Grants Management

What to Do with Leftovers

It’s not common, but sometimes a nonprofit comes to the end of a program grant with some money that is unspent. This might happen if the program didn’t start on time, or the nonprofit has raised money from other sources (e.g. individual contributions) and uses that money for part of the program, or things didn’t cost as much as you thought they would—unlikely but sure, it could happen.

Understanding Capacity Building Grant Proposals

A capacity-building grant is a specific type of award meant to strengthen an organization’s systems and thereby increase its effectiveness. The term is a little confusing, so it’s not uncommon for grantseekers to think the purpose of these grants is to increase service capacity and expand programming. While strengthening internal systems can eventually result in expanded service capacity, that’s not the immediate focus here.

Who Will Do It?

The ubiquitous use of “we will” in grant proposals paves the way for grant-management nightmares. When the grant proposal does not assign tasks to specific positions, those tasks usually fall by the wayside when the intense work of program start-up gets underway. Here are a few examples of important tasks that often end up unassigned.

 

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