Winning a grant is exciting, but it's the beginning of a process, not the end. Every grant comes with terms and conditions, reporting requirements, and compliance obligations that you must fulfill. Organizations that manage this well build strong relationships with funders and position themselves for future funding. Organizations that manage it poorly risk having to return funds, being disqualified from future programs, and damaging their reputation.
Understanding Your Grant Agreement
Before you spend a single dollar, read your grant agreement thoroughly. Key elements to understand:
- Eligible expenses: What specifically can you spend the money on? Most grants restrict spending to the line items in your approved budget.
- Budget flexibility: Can you move money between budget categories? Most agreements allow small transfers (10-15%) between categories without approval, but larger changes require funder approval in writing.
- Project timeline: When must the project be completed? Starting early is fine; finishing late usually isn't.
- Reporting schedule: When are interim and final reports due? Mark these dates in your calendar immediately.
- Disbursement schedule: How and when will you receive the funds? Some grants pay upfront, others in installments, others on a reimbursement basis.
The single most important compliance action is reading your grant agreement carefully on the day you receive it — not the day a report is due.
Financial Tracking
Set up a separate tracking system for each grant from day one:
- Create a separate account or cost centre in your accounting software for each grant
- Code every expense to the correct grant and budget category
- Keep all receipts and invoices organized and accessible
- Track actual spending against your approved budget monthly
- Flag variances early — if you're significantly over or under budget in any category, contact the funder before your report is due
Reporting Requirements
Interim Reports
Many grants require progress reports at the midpoint of your project. These typically include a narrative update on activities completed, challenges encountered, and any changes to your plan, along with a financial summary showing spending to date versus budget.
Final Reports
Final reports are more comprehensive and typically include detailed narrative of all activities completed, financial statement showing all expenses by budget category with supporting documentation, outcome data demonstrating what your project achieved, and lessons learned and recommendations for future work.
Audited Financial Reports
Some large grants require an audited statement of grant expenditures — separate from your organization's annual audit. Budget for this cost ($2,000-$5,000) when preparing your grant application.
Common Compliance Issues
Spending outside the approved budget. If you need to purchase something that wasn't in your original budget, get written approval from the funder first. Unauthorized spending may need to be repaid.
Late reports. Submit reports on time. If you can't meet a deadline, contact the funder before the due date to request an extension. Late reports without prior communication damage your credibility.
Insufficient documentation. Keep receipts for everything. If a funder audits your grant and you can't produce receipts for claimed expenses, you may need to repay those amounts.
Project scope changes. If your project changes significantly from what you proposed — different activities, different target population, different timeline — you need funder approval. Delivering something substantially different from what was funded is a compliance violation.
Building a Compliance System
Create a grant management checklist for each grant that includes all reporting deadlines, required documentation, financial tracking procedures, and contact information for your funder's program officer. Review this checklist monthly. Assign a specific person to be responsible for each grant's compliance.
Alpine Grants provides post-award support to help organizations manage compliance and reporting requirements. Book a 10-minute discovery call and we'll explain how we support the full grant lifecycle.