by Rachel Ayotte | Feb 17, 2025 | Article
The job of a grantmaker isn’t finished when grants are awarded. In fact, in many ways, post-award management signals the start of an entirely new relationship — one that requires just as much intentional strategy and effort.
In this article, we’ll cover why post-award management is essential and offer a helpful grant closeout checklist of important tasks for grantmakers to keep track of.
Post-award grant management is one phase of the overall grant management process. It refers to all the administrative, financial and compliance-related activities that take place after a grant has been awarded.
While every grant program is different, for grantmakers, post-award management typically involves monitoring the grantee’s progress, ensuring compliance with the grant agreement and providing the proper support to help them succeed.
If done well, post-award grant management can help:
Ensure compliance and reduce risk: Grant agreements usually contain specific conditions, including financial guidelines, reporting deadlines and performance expectations. The post-award phase allows grantmakers to ensure that grantees adhere to these requirements, minimise financial and legal risks and ensure that funds are being used as intended.
Measure impact: A critical aspect of the grantmaker’s job is assessing whether the funded initiative meets its goals. Regular reporting and site visits after the award can help grantmakers assess the impact of their grant, which they can then communicate to important stakeholders.
Strengthen funder-grantee relationships: The funder and grantee relationship is essential for long-term success. By balancing flexibility and accountability and offering open lines of communication, grantmakers can help post-award grantees feel supported as they carry out their missions — all of which helps to create more impact.
Inform future grantmaking efforts: Reviewing grant performance and outcomes ultimately allows funders to refine their grantmaking strategies and make data-driven decisions for upcoming funding cycles.
Grantmakers are busy during every part of the grant lifecycle and can often feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks that need to be done. To eliminate stress, use our essential post-award management checklist.
Before doing any post-award follow-up and management, be sure to review all the terms, conditions, reporting deadlines and deliverables outlined in the grant agreement.
You should remind grantees of these things, too, so each party can enter the post-award phase on the same footing.
One of the most crucial parts of any post-award grant management process is creating a reporting schedule, outlining requirements and considering the format of the reporting.
Reporting schedule: Outline exactly when you’ll expect progress updates and formal reports from grantees so they can prepare.
Reporting requirements: Prior to the grant reporting deadline, remind grantees of exactly what information they’ll need to provide (financial updates, activity progress, etc.), so they can keep proper track as they carry out the grant.
Reporting format: Determine how you’d like progress and updates to be communicated to your team. Will you allow grantees to submit a grant report online? Will you allow for oral reporting? Or both? Create a reporting schedule, and take advantage of automated communications.
With Good Grants, grantmakers can streamline the management of awarded grants, maintain reporting compliance and keep funding on track. Grantmakers can create an unlimited number of grant report forms to solicit programmatic, financial, KPI or other pertinent information at any time and as often as required.
Communication is always key, especially during the post-award grant management phase.
Grantees should feel that they can contact your team for updates, questions and general support when needed. Likewise, your team should feel confident knowing how, where and when to contact grantees for information.
Usually, this includes:
Where you’ll communicate: Consider where your teams and your grantees will talk to one another. Will you use a tool like Slack or Discord? In-person site-visits? Both?
When you’ll communicate: Consider how often you’ll check in with grantees and give them parameters for contacting your team (e.g., M-F, 9 am—5 pm).
Last but not least, you’ll want to plan for the formal closeout of the grant. Typically, this includes final reports of the funded grant and its successes or setbacks.
Grantmakers should be sure to keep comprehensive records of all project-related activities, communications and financial transactions.
Post-award grant management goes beyond compliance.
With the right checklist in hand and supportive tools like Good Grants for receiving grant reports, grantmakers can strengthen their impact, improve funding outcomes and ultimately advance the causes they support — and make the world a better place.
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