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Grant Manager Best Practices
Grant Management Best Practices
Program Management
- Understand legislation and regulations that support the grant project
- Understand project outcomes and focus on strategies that directly lead to these outcomes
- Understand how activities support SPPS goals and/or school improvement plans
- Adhere to district and funder guidelines
- Understand how project activities may or may not be modified
- Maintain familiarity with terms of all contracts, agreements and/or grant notifications
- Meet SPPS liability insurance requirements
- Develop and adhere to a project timeline that reflects the proposed activities
- Adjust the timeline as needed and share with project team and other staff
- Modify activities achieve project outcomes efficiently and cost-effectively
- Avoid duplication of services
- Maximize resources
- Plan for project sustainability
Communication/Team Building
- Communicate with staff at all levels of the project
- Goals and outcomes of the project and its impact on students
- Allowable and unallowable activities and costs
- Ensure principals, supervisors and staff are aware of and supportive of the project
- Provide regular updates on progress
- Plan collaboratively to integrate activities with other schools/programs
- Coordinate activities with other schools/programs
- Participate on school committees and in school/program activities
- Provide school displays highlighting successes
- Present project information in school newsletters
- Engage principal and administration in project activities
- Demonstrate and document a working relationship
- With project funder
- With project team
- Discuss activities and resolve issues together
- Evaluator is a critical member of the team, not a visitor
- Document the successful participation of partners and develop new partnerships
- Collaborate with the program/school on business partnerships
- Establish clearly defined and realistic goals for the partnership
- Determine mutual needs and expectations of the project and the partners
- Clearly define partner and project expectations, roles and responsibilities
- Identify services and available resources
- Create on-going monitoring and evaluation of the partnership
Budget Management
- Provide up-to-date information on encumbered and expended funds
- Document non-federal match budget
- Document budget and purchasing records
- Compare budget-to-actual monthly, confirming expenses for reimbursement requests
- Understand budget categories to properly code expenditures
- Understand which expenses are allowable for the project
- Process procurement requests in an efficient and timely manner
- Process payroll and stipends in a timely and accurate manner
- Work with the grants management coordinator on budget modification requests
Record-keeping and Documentation
- Maintain project records in an easily accessible location
- Use a logical file structure
- Use a standard naming pattern
- Ensure student records are secure, and access is limited according to regulations
- Maintain a database or other tool recording progress toward project outcomes
- Update regularly
- Efficiently provide data related to progress toward outcomes
- Provide project evaluator with timely and accurate data
- Prepare and submit all required reports on time
General Management
- Document regular monitoring of project personnel activities
- Locate information and access support services within the school system as needed
- Access technical support services of the Grants Office as needed
- Provide timely and regular feedback to the project evaluator
Additional Resources