The World of Grants Management

Regardless of whether you are a seasoned professional in a large Institution or part- time volunteer at a small grassroot agency, the job of Grants management involves a difficult balancing act: ensuring that program staff have the latitude to accomplish something meaningful at the same time that every obligation to the funding source is met.

The less time and energy you devote to cautious oversight, the greater the risk of running into compliance problems. the Question comes, How do you meet these competing demand? the answer will vary according to the operating style of your organisation, the complexity of your project and the nature of the funding source, but effective management of any grant depends in certain core principles. Adhereing to those principles is especially importnat in the case of government grants, where compliance and reporting requirements tend to be most rigorous. But they are also valuable in managing grants from foundation and corporate sources helpoing to build a relationship of trust with your funders and making the management process within your organisation more orderly.

The following are some suggestions on how to manage your grants better:

• Post Award Meeting – After you have received notice that you have been successful in securing a grant you should setup a meeting with the team members who will be responsible for executing the contract.  The team should include the project director, comptroller/fiscal officer, and if appropriate, any collaborating partners and consultants.  At the meeting you should review the deliverables in the contract, including program activities, and required staff.  Outcomes evaluation tool.  Set up time lines indicating who will be responsible for completing assigned tasks, and review the agency’s purchasing, payroll and accounting protocols.

• Create a file for each funding source so that all correspondence with the funder and other materials can be kept in a central location.

• Critical due dates should be on your electronic and hard copy calendars, these dates would include program start and completion dates, reporting deadlines, progress meeting dates, dates for submitting vouchers for reimbursement and the final report.

• Investigate electronic tools  that are available to help you and the team make the process of grant management easier and more effective

• Track all expenses accurately by program, make sure the project director receives monthly reports so that he/she can monitor the spending (under or over), and the production of the contracted units of service. Outline what receipts must be kept to justify expenses and who will be the appropriate party to approve expenses in the grant.

• Progress Meeting – It is essential that the team meet throughout the contract year or years (some contracts are multi-year contracts).  The purpose of these meetings are to keep everyone informed and accountable for the success of the grant.  It also gives the agency the opportunity to make timely adjustments to be in compliance.

• Final Report – It should be determined at the first meeting who will be responsible to produce the final report, what data should be collected and reflected in the report, and when the final report would be submitted