Grant administration
After the award, the desk side of keeping a grant: the calendar, the tracking, and every report drafted for you to sign.
Winning a grant is one job. Keeping it is another. Every month there are reports to write, spending to check against the budget, drawdowns to request and deadlines to hit, and in a small organization that lands on someone who already has a full-time job. I take the desk side. Your team reviews, signs and submits.
Ask about an awardSee the pricing
Required only when the application asked for $25,000 or more and the funder allows administrative costs, with a line for the fee in the approved budget. In that case the fee is in the grant itself.
Optional in every other case. After the award, we both answer "agreed" to one email, or we don't. Choosing not to costs nothing.
How a month works
One email from me, one from you, and the funder gets its report on time. Gold is your part, green is mine.
- Once, at the startSend me the awardThe notice of award, the agreement and the approved budget. I build the award record and the deadline calendar, and check them against the documents myself.
- Early each monthI pull the numbersFrom your accounting, by read access or a monthly export. Then five questions or fewer, only what the books can't tell me. One email, no meeting.
- Around the ninth business dayDrafts land in your inboxEach financial and progress report in the funder's format, plus any drawdown package with the math and the backup documents.
- Before the deadlineReview, sign, submitEdit if needed, sign, submit from your own account, then forward me the funder's confirmation so the calendar shows it done.
Then the next month, until closeout: final reports and a reconciliation of any unspent balance.
Who does what
SGSeth, from the desk
- Award setup. Your award documents turned into one clear record: budget by line, allowed costs, match owed, special conditions.
- The calendar. Every report and payment date for the life of the grant, with a reminder at least 14 days ahead.
- Monthly budget and match tracking. Budget to actual, early warnings when a line runs fast or slow, match built up against what the award requires.
- Reports and drawdowns. Each one drafted in the funder's format, results stated against the targets in your proposal.
- Closeout. Final financial and progress reports, and a reconciliation of any unspent balance.
YouYour organization
- You sign and submit. I never sign, certify or submit anything to a funder for you. That belongs to your organization, by law and by the terms of your award.
- Your books stay yours. I don't do bookkeeping, payroll or audits. I work from read access or a monthly export.
- You run the program and you talk to the funder. I prepare talking points and draft emails; you make the calls.
- The judgment calls are yours. If I spot a question about whether a cost is allowed, I raise it. You and your funder decide it.
- Private data stays private. I work from totals and de-identified numbers only, never records about individual people you serve.
Pricing
Priced by the work, not the size of the check. Complexity drives the hours, and federal rules add the most of it. The bar shows how each fee compares.
By award size
- Under $25,000Hourly
- $25,000 to under $50,000, two or fewer reports a year$1,500 a year
- $50,000 to $150,000$175 a month
- Over $150,000 to $500,000$275 a month
- Over $500,000$400 a month
Added to the above
- Setup, once per award, for the monthly plans$500
- Federal funds, direct or passed through a state or county+$150 a month
- Reports only, no tracking$350 a report
Hourly is $85 an hour, half-hour minimum per piece of work, then 15-minute increments, quoted in writing first and capped at the hours you approve. An award under $50,000 with more than two reports a year (most federal money, including CDBG passed through a county) takes the $50,000 to $150,000 rate. Either of us can end by email, and on ending you get every record, calendar and draft in a format you can use.
- Paid from the award. Grant administration is usually an allowable cost, so the fee can come out of the grant rather than your unrestricted cash, as long as it fits the funder's rules and your approved budget. The cleanest way is to include it in the budget when you apply.
- No percentage of your award. Flat fees only, always.
- Messy books? If your accounting doesn't separate one grant from another well enough to track, I'll quote that cleanup separately before we start, so there are no surprises.
- Paperwork. I work as a 1099 independent contractor and supply a W-9.
Questions
Is the fee really allowable?
Usually, but it isn't automatic. Grant administration is typically an allowable cost, charged either as its own line in the budget or through your indirect cost rate. Whether it works for your grant depends on that funder's rules and on your approved budget. If you're already awarded, it may take a budget change the funder has to approve. That decision belongs to you and your funder. I'll help you find where it fits, and if it doesn't fit, we'll talk about scaling down or stopping.
Do you submit anything for us?
No, never. I prepare the reports and documents. Someone at your organization reviews, signs and submits them, and sends me the funder's confirmation so I can mark it done. Nothing counts as filed on my side until that confirmation comes back.
Do you talk to funders for us?
No. Funders expect to hear from your own leaders, and that keeps my prices low. I prepare talking points and draft emails; you make the calls. Calls and meetings with me are hourly, half-hour minimum, approved by booking or by email.
What do you need from us?
Your award documents, read access to your accounting or a monthly export, answers to a short monthly question list within a couple of days, and time to review and submit what I send.
What if we have more than one grant?
Each award is set up and priced on its own, so the fee for each can sit in its own budget. The monthly questions come in one email either way.
Will you use our name as a reference?
Only with your written permission. Your records, award documents and results stay confidential.
Let's talk
Tell me about the grant you have. A few sentences is plenty, and I'll write back.
Email seth@geddevllc.comBook the free intro call
Seth