12-08-14 Grant Reviews - Part 1 2 - Shawver

Grant Reviews: Unpopular but Essential

Part 1

by

Rebecca Vermillion Shawver, MPA, GPC

(Originally published by Charity Channel)

Forthoseofyouthataregrantwritersandfindyourselvesresponsibleforgrantadministration(whetheryouwantedthisaddeddutyornot),I’mconfidentthatwesharemanyofthesamefrustrations.Withyearsofexperienceinthisarea,Ihavefoundthat,moreoftenthannot,myprojectmanagersoftenviewinternalprogramandfiscalreviewsasapersonalaffronttotheirprofessionalreputations.

Afterall,thevastmajorityofthecolleaguesthatIhaveworkedwiththroughtheyearsarehardworking,honestindividualsthatknowhowtodotheirjob.Thelastthingthattheywantisanotherinternalstaffpersonreviewingtheirfilesandperformance.Well,whiletheymaynotwantinternalreviews,theyactuallydoneedthembecauseweallmakemistakes.

Why Do Grant Reviews Need to be Quarterly?

Whenschedulingquarterlyprogramandfiscalreviews,I’veoftenfoundthatmyorganization’sprojectmanagerswanttodebatetheneedforthegrantofficetoreviewtheirfilesanddocumentation.Ourconversationsoftenincludealonglistofquestions.Whydoesthegrantofficewanttolookattheproject’sfiles?Allmyfilesarecomplete,sowhydoesthegrantofficefeeltheneedtohassleme?Isthegrantofficesimplytryingtofindfaultwithmyfilestojustifytheirexistence?Andahundredotherquestionsthatmakenosensetome.

What is the Motivation of the Grant Office to Conduct Reviews?

Thegrantofficesimplywantstoreviewthefilesforthesolepurposeofensuringthateverythingisinorder.Thatexpendituresareinaccordancewiththegrantcontract.Thatanticipatedbenchmarksarebeingmet.Thatdocumentationofparticipanteligibilityisbeingkeptinindividualfiles.Thatconfidentiallyformshavebeensignedandplacedineachparticipant’sfile.Inotherwords,thatallcontractualrequirementsandrulesandregulationsarebeingmet.Afterall,itisfarbettertofindanyerrorsinternallybeforeanoutsidefundercomesinandslapsourhands(orworseyet,yanksfunding).

ANecessaryPartofaGrantOffice’sResponsibilities

Tobehonest,Idon’tlikenorwanttohassleanyone.Heck,Iwouldpreferthateveryonelikeme.Butit’smyjobtoensurethateverythingisinorderbefore funderscalltoscheduleareview

(oftenreferredtoasanaudit).Andtherealityisthatnotallprojectmanagersactuallyunderstandtheintricatedetails,calculations,andrecordkeepingthatfundersexpecttofindwhentheyconductareview.

Reviewsarenotjustforfiscalexpenditures,either—whichImightnotearetheeasiertopassbecausetheaccountingfolksinyourorganizationnearlyalwaysknowtherulesandregulationswhichmustbefollowed.Rather,itistheprogramimplementationandparticipantfilesthataretypicallythechallenge.Ofcourse,withexperienceprojectmanagerswilllearntheropesoftheirtrade;butagain,becauseweareallhumanandmakemistakes,programreviewsshouldalwaysbeanimportantpartoftheanygrantoffice’sresponsibilities.

Frankly,experiencehastaughtmethatIsimplycan’ttrustthatallprojectmanagers(eventheseasonedones)willmaintaincompleteandaccuratefilespergrantrequirements.It’snotthattheyaren’ttrying.It’sjustthatweallmakemistakes—andsometimestheruleschange.Oftentimes,mistakesaremadesimplybecauseprojectmanagersmisunderstandthemeaningofcontractuallanguage(orgrant‐isms)—termsweasthegrantofficestaffcanexplaintothem.

That’spreciselywhyitissoimportantthatyourgrantofficeperformbothfiscalandprogramreviewsonaregularbasis.Quarterlyismypreference.Withfourreviewsannually,anygrantofficeshouldbeabletocatcherrorsoromissionsearlyenoughtomakecorrectionseasier.

Soifyoufindyourselfchallengedbycloseddoors,unreturnedphonecalls,andignoredemails,itmightbeagoodtimetotalktoyourcollege’spresidentandothertopadministrators,oryourorganization’sexecutivedirector/CEO,asthecasemaybe.Explaintothemwhatisnecessarytoensurethatyoucanperformadequateprogramandfiscalreviews—reviewsthatensureyouwillbereadywhenafundershowsupatyourdoortoauditoneofyourgrantprograms.

InPart 2,Iwillcoverthetopfivepracticesneededtoensurethatyourgrantofficeismosteffectiveinregardstoyourreviewduties.EachofthepracticesI’llcoverisnecessarytoensurethatagrantofficecanperformoptimalprogramandfiscalreviews.

Grant Reviews: Unpopular but Essential Part 2

RebeccaVermillionShawver,MPA,GPC

Tohelpyougetstarted,belowyou’llfindthetopfivepracticesneededtoensurethatyourgrantofficeismosteffectiveinregardstoyourreviewduties.Ibelievethateachofthesepracticesisnecessarytoensurethatagrantofficecanperformoptimalprogramandfiscalreviews.

#1ApprovedWrittenPoliciesandProceduresforGrantReviews

Noneofuswouldstartacross‐countrytripwithoutamaporGPStoguideusonourjourney.Sowhywouldanyorganizationexpectthatsomethingascomplicatedandsensitiveasprogramandfiscalreviewsshouldbeconductedwithoutawrittensetofpoliciesandprocedures?Infact,Ibelievethatallgrantpoliciesandproceduresshouldbecontainedinaformaldocumentapprovedandauthorizedbythehighestauthoritywithintheorganization—nomatterhowsmallitmaybe.Ifyouremployerdoesn’thavesuchadocument,Irecommendthatyouspeakwithyouradministratorsassoonaspossible.Forwhenthereareroadblockscreatedtoavoidlettingyouperforminternalreviews,youwillneedtohavesuchadocumentonwhichtobaseyourabilitytodoyourjob.

Onceeveryoneunderstandsthatyouaresimplyfollowingthewrittenpoliciesandprocedures,youshouldencounterfewerobstacles.Andofcourse,ifyouremindyourcoworkersthatit’syourjobtofindanyerrorspriortoafunderfindingthem,mostprojectmanagersarecooperative.IexplainthatI’mthereasa“free”consultanttohelpthemprepareforafunder’svisit.

#2AuthoritytoCompelCompliance

YourpresidentorCEOneedstomakecleartoallpersonnelthatthegrantofficehastheauthoritytocompelcompliancewiththewrittenpoliciesandprocedures.Thereisnoroomfordebateinthisarea.Everygrant‐fundedprojectneedstohaveregularlyscheduledprogramandfiscalreviews.Becausemistakeswillinevitablybemade,itisyourgrantoffice’sresponsibilitytomitigatethesemistakesinadvanceofyourfunders’audits.

Therefore,yourorganization’sCEOorpresidentshould:

•Makeclearthatthegrantofficehastheauthoritytocompelcompliancewithgrantrequirements;

•Establishacultureofrespectforyourgrantoffice;and,

•Standbehindyourgrantofficewhentherearedisputes.

Inotherwords,itshouldn’tmatteriftheprojectmanageristheCEO’scousinorbestfriend.

Youradministrationshouldexpectthatallstaffmemberswillcooperatewithyourgrantoffice.It’sassimpleasthat.

#3AccesstoAllGrant‐FundedPersonnel

Yourgrantofficemustbeabletoopenlyandfreelymakeinquiriesregardinggrant‐fundedprogramstrategies,benchmarks,outcomes,expenditures,etc.withoutinterferencefrommanagersorotheradministrators.Thisisnecessaryinordertoensurecompliancewiththewiderangeofcontractualconditionsandapplicablerulesandregulations.Staffmembersmustnotbeafraidtoopenlyspeakwiththegrantofficeinorderforittoeffectivelyperformreviews.

#4AccesstoAllGrant‐FundedProjectFiles

Toensureathoroughreviewcanbeconducted,yourgrantofficemustbeallowedtoreviewanyandallgrantfilesandrecordsthatdocumenttheimplementation,performance,andexpendituresfortheorganization’sgrant‐fundedprojects.Thesefilestypicallyincludeaccountingrecords,invoices,purchaseorders,day‐to‐dayoperationfiles,participantfiles,attendance/sign‐insheets,promotionalmaterials,staffcalendars,officialcorrespondence,budgetmodifications,programplanchanges,timeandeffortsheets,etc.Withoutaccesstothesefiles,yourgrantofficewillnotbeabletoconductacomprehensivereview.

#5AnEstablishedProcessbywhichtoAddressNon‐ComplianceIssues

Imagethattherewasanationallawthatsetthespeedlimitoninterstatehighwaysat45milesperhour–buttherewerenoregulationsorapprovedpenaltiesthatcompelleddriverstocomplywiththelaw.Iftherearenoconsequences,whywouldpeoplekeeptheirspeedunderthemaximumdecreedbylaw?Well,Ithinkthatwecanallagreethatmostpeoplewouldsimplyignorethelaw.

Similarly,it’sbeenmyexperiencethatthesameisoftentrueinregardstocompliancewithcontractualconditions.Sadly,attimesweallwillprobablyencounteraprojectmanagerthatsimplywon’tcomplywithrequestsanddirectivesgivenbythegrantoffice.Theymayfailtosubmittheirreportsontime.Ortheymaynotworryaboutachievingtheiroutcomeobjectivesperthetimelinesubmittedwiththeirgrantproposal.

Iwasoncetoldbyoneofmymanagersthatshewasn’tworriedaboutperformingallofthepromisedoutcomesbecauseI(thegrantoffice)amgreatatexplainingsituationsinwaysthatfunderswillunderstand.Well,I’mgoodbutsometimesgoodisn’tgoodenough.Funderswantorganizationstoachievewhattheywerepaidtodoandoftennoexcuses(howevervalidwemightthinktheyare)areacceptable.Thisisespeciallytrueoffederalagenciesthatexpectalloftheirgranteestoperformtheirstatedoutcomes–nomatterwhat.

Therefore,itisextremelyimportantthatyourorganizationhasanestablishedprocessbywhichyoucanaddressnon‐complianceissues.Havingsuchaprocess(andknowingthatitwillbeused)canbeastrongdeterrenttoprojectmanagersthatmayconsidernotcomplyingwithgrantofficerecommendations.

Ifyourorganizationhasestablishedthesefivepractices,I’mconfidentthatyouwillbeabletocatchanyerrorsoromissionsbeforeanexternalauditbyafundingagency.Andwhileyourcolleaguesmaystillnotbeinlovewithinternalreviews,theywillmostdefinitelylovethefactthatvisitsfromyourfunderswillbenearlystress‐free.