Looking for a blueprint to understand the rules and regulations surrounding federal grants? Read on if your nonprofit receives or wants to pursue federal funding.
Start at Grants.gov, the free site where all government agencies list their grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements. The site had a significant refresh in October, and further refinements are planned. However, the basic functionality has not changed, nor has the huge number of funding opportunities listed at any one time.
First, here are some basic terms to understand the blueprint:
- Federal awarding agency: The government agency providing the funds
- Prime recipient: The organization that receives the funds directly from the agency
- Sub-recipient: An organization that receives some of the funds from the prime recipient to help carry out the grant work
- Pass-through entity: The prime recipient when it passes along funds to sub-recipients
Creating the blueprint continues with these steps:
- Finding the Right Funding Opportunity: Use the search functions on Grants.gov to filter by keywords, agency, applicant type, and more; you’ll get better results
- Applying: Give yourself several weeks for the detailed work of preparing all the pieces of the application: forms, narratives, budgets, and other documents
- Managing the Award: If awarded, you must meticulously track all spending, retain documentation, and submit reports proving your compliance with all regulations
- Audit Requirements: Organizations spending over a certain amount of federal funds in a year must undergo a “single audit” that examines financial statements and internal controls
As a resource, the Uniform Guidance, published by the Office of Management and Budget is a government-wide framework for grants management that provides an authoritative set of rules and requirements for federal awards. The aim is to reduce the administrative burden on award recipients and, at the same time, guard against the risk of waste and misuse of Federal funds. It covers areas like allowable costs, reporting, procurement policies, and more. The guidance was recently updated with some key changes:
- Single audit threshold increasing from $750K to $1 Million
- De minimis indirect cost rate option increased from 10% to 15%
- Pass-through entities must honor your negotiated indirect cost rate, if you have one
While learning all the federal award requirements takes time, having the right policies and accounting systems in place is half the battle. Don’t go it alone – consult your agency program officers or reach out to YPTC for guidance with grant procurement and management assistance!