10 Essential Questions (and Answers) for Grant Managers-Part II
“How do pass-throughs entities (and grant managers) assess risk and integrity? We use subawards, but I’m unsure how to assess risk and integrity.” “Do sole source procurement rules apply to all purchase threshold levels? Do you have to seek prior approval from the funding agency to sole source?” “Would a consultant providing services to a non-profit […]
Seven Ways to Improve Grant Management-Part II
In my last post: Seven Ways to Improve Grant Management Part I, I shared ways to improve federal grant management with you. These suggestions from various Office of the Inspectors General (OIG) on how to improve the management of your grant. In this second part of our series, I expand on their suggestions by looking […]
Internal Control Case Study: Employee Uses City Card for $91,000 in Personal Purchases
When I speak to federal grant recipients about the new risk and integrity assessment, I often say that risk is NOT an “only” child. In other words, when bad things happen to good grant recipients, it often is a failure on many levels that allow waste, fraud, and abuse to occur and grow. A recent […]
4 Grant Mistakes You Don’t Know You’re Making
We’ve gone to the grant management mailbag for some common problems encountered in the “real-world” by “real-life” grant managers. Today we’re looking at four common grant mistakes regarding the un-allowability of public relations costs you may experience when managing your federal grant. Grant Mistakes: A Grant Manager Writes: “Are promotional items, such as pens, water […]
What’s In a Name? 5 Tips to Spot Subrecipients
One of the (many) things I found very confusing when I started working in the world of federal grant management was the way the terms subrecipient, subawardee, contractor, subcontractor, and vendor were bandied about-seemingly interchangeably Subrecipients. It didn’t matter if I was talking with my colleagues or the federal agency personnel; there always seemed to […]
Grant Management: Prevent Misuse of Funds
I admit it! I am a grant management optimist! I want to believe that it is rare for a grantee to intentionally misuses funds. However, without proper planning and documentation, an organization places itself at risk for misuse of funds-both accidental and intentional. Prevent Misuse of Grant Funds Since the implementation of 2 CFR Part 200, […]