Grant Reporting: Building an Ecosystem for Success

Grant reporting, across multiple funding types, is intended to keep your funders up to date on the impact their funding has generated and to evidence that your organization is complying with all the terms of a funding agreement. Ongoing funding can rely on accurate and on time reporting. While reporting frequency and complexity can vary widely by funder and funding type, the degrees to which an organization has set foundational cross-team planning and communication practices will influence the accuracy and ease at which grant reporting requirements can be met. Many organizations find themselves facing internal alignment, role clarity and planning challenges that manifest themselves when grant reporting dates draw near, making reporting requirements feel unrealistically daunting.

This session aims to help organizations understand how to implement efficient and accurate grant reporting, including the benefits of systematizing their grant seeking, acceptance, and tracking practices so that staff are aligned and proactively implementing programming and collecting data according to the obligations that come along with certain funding types. By building foundational systems before seeking funding opportunities, an organization can save themselves from having to spend significant time scrambling to compile information as reporting deadlines draw near, or worse, failing to meet their reporting requirements and jeopardizing funding relationships.

Through both presentation and interactive group work, we will explore:

• Varying types of grant sources and more common reporting requirements
• Key operations systems to have in place to build the role clarity and cross-team alignment necessary to maintain grant compliance
• Resources to consider when building data collection and record maintenance systems, including especially helpful staff skill sets

Intended Audience

Executive Directors, Development Directors, finance and operations staff, and any other staff directly responsible for grant seeking, vetting, submission, and reporting, as well as Program Directors responsible for programmatic implementation that complies with funder commitments and stated grant outcomes.