How to track grant reports and deliverables: a checklist

When the award letter arrives

• Save the award letter and signed agreement where the whole team can find them.
• Note the grant period start and end dates, and the award amount.
• List every report the funder requires: interim, annual, final, financial, narrative.
• List other deliverables: site visits, outcome data, photos, event invitations, publicity credits.
• Note any restrictions: what the money can and can't be spent on, and whether budget changes need approval.
• Turn every "within 30 days of" into a real date.
• Give each item one owner.
• Send the funder a thank-you, and record who your program officer is.

During the grant period

• Collect the numbers the final report will ask for as you go: people served, sessions held, outcomes.
• Track spending against the approved budget lines each month, not at the end.
• Keep photos, quotes and stories with consent, filed by grant.
• Ask the funder before moving money between budget lines, and keep their reply.
• Review what's due in the next 30 days every week.

Before each report is due

• 30 days out: check the funder's template or portal, and pull program data and finance figures.
• 14 days out: draft the narrative and budget-to-actual; send it to whoever needs to review it.
• 7 days out: final review and sign-off by your executive director, if required.
• 1 day out: submit. Don't plan to submit on the due date; portals go down.

To get these dates into your calendar quickly, list them in the free grant deadline calendar generator and import the file it makes.

After you submit

• Save a copy of exactly what you sent, with the confirmation email or portal receipt.
• Mark the item done and note how and when it was sent.
• Check whether a payment is released by this report, and when to expect it.
• Make sure the next report is already on the list.

At closeout

• Submit the final narrative and financial reports, and return any unspent funds if the agreement requires it.
• Confirm with the funder that the grant is closed.
• Note what went well and what they'd want next time, for the renewal application.
• Put the renewal or next application deadline on the calendar.

Track it in GrantKeeper

In GrantKeeper each grant has its own list of deadlines and reports, typed as a report, deliverable, payment, renewal or application, each with a due date, an owner and what the funder asked for. When you mark one done you can note how it was sent, and the owner is reminded by email before each one is due.

getgrantkeeper.com/grants