What Are Good Faith Efforts? Definition, Requirements & Examples

‍Good Faith Efforts are reasonable, documented actions an organization takes to create meaningful opportunities for eligible workers, suppliers, contractors, small businesses, and other stakeholders to participate in a project or program.

In public-private infrastructure development, Good Faith Efforts can be especially important when projects involve government contracts, incentives, grants, procurement requirements, local participation goals, or community benefit commitments.

Specific Good Faith Effort requirements vary by agency, contract, jurisdiction, funding source, and program. However, the principle is straightforward:

A participation goal measures what happened. Good Faith Efforts document what you did to help make it happen.

What Are Good Faith Effort Requirements?

Good Faith Efforts may include identifying qualified businesses, advertising opportunities, contacting suppliers and subcontractors, recruiting workers, hosting outreach events, providing technical assistance, partnering with community organizations, following up with interested participants, and documenting barriers to participation.

Strong Good Faith Effort Reporting should answer five questions:

Who did you engage? What opportunity was available? What action did you take? What happened? What evidence proves it?

Examples of Good Faith Efforts

Examples can include supplier outreach emails, procurement notices, job postings, workforce recruitment events, supplier engagement days, meeting records, sign-in sheets, referrals, technical assistance, bid records, follow-up communications, and documented explanations of participation barriers.

Documentation matters because outreach that cannot be verified may be difficult to demonstrate during compliance reviews.

Turn Good Faith Efforts Into an Advantage

LocalContent.com helps developers, contractors, manufacturers, investors, and public-private projects strengthen Local Content Readiness, Compliance, and Good Faith Effort Reporting. Identify local workforce and supplier capacity, track commitments and participation, and document outreach, barriers, and results throughout the project lifecycle. Build the record from day one and turn your Good Faith Efforts into documented proof of local impact.

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