Grant Lifecycle 101
Grants Management is crucial for your organization if you would like to continue receiving grants. The focus on performance, accountability, and transparency play a major role as you manage the grants. To continue receiving grant dollars we highly encourage you to consider the grants lifecycle- it will allow you to streamline your organizational processes.
What is a Grant Lifecycle?
Grant Lifecycle refers to the complete process a grant goes through from researching, writing, submitting, receiving, implementing, managing, closing, and auditing. In simplicity, it means the following:
You started thinking about a project idea
Research the funder
Start writing the grant
Submit the grant
Received communication from the funder (Yes or No)
Got the grant, yeah!!!
Started spending the grant dollars
Spent all the money and finish the project
Run reports on your programmatic goals and financials
Submit all the reports
Complete the grant
File it away
Now in detail, we will go over each of the steps in grant language. Below are the steps to the grant lifecycle:
Idea - In this phase, you have strategically determined why you need the funding and what programs require the grant money.
Pre-Award - During this phase, you will see the RFP posted on Grants.gov or the funder’s website. The application is due within 30-60 days and you will work with your grant to the team to get this grant submitted on time.
Award - During this phase, you learn if you have received the award or not. You will receive communication from the program officer on the next steps. You should expect to receive notice of grant award. If you were not funded, always get feedback from the funder.
Post-Award - This phase is crucial to your organization as it entails the heavy chunk of grant management. During this step, ensure you have all the policies & procedures in place that the grant requires. Set up budgets, compare budgets, bill expenses, request reimbursements, review expenditures, modify budgets, communicate with the project officers as needed, and provide grant reporting. Review if there is program income, budget revisions, and performance measurement needed.
Closeout - You can close out the grant once the project date has ended and there will be no other expenditures coming through. You are responsible for complying with all federal regulations for expenditures and accounting. This step includes terminating the grant fund, generating reports, internal controls over all funds, property, and other assets. Consideration on payment allowability from 2 CFR 200.
Audit - The grant is audited by the organization’s audit team. Some organizations allow internal audits. And, it may get audited by the Federal agency. You will be audited on programmatic and financial activities of the grant.
Grant Management is a topic that will vary from organization to organization due to the types of funding they receive. So, all organizations may not have the same grant lifecycle; you can have a similar life cycle, however, your process can differ greatly. If you have any questions throughout your grant processes, reach out to us. We will answer any questions in order to support you throughout your journey!