10 grant questions to ask for end of year grant reporting

For some of you, it is end-of-year for grant reporting and so wanted to make sure and share these questions that you and your staff can ask to ensure a successful grant reporting!

Keep in mind your outcomes will be a large section of your end of year reporting and this is great because you’re going to show what you’ve achieved in this section.

Here are 10 questions to help guide your reporting:

1. Have we gathered enough data to tell our story both quantitatively and qualitatively?
2. Is there a client-success or services-success story we could include that shows direct impact of funding?
3. What did we learn from this year and using these funds?
4. What might we do differently going forward?
5. What outcomes were not achieved (if any) and why?
6. What unintended outcomes were achieved – both positive and negative?
7. What are longer term objectives we could achieve with additional grant funding from this funder?
8. What was the most remarkable accomplishment of application of these grant funds?
9. Have we provided all the budget details of how these funds were used and explained any large shifts in our financials between receiving the grant and reporting it?
10.  Is our report honest, transparent, and concise?

Remember, having mid-year grant reviews procedures in place at your nonprofit can reduce the time you spend at the end of the year grant reporting. It also will help your nonprofit ensure that funds you received from the grant are on track for their directed usage. Doing this mid-year can also serve as a valuable reporting to your board members and stakeholders who might also help you find new grant initiatives.

In our 2021 Nonprofit Financial Health Research Study, we found nonprofit financial professionals reported spending an average of 16 hours monthly when they prepare grant reports. Interestingly, the report also found the number of funding sources nonprofit professionals are managing is higher, 43% of the participants are managing 11-49 funding sources, with 38% of them managing 10 or fewer funding sources.

Respondents also reported that the average nonprofit has 32% of their funding coming from federal grants, 23% from state and local grants, and 18% from program or service revenue.

Being mindful of time-saving and having a concise plan for your reporting can reduce errors and time spent during this process. Grants are an important part of any nonprofit’s programming and your end of year reporting can be a powerful window to all the good things you’re achieving.

If you’re curious about how MIP’s fund accounting solution helps empower grant reporting, please register for a demo.

Also, speaking of funding opportunities and grants – please make sure to read this update from the Journal of Accountancy on Shuttered Grant Venue opportunities and resources for how to apply for them. The grant portal is open and applications for funding are being processed.