Presentation on grant reporting, first presented at the MINN International NGO 2019 Conference. Includes overview of how to make grant reports most relevant to fundraising, and strategies for improving grant reporting at nonprofits.

1. FUTURE FUNDING
HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING
AND LOVE THE GRANT REPORT

2. We Hate reports, becausewe're thinking aboutthem the wrong way
Proposal Award Program Report
What are some of the first things that come to mind when you think about grant
reports?
For me it was: pointless requirement, stressful, confusing, behind schedule.
When first working on grants, I always saw the biggest priority as the proposal, and
then the implementation. Reports felt like an administrative burden with a set of
check boxes to tick off. When I moved over to working 100% of my time on
fundraising, I was super excited to not have to deal with grant reports anymore,
because those were program staff’s problem.

3. So whatare reports?
Full credit to the Director of New Business
Development at Pact for completely
changing my perspective on reports. She
made the very persuasive argument that
reports are a fundamental component of
the fundraising cycle and have to be
treated as part of donor cultivation. From
this perspective grant reports are as much
an opportunity for collaboration between
programs and grant staff as a proposal
and are an entire second opportunity to
build support for your work.

4. how should reports support fundraising and cultivation?
get people
excited
flag
challenges
flag
opportunities
provide
context
build
relationships
Reports should do the same thing that your donor cultivation does: generate excitement and engagement
with your programs. Raise challenges that you and the communities you serve are facing, while presenting
opportunities to address these challenges. Provide context to the work that you do and the communities you
serve. Build relationships among funders and partners.

5. how to do it
Because reports are also (usually) a source of accountability and a requirement, they
need a bit of a different approach than cultivation. Five key ways to make sure your
reports do what you want them to: get ahead of the curve; be organized; be honest; don’t
let reports be your only source of engagement; look for ways to make your life easier.

6. get ahead of the curve
• Plan for reporting at the proposal stage. Look at what
you’ll need to do and what you’ll need to have in place
when designing your monitoring and evaluation for
reporting. This is especially important for federal grants –
know what reporting will be required of you.
• Plan again for reporting at the award. Review what you
planned at the proposal stage, or, if you weren’t able to
plan at the proposal stage, use this as your chance.
• Put systems in place for data collection, internal
reporting, and internal collaboration

7. get organized
• Know what your reporting requirements are and
when they are due. Know what internal
benchmarks you will need to meet to meet these
requirements by that deadline.
• Tip: build this into your grant calendar!
• Plug for organizations who are paying for a
grant management software: Instrumentl.com
• This doesn’t have to mean huge changes at the
organization – getting organized for reporting has
to be tied into realistic reporting requirements and
timelines
• Have a clear understanding about who is playing
what role in reporting and communicate that to all
stakeholders

8. be honest• Be honest and realistic with your funders about
what you can and can’t report on with the
resources you have and the resource they are
giving you.
• Be honest with yourself about your capacity for
reporting. This includes your capacity for hard
data driven reporting and qualitative reporting.
• Be honest about what you are excited about and
what challenges you are having, especially the
excitement part. We all do this very hard
(usually underpaid!) work for a reason. When
something happens in a project to remind you of
that reason, make a note of it and put it in your
next report. It also makes writing reports a little
more fun, when you get to remember the things
that make you really love your work.

9. engage more
• Reports are usually a formal requirement of
funders. That doesn’t mean they are the best way
to engage with and build relationships with
funders. Know who each report is really for and
what the funder wants it for. Then look for
additional ways to engage your donor above and
beyond that.
• This doesn’t mean create a bunch of extra work
for yourself! Look for ways to engage donors in
what you are already doing. Tag them in social
media posts. Send them press releases, big
announcements from the organization. Invite
them to events. Just call them. The report should
not be the only place your donors learn about you
from.

10. make it easier•Look for opportunities to streamline. Do program staff
meet once a week to talk about project updates? Can the
person writing grant reports sit in on some of those
meetings to be up to speed about what to include in the
report? Same for finance. Do multiple funders need the
same general report information? Use and update the
same report! Can you track the same metrics for most or
all of your funders?
•Ask for more money. Not every funder will be open to
this, and not every funder will respond positively. But, if
funders are serious about the importance of impact and
measuring impact, ask them to back that seriousness up
with cash to support increased reporting efforts.
•Proactively share. Have you run into an issue? Approach
your funder about it right away rather than waiting for
the next report.

11. Contact and more
Information
ellen@futurefundingconsulting.com
www.futurefundingconsulting.com/theforecast
www.futurefundingconsulting.com/resource
Linkedin.com/company/future-funding