. 

3. Open the Award Cycle you need. 

4. In the Award Cycle, click Applicant Profiles in the left-hand menu. 

5. Under Compliance Checks, turn on SAM.gov. 

Reminder: SAM.gov must be enabled at the organization level by the Organization Owner before it appears in program settings.

📌Note: GuideStar compliance checks are available by default..

Validate Compliance During the Application Workflow

Compliance checks can be run throughout the application workflow in Intake and Review rounds.

1. In the program, click an Intake or Review Round from the left-hand menu.

2. Click the application you wish to validate.


 

3. In the application, click Admin Controls in the upper-right corner.

4. The Admin Controls box opens.

5. Select the Compliance tab.

6. Select SAM.gov Check or GuideStar Check. 

7. Click Next to run the validation. 

8. The results display the same information as shown in the Participant Network section above: GuideStar Results Display | SAM.gov Results Display.
 

Validate Compliance During the Financial Workflow

Compliance checks can be run in the Post-Award stage to validate federal compliance status in real-time, ensuring current eligibility before funds are released. 

1. In the program, click Post Award from the left-hand menu.

2. Click the Reimbursement Request you wish to validate.

3. Click Admin Controls.

4. Select the Compliance tab.

5. The Admin Controls box opens.

6. Select SAM.gov Check. 

7. Click Next to run the validation.

8. The results display the same information as shown in the Participant Network section above: GuideStar Results Display | SAM.gov Results Display.
 

Related Articles 

➡️Apply as an Organization: This article walks organization applicants through applying for opportunities, including how to create a new organization using GuideStar or SAM.gov. 

➡️Set Up Profile Forms: This article shows Organization Owners how to set up organization profile forms, including enabling GuideStar and SAM.gov. 

➡️Compliance & Fraud Protection Articles: Learn more about all available compliance and fraud protection measures in the Next Knowledge Base

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