8 Common Grant Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Grant management (especially since the Uniform Guidance happened) is not just about doing everything right-it also can involve steering your organization clear of those common grant mistakes (also known as “nasty situations”) that can lead you astray. Here are eight of our most common-but completely avoidable grant mistakes: Before You Get the Grant: 5 Warning Signs […]
5 Ways to Reduce the Risk of a Conflict of Interest

In a previous post, we looked at 6 questions you should ask to tell how safe your federal grant is from conflicts of interest. In today’s post, we’ll look at what you can do to reduce the risk of a conflict of interest affecting your organization’s federal funding. Here are 5 Ways to Reduce the Risk of […]
Five Tips for Starting a Grants Office

Now, in case you think this is going to be one of those “I walked through the snow five miles to school uphill both ways!” type of story, I have to confess… I had it easy! I never had to start a grants office from scratch (all by myself) to manage federal awards. I did […]
Decoding Grant Management-Success Tip: Revision of Budget and Program Plans

When it comes to budget revisions and program plans, I like to believe that it is rare that a grantee would intentionally misuse funds. However, without proper planning and documentation, an organization places itself at risk for waste, fraud, and abuse of grant funds. Prevention of these undesirable outcomes starts at the beginning of the […]
How to Create a Grant Management Manual From Scratch

You may have heard about the need for grant management documentation. Because there is a lot of risk around federal funding… That’s why the federal grant regulations make a risk assessment of federal award recipients a requirement for federal agencies before to awarding any grants. Proper documentation of your federal grant processes has become more important […]
What is Cost-share or Match?

Cost-share (also called “match“) is the part of the federally-sponsored project or program that is not paid for by the federal government. “Cost sharing or matching means the portion of project costs not paid by Federal funds (unless otherwise authorized by Federal statute). See also § 200.306 Cost sharing or matching.” From 2 CFR Part 200 […]