Chapter 10

Reporting and Keeping the Momentum

1. The Final Decision

1.1 It’s a no

The bad news is that not every grant receives approval. No matter how great your project, or how hard you try, you have a good fighting chance with the steps I’ve outlined for you. But reasons why a funder may reject an application vary from too many requests received for a limited amount of money, to your application not being a perfect fit for the funder’s mandate. In most cases, you can contact the funder to see what the reasons were. Occasionally, a funder will ask you to resubmit with a few changes for the next deadline.

The good news is that you’ve done the work and your submissions improve with every application. If you stay in touch with the funder and thank them for reviewing your application, they will remember you on the next intake. Whatever the outcome may be, don’t let it discourage you. Writing grants is about developing long-haul practices and good relationships with funders. Have a look at your grant schedule and start gearing up for the next deadline.

1.2 It’s a yes

If the funder says yes, congratulations! Along with the satisfaction of knowing you’ll be able to pursue your project comes the responsibility of reporting to the funder throughout the project.

2. Reporting

Reporting your results completes the circle of your project. Most funders require reporting so that they know where their money went and that you’ve put it to the use for which it was intended. Reporting requirements can range from several narrative and budget reports throughout the project to one final report. You’re ready to go on reporting because your budgets and summaries only need adjustments for the changes you experience in the project.

2.1 Financial reporting

Funders require financial reports and you will be able to use your final budget as the centerpiece for this report, showing any changes that may have occurred during the project. If the funder has not given you an idea of what they require for a final report, there are examples you can view online. The Alberta Foundation for the Arts has a sample. Depending upon the size of your project, these reports range from a simple one-page report to sending in general ledger and cash flow reports for the entire project.

2.2 Narrative reporting

Some common items that funders might request are statements of outcomes and progress and, if you have phases to your project, summaries for each phase.

Funders may also ask for promotional materials, publications, and newspaper articles about the project because, don’t forget, having people hear about the project benefits both you and the funder.

At this reporting point, your written summaries come into play again because you can redesign them to talk about your efforts. You don’t have to come up with all new narrative because you have the main body of information and now you’re going to provide the success level of the project in a number of different ways.

It’s important to note that your challenges are just as important as your final success because what you overcome adds character to your organization, your partners, and the project. People like to hear about the “we all pulled together on this” aspects of a project because it sets a precedent for future community successes. I can’t think of any project on which I’ve worked where there haven’t been a few challenges and changes over the course of it. Funders expect this and want to hear about your progress.

No matter what the format or situation, a final reporting summary is an opportunity to talk about your project’s challenges and successes: to the funder, partners, participants, and the public. It also gives you multiple opportunities to say thank you.

Here’s an example in Sample 7, using the Optimistic Nature Society’s project summary as the basis for some words of thanks for an open house wrap-up at the Seal Point Cottage.

Sample 7: Optimistic Naturalist Society’s Project Summary Turned into Thanks

You can see I’ve carried the same summary narrative through the grant process. Again, your summary and budget are your wardrobe basics that you can elaborate upon or simplify for any given task within the grant cycle.

Again, your summary and budget are your wardrobe basics that you can elaborate upon or simplify for any given task within the grant cycle.

Now you can add this information to your webpage and put it out in an enewsletter for more people to pass along. For the Optimistic Naturalist’s club, this will create more word of mouth for the cottage and will increase visitors and revenues.

3. Keeping the Momentum

Carry the momentum for your project forward knowing that successful projects inspire the community, service groups, funders, and volunteers.

Throughout your project spread the word about its success. Speak positively about it and tell other communities about it.

One successful community grant project can ignite more funding and growth for your organization and community. Funds generate other funds, particularly when you start to build up momentum and an excellent reputation.

Also, there is more to saying thanks than doing so in a project summary; see Chapter 11 for all the ways you can do this.