Is Your Organization Government Grant Ready?
While our company’s mission is to help organizations find, obtain, manage, and comply with government grants, our broader mission is to help historically marginalized communities navigate the federal funding landscape so they can also access and be able to comply with federal and other government grants.
With that mission in mind, our CEO hosted a webinar titled Government Grants 101: 5 Steps for Getting Government Grant Ready in partnership with Instrument and shared several of the differences between being grant ready and being government grant ready.
At Grants Works, we believe that that government grant readiness is a capacity marker and not simply a checklist.
One can use a checklist to apply for a specific local, state, or federal government grant. However, managing the grant effectively will require an enhanced governance structure, internal collaboration, a center of accountability, strong internal controls, a financial management infrastructure that facilitates accurate cost allocation and the ability to monitor and document expenses, and reliable data collection systems.
The five steps entail the evaluation of the organization, the financial management system, the program or project that will be funded by a government grant, the organization’s existing grant management processes, and staff capacity to manage government grants.
Evaluating the Organization
The organization’s government grant readiness goes beyond meeting eligibility requirements for the application and the ability to demonstrate the organization or business’ impact and outcomes. Government grant readiness signifies that the organization has been registered and verified in the relevant government portals and is not listed as a debarred, excluded, or suspended entity.
Evaluating Your Grant Management Process
Like the three areas mentioned above, government grant management will require more strategy, intention, collaboration, and oversight. We consistently stress that effective government grant management begins with an analysis of each Notice of Award and then the integration of what you learn from the analysis into your organizational procedures.
Your government grant management process should also have what we call a “center of accountability” to guide and oversee the grant from implementation to closeout.
Grants Works ASTACC Method(TM)
We developed the ASTACC Method three years ago and have taught that method in some of the training offered via Grants Works Academy. The method encapsulates an approach that begins with award analysis and centers compliance.