Five Mistakes Grant Organizations Make

By November 3, 2022Grant Management
person with head on desk and open laptop over his head

With over 86,000 granting organizations in the United States alone, there are many opportunities for grants. Most articles about grants talk about applying for, managing, or receiving grant funds. But what about the organizations that grant the money? What advice and information benefits them?

Here, we’ve put together five very common mistakes that grant organizations make. Do any of them resonate with you? Fortunately, they are also mistakes that are very easy to correct.

Mistake 1: Poor Reporting

Reports are a form of communication. Nonprofit directors, boards, and donors require clear communication to better understand how their funds are spent. Without good communication, you may be at risk of losing donations, supporters or even board members.

Poor reporting can also lead to compliance issues. Inadequate or unclear reports may be a red flag to the IRS that a nonprofit requires investigation which is something most wish to avoid!

The way to fix poor reporting is by automating reporting and using a system to manage and monitor grant funding and accounting. If you’re currently utilizing spreadsheets to track and monitor grants, you are missing out on many of the benefits of automating grant reporting, including:

  • Improved accuracy of reports
  • Increased efficiency
  • Better financial visibility (especially when integrated with accounting systems)
  • Enhanced productivity

Although a grant management system is an investment, it is money well spent since it improves reporting tremendously. It makes it easier to report in a clear and transparent manner about grant funds that your board, directors, and donors will appreciate.

Mistake 2: Subjective Review Process

How you assess grant applications is important. Do you utilize a rubric? Ensure anonymity from the submitters? These are important steps to ensure a fair review process.

Yet many grant committees fail to use an objective review process. Inherent biases can creep into a subjective review process.

To ensure full objectivity, use a digital portal in which grant submissions are checked against a standard rubric. A large, diverse review committee can also prevent subjective responses by providing a variety of perspectives during the review process.

Mistake 3: Not Adhering to Compliance Best Practices

If your organization is new to the grant-making process, there’s a lot to learn. If your organization is required to adhere to specific reporting protocols, be sure to ask the right questions upfront to obtain relevant data for reporting purposes. Additionally, if you can only provide grants to valid, registered 501(c)(3) organization, be sure to state this upfront as well.

Mistake 4: Overlooking Eligibility Requirements

Place eligibility questions at the start of the grant submission process so that ineligible applicants know immediately their status and do not waste time completing the submission. Many nonprofits make the mistake of leaving the submission requirements to the end, which is frustrating for applicants.

Mistake 5: Failing to Ensure Equitable Processes

Diversity and equity are becoming an increasingly important part of the grant-making process. To ensure fair and equitable treatment for all applicants, an anonymous, automated submission process is best.

There’s another side to diversity and equity—the reviewers. Make sure you have a large and diverse pool of people ready to review the applications. Ensure that everyone has been briefed on the rubric. They will have both the objective requirements (the rubric) and their own personal viewpoint on the submissions so that if two or more submissions are close by the rubric score, the discussion that ensues will consider multiple viewpoints.

Automating the Grant Process

We’re believers in the power of software to make many processes at a nonprofit easier, faster, and efficient. That includes the grant process. Schedule time with us to review Grant Process Software and we can help you avoid these five potential mistakes.

Welter Consulting

Welter Consulting bridges people and technology together for effective solutions for nonprofit organizations. We offer software and services that can help you with your accounting needs. Please contact Welter Consulting at 206-605-3113 for more information.