FPDS Query Library
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Department Name

Human-readable name of the funding/requesting agency recorded on the award. It is the label portion of the agency identifier pair and describes which department the funding agency belongs to.

Family: Award
Category: Purchaser Information
Data Type: string
Semantic Type: label
Mapping: flattened_fpds_xml_field
AI Confidence: high

Variable Overview

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName
Title
Department Name
FPDS Path
award/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName
Description
Human-readable name of the funding/requesting agency recorded on the award. It is the label portion of the agency identifier pair and describes which department the funding agency belongs to.
Business Meaning
This field helps analysts identify the department associated with the funding source or requesting entity behind a procurement action. It is useful for departmental spend analysis, cross-agency comparisons, and grouping awards by the federal organization responsible for the funds or request.
Example Value
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Observed Non-Null Count
102,422,036

FPDS Compare

FPDS Query Variable
content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName
FPDS XML Path
award/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName
Mapping Type
flattened_fpds_xml_field
Comparison Summary
FPDS Query flattens the original nested FPDS XML path 'award/purchaserInformation/fundingRequestingAgencyID/departmentName' into the SQL-ready variable 'content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName'.

Use Cases

  • Dictionary lookup and field explanation
  • SQL filtering and grouping
  • Analytical reporting and reusable query building

Common Usage

  • Group obligations by funding department
  • Compare procurement activity across cabinet-level agencies
  • Validate the human-readable label for a coded agency identifier

Common Mistakes

  • Using the name alone as a unique agency identifier
  • Assuming the label always matches the current agency name or structure

Query Guidance

Use this field for display, filtering, and rollups when a human-readable agency label is sufficient. For reliable joins or exact agency matching, filter or group on the associated agency ID and keep this name as the descriptive output column.

SQL Examples

Preview values

SELECT
    content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName AS department_name
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName IS NOT NULL
LIMIT 25

Top values

SELECT
    content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName AS value,
    count() AS record_count
FROM fpds.data
WHERE content__award__purchaserInformation__fundingRequestingAgencyID__departmentName IS NOT NULL
GROUP BY value
ORDER BY record_count DESC
LIMIT 25

Each dictionary item includes SQL-ready examples generated alongside the variable metadata, allowing immediate use in FPDS Query for filtering, aggregation, and analysis.