You're new to grant administration. What are the most common mistakes you need to avoid?

One thing I found helpful, is having a kickoff meeting with the program and administrative staff and reviewing and discussing the grant's terms and conditions, and any other relevant info. The next step is developing an implementation plan.

Key pitfalls include incomplete applications, misunderstanding grant terms, poor budget planning, neglecting reporting requirements, inadequate record-keeping, and insufficient communication. Non-compliance with regulations, mismanagement of timelines, lack of monitoring, and overlooking sustainability are also risks. Additionally, poor risk management and ethical lapses can impact the project's success and the organisation's reputation.

Grant opening meetings are very important. It is an opportunity to explain the project from a programmatic, financial and most especially a grant management perspective. As Grants Coordinator, I prepare a presentation on donor regulations in the areas of procurement, budget flexibility, reporting, visibility and communication and every other compliance related issue.During project implementation, the Grants team is readily available if any doubts arise on donor regulations. At the end of the project we organise a project learning and closing meeting to see what went well and what went wrong, lessons learnt and what we can do better in future. My compliance tracker helps keep track of issues we had regarding complying with donor regulations.

Learn from current situation before starting. Find out the right information from supervisor or other teamwork so nothing missed information.

Failure to read and understand the entire grant agreement to the letter. In every contract or agreement, the devil is in the details. You can avoid a lot of problems just by doing this basic homework of understanding your agreement in its entirety.

Jumping into grant administration without a plan is like trying to build IKEA furniture without the instructions—you're going to end up with something wonky. To avoid this, map out each phase of the grant cycle, setting realistic timelines for proposal submissions, reporting, and project milestones. Use project management tools to keep track of tasks and deadlines. An overlooked tip? Always plan for buffer time. Unexpected delays are as common as misplaced IKEA screws, so having a cushion can save you from last-minute scrambles.

Not planning ahead and having the team that will implement the objectives of the grant award, is a disaster waiting to happen. This may also result in not meeting objectives, affecting drawdowns of the grant utilization. Planning ahead will ensure meeting grantees deadlines.

Reading the grant RFA thoroughly, and strictly adhering to the guidelines. Implement a timeline with the grant contributors and stick to it. Prior to submitting, review, review, review!

AVOID BEGGING UNASKED QUESTIONS! Grant funds are almost never a unilateral allocation but rather, an agreed upon earmark for money by a host of stakeholders. It is money set aside solely for the explicitly stated purpose for which entire boards of directors, government rule makers and even legislators themselves have signed off to fund that purpose ONLY. When answers to RFPs/RFAs try to show off additional value from items/services beyond those the award has been approved to fund, it does not make applicants appear as a better investment, but rather, it suggests a potential fiduciary snafu where approved funds look suspiciously misappropriated to subsidize or even finance activities that were not agreed upon by authorities.

Planning ahead and keeping track of the budget should be 2 key points to the whole administration process. This information must be kept on hand at all times.

Overall, neglecting budget and expense monitoring in grant administration can undermine the success of the project, erode trust with funders and stakeholders, and expose the organization to financial and reputational risks. It is crucial to implement robust financial management practices to ensure accountability, compliance, and effective resource utilization throughout the grant lifecycle.

In my experience grant managers need to consistently reconcile with the finance department. Reconciling budget vs actual expenditures is the best way to monitor the implementation of a grant, identify the need to request budget modifications and allocation errors, and avoid ineligible charges, among other issues. The expenditures express the progress made in implementing any grant in dollars and cents. Regular reconciliations are not only required by the Uniform Guidance but also an excellent tool in grant management.

I feel tracking the budget is the 1st step when dealing with grants as you must have this info in front of you and in your mind at all times, we cannot control funds and will end up in dire straits

Keep track of actual vs budget used by the grantee and the donor Keep track of budget reallocations and modifications Expenses must always been accompanied by receipts

All grants require reporting on both expenditure tracking and program delivery. Experienced, successful grant administrators use reporting as an effective tool in measuring the progress of grant implementation as well as keeping the Grantor informed as to the status. Therefore, there is nothing wrong with doing more than the Grantor requires and making the information available to the public to promote transparency. Also, separate and distinct reporting systems for expenditures and project activity creates a reasoned check and balance to be sure that all parts of grant implementation are in sync, supporting each other, and not potentially creating obstacles.

Transparency and communication are vital for grant management. The heart and soul of effective, successful grant administration is identifying all those involved and affected by a grant and make sure they are involved throughout the grant process. This will include other staff, stakeholders, beneficiaries and any others who directly or indirectly are affected by the grant activities. In fact, identifying those indirectly impacted is important because most often unanticipated issues or other surprises come from this group. Take a very broad picture of what is happening with the grant and then ask yourself who am I missing. Include in the grant management plan a strong communication strategy encouraging feedback and input.

Communication is key to all planning and Team work cannot be successful without good communication, all who can communicate well can plan well also.

Very simple: any new grant, identify the active stakeholders, divide them into practical groups (or one-on-ones) and from the start schedule recurring meetings. Make sure, at the start, to be difficult if someone does not join the meting, to prevent it from happening again.

Most federal and state government agencies welcome the chance to debrief with a manager which has completed a grant. Indeed, in some instances the final step in a close out process is a debrief. The value of a debrief is demonstrating ongoing commitment by you to the agency and the grant program as well as gathering intel and insight into what you did well and what you can do better in the future. Generally, the formal process with government grants is known as close out. As you are nearing the end of all expenditures and performance benchmarks it is a good strategy to develop a close out check list based on the grant guidelines which can serve as your roadmap to assure compliance plus be the basis for a strong performance evaluation.

Skipping the evaluation phase is like skipping the last episode of your favorite series—you miss out on the closure and learning moments. Regularly assess the impact of funded projects against the objectives. Use both quantitative data and qualitative feedback for a comprehensive view. This evaluation not only demonstrates the value of your work to funders but also uncovers insights for improving future applications. Remember, evaluation is a springboard for growth, not just a checkbox.

Emerging ideas: Findability and Project Asset Continiuity. In other words, make sure the data from your grant (both funder data and project data) is easy to find. Anything coming out of the project, even if it was not anticipated, should have a place (database?) and be "findable".

When things go off the rails or you need to make a course correction - talk to the funder early and often. Most funders are understanding about when changes need to be made, but not if you wait until the end of a grant to let them know about problems.

In grant administration, it is important to develop a solid evaluation plan. This means the goals, objectives, outcomes, and impacts must be clearly articulated and quantitatively or qualitatively (descriptively) measurable.

Beyond the nuts and bolts of grant administration, never underestimate the power of building strong relationships with all stakeholders involved. From funders to your project team, cultivating a network of support and collaboration can elevate your success. Engage regularly, share successes, and navigate challenges together. Additionally, keep abreast of changes in grant policies and sector trends. Continuous learning and adapting your strategies accordingly can make you stand out in a crowded field of administrators. Lastly, remember that transparency and integrity are your north stars; they guide trust and long-term partnerships.

Q. Do you actually have the organizational capacity to see this grant from award to closeout? We all have to start from somewhere, and there are times that call for moonshots. However, if you’re a newer organization without a history of successfully administering grants and lack key staff with domain-specific expertise you’re going to have a difficult time convincing funders that you can manage large, ambitious projects. Start small. Build a portfolio of well-executed projects with demonstrably effective outcomes. Grow your capacity. This sounds obvious, but being passionate about a worthy cause isn’t enough. If being awarded one particular grant is an existential concern for your organization you’ve gone wrong somewhere.

One pitfall is unintentionally misusing grants funds. While you may understand the grant’s parameters, not everyone dealing with parts of the fund management/reporting may. I’ve seen (and stopped) motions to use funds for an innocently intentioned expense but which doesn’t fit the restrictions or ethos behind the awarded funds. Always think, does this expenditure fit the grantors mission and grant brief? If I had to explain our project spending to their board would I be 100% comfortable defending all the expenses?