Once you are awarded a grant, it may be tempting to breathe a sigh of relief–the hard work is over, and now you are equipped to carry out the projects you outlined during the application process. As in just about any application process, however, the real work does not even begin until after the grant has been awarded. After an application has been approved, the grantee enters into a working relationship with the granting organization, in which they are obliged to fulfill certain expectations and requirements in order to receive the promised funds. This is grants management, which includes both financial reporting as well as the execution of the programs described in the application.

All of your grants related materials should be saved and gathered together in a single place. If the grant writer and the grant manager are different people, these materials should either be duplicated or transferred so that the manager is prepared to carry out the work set into motion by the writer. Organization is key throughout the management process, as expenditures must be documented and reported to the granting agency. Keeping orderly track of everything grants related is also helpful for meeting deadlines, as it is important to not procrastinate. In order to maintain a positive relationship with the granting organization and ensure timely disbursement of funds, all paperwork and tasks should be turned in or completed on time or early.

This may all seem straightforward, but grants are often thought of as merely the application process rather than a fully monitored and managed endeavor that requires the cooperation of two groups with coordinated but still separate goals and workloads. The granting organization has expectations for the usage of the grant money, and the recipient has made budgetary commitments in return. One of the key aspects of grants management is ensuring alignment between the the usage of funds and their stated purpose in the application itself. Attempting to alter this later without permission or trying to pass off unapproved purchases using grant funding will diminish the trust between the organizations and potentially jeopardize future funding or even the continued disbursal of the current grant. Consistency and accountability are vital throughout this process.