How do you follow up and report on your research outcomes after receiving a grant?

For federal and state grants, the grant agreement will be the underlying governing document which will spell out key reporting requirements, timelines, grant drawdowns, and performance outcomes to measure the success of the grant. Within certain constraints, applicants do not realize that the grant agreement is negotiable based on the content of the application. This means when completing the application it is very important to include a status reporting schedule, information gathering strategy, benchmark timeline, and basis to measure grant effectiveness for which you are comfortable can be achieved. The grant agreement will be based on the application and the more clarity you include the stronger the case in negotiating the agreement.

For most grant applications, just do what you say you’re going to do. An approved grant application will outline milestones and expectations. Stay consist, communicate consistently with your program director, and disclose.

In my experience as the author of "Grant Writing Made Easy: A Book of Discussion" and through extensive online &/or in-person grant writing training, following up and reporting on research outcomes after receiving a grant involves a meticulous process of continuous communication with stakeholders. This includes periodic progress reports, detailed financial documentation, and a final comprehensive report. These elements not only demonstrate accountability and transparency but also highlight the tangible impacts and potential long-term benefits of the research. This approach ensures that funders are kept informed and engaged, fostering a collaborative relationship that can pave the way for future funding opportunities.

Planning ahead means setting up a comprehensive project management, including targeted KPIs. Most of them were already covered by you when crafting the grant proposal, so once you are awarded, track on the progress and keep your milestones in mind. Using PM tools like Notion, Asana or ClickUp from the beginning can be very helfpful here.

When it comes to federal and state grants, the Grantor agencies have distinct and thorough rules and guidelines detailing expectations on reporting and researching outcomes as well as what needs to be done to accept such work as accurate and compliant. Always make sure that data included can be traced to independent verifiable sources and is factual not conjecture or projections. Also, all outcomes, themselves need to be supported by verifiable sources. Try as best as possible to keep opinion out of the research by making it as straightforward factual as possible. Be sure that the research fits the expectations set forth in the federal Grantor Agency requirements and rules.

Execution of a grant-awarded project is not really different than any other project. When it comes to R&D projects though, don't get discouraged when you don't receive the exact results you planned while applying. A very smart person once told me: "not getting the results you want is part of daily life of being a scientist." - learn how to change the outcome by changing the route. This is research.

I suggest to keep track on your project progress (incl. structured data management) and continously summarize the outcomes - this makes it easier to write comprehensive reports when the deadlines are coming up.

When it comes to federal grants and most state grants the outcomes of the funding are a priority. Federal agencies are very keen on funding projects and activities which if successful can be replicated. Therefore, when understanding post grant outcome assessment, be conscious of the value of completing the evaluation in a manner which can be readily adaptable by others. This is true even if the ultimate outcome did not exactly produced the results expected and/or there were bumps and adjustments along the way to complete the grant. Indeed, federal agencies welcome such transparency in a Grantee sharing the full experience warts and all. Keep in mind that such evaluations can be of help with future applications with same federal agency.

When it comes to federal and state grants, do not be shy about sharing post grant outcome and performance analysis with the Grantor agency. Even if the outcomes and impact results do not exactly align with what had been forecasted in the application, there is long term value in sharing the information. Should there be deviations then be proactive and offer analysis on the causes of the deviations and demonstrate that outcomes did have benefits. Keep in mind that most federal agencies, especially handle multiple grant programs. Applicants who take the extra step of sharing outcome information generally leave positive impressions which can be a benefit in the future with new applications.