Cisco Grants Office Update: Preparing for Award Administration and Reporting
Preparing for Award Administration and Reporting
Grant funding recipients should expect to be subjected to award administration during a set reporting period, but what exactly is “award administration”?
Award administration is the process of receiving grant funding and operating within the program guidelines to fulfil the goals and objectives of the organization as stated in the application or request for funds.
The award administration process begins once an organization has been notified of their grant award. As part of this notification, the organization will receive a list of expectations and instructions from the funder which describes the award administration process through the end of the reporting period (also known as “the life of the grant”). The reporting period’s length will vary by grant program but will generally require periodic progress reports about the funded project’s efforts to date and expense reports for any monies utilized thus far. Grant funders want to ensure that recipients are good stewards of funding and use these award administration reports as a means to check that the recipient is using the awarded funds for their intended purposes, as outlined on the approved application.
While every grant maker will outline different requirements for award administration, there are three universal steps you can take to best prepare for your eventual award administration process.
Note: The Maritime Infrastructure Program administered by the Texas Department of Transportation is a great example of the typical award administration requirements from a state grant maker. Visit https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot-info/mrt/mip-program-guide.pdf to learn more and get insight on what to expect post award.
“Note: The Maritime Infrastructure Program administered by the Texas Department of Transportation is a great example of the typical award administration requirements from a state grant maker. Visit https://ftp.txdot.gov/pub/txdot-info/mrt/mip-program-guide.pdf to learn more and get insight on what to expect post award.”
Conduct Initial Research
Pursue only those grants your organization has the capacity to fulfill the requirements of. The first initial step is to do thorough research on all conditions of a grant prior to applying to ensure compliance is possible. This includes any stated requirements for award management that may have been provided as part of the announcement of available funding. Things like background checks on applicable staff, cost allocations, and funding restrictions are common points to pay close attention to. If your organization does not stay in compliance, it risks having to pay back the awarded funds, or potentially face legal consequences. If compliance for award management is not possible at this time, discuss with your colleagues and leadership if the organization can make the necessary changes in time to apply.
Plan for Success
Build data collection, analysis, and report generating tasks into your proposed project timeline to keep your organization on track to submit reports and documents on time. Assign these tasks to team members most suited for the responsibility and ensure these activities are not rushed (resulting in incomplete reporting back to the funder). It is best practice to have passwords, login information, contact information, and submission dates for reporting activities in a shared document that can be accessed by multiple team members. In the event of team members’ absence or turnover, this will save your organization time and stress.
Grants funded from foundations may have less administration and reporting requirements. However, since foundations tend to foster genuine relationships and connections to the communities they impact, it’s a good idea to continue communicating about your project. Setting up a biannual update on the program or whole organization can go a long way in building a sustainable long-term relationship with a funder.
Prepare for Project Closeout
Funders will outline specific instructions for a project closeout, which is typically the last few months leading up to the grant’s “end of life” (or completion). Each program’s close out requirements will be unique, but typically funders look for you to provide a summary of project-related financial documents, an official notification of project completion that outlines the grant investment’s measurable impact, and other project-relevant documentation such as an equipment inventory document. These are usually packaged together and due as part of the final award administration submission to the funding entity.