GRANTS INTRODUCTION LESSON #7
Lesson 7: After the Application has been Submitted
You followed the rules, filled out the forms, and submitted your application. After a long nail-biting period, finally you hear the results. There are three possible outcomes, denied (oh despair!), approved with a lesser budget, or approved (hurray!). What should you do in each case?
Denied:
Bite your tongue. Avoid the temptation to lash out at the funding agency. Remember, it’s likely that you will seek funds from them again in the future. At some point, call and ask for some time to speak with the person that reviewed your application. You want to find out why you were rejected. It’s one of several reasons: your agency or your project were deemed ineligible for funding, you failed to document the need, your project was not considered to be an effective response to the need, or you simply ranked just out of the money.If you were considered ineligible, look elsewhere. You are wasting your time with this program. If you didn’t make the case for having a severe need, ask what measures you could apply to your client population to prove the necessity of the funds.
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Stories from the Field: We were always required to prepare a ‘three year self-sufficiency plan’ to receive or annual funding from the state. I prepared five three-year-plans and my predecessor prepare three. That’s an eight-year, three-year self-sufficiency plan. I left that job ten years ago. I wonder what year of their self-sufficiency plan they are in now. |
If the agency agreed that you showed need, but
didn’t solve the problems that you found, ask how you could design
a more effective program. If the agency liked your proposal, but
simply ran out of money, ask what happens next. In some instances,
the funding agency sets up a "pipeline" for projects that
finished just below the level of funding. If funded projects fall
apart, money might be freed up to move down the pipeline to fund
more proposals.
Approved for Less Money: A bittersweet victory, you’ve been funded for less than you requested. The first temptation is to make do with less, but ultimately this is a losing proposition. If your original budget was accurate, and you received less money, something has to give. You need to achieve less, use a different method of addressing the problem, take more from somewhere else in your agency, take more time to find more money, or decline the grant altogether. The one thing you don’t want to do is sign a grant agreement for a project that you can’t complete with the allotted funds. |
Approval:
Total victory, congratulations! As difficult as it was to get here, now the real work begins. There are some things to keep in mind about grant funds. First, share the credit. Include the names of any supporters in your press releases. This includes volunteers and agencies that provided contributions of labor or materials. Keep the funding agencies informed about your progress. Even if quarterly reports aren’t required, they are a good idea. You want the funder to feel involved. Remember, you may be approaching them again in the future. Maintain accurate financial records. Many grant source require an audit at the end of the project. Don’t be afraid of the auditor, they should be viewed as an expert consultant hired to help you keep your books.This lesson only touches on the many elements of grants management. These two books will give more details on managing a not-for-profit:
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We hope that these grant writing lessons help you develop winning proposals. Our bookstore has many volumes that will augment what you’ve learned here. We have books on grant writing, fund raising, research, nonprofit management and more. Good luck and send us an email with your success stories.
