Grant Reporting: Not Just a Thing on the To-Do List

by Aliess Kingsley, COO of Granted

One of the most overlooked items on an organization’s fundraising to-do list is the grant report. We at Granted have witnessed one too many nonprofits looking at interim and final grant reports as merely administrative paperwork. While I know they’re regarded as a general responsibility for being awarded funding, the truth is these reports carry so much more weight than that. Reports are a way to cultivate relationships and influence future funding decisions, two things that I think we can agree are vital factors in the sustainable success of a nonprofit. So let’s give them the time they deserve. 

Reports are often set up in a fairly straightforward manner: “Tell us everything you accomplished this last year, and let us know how our funding made all of it possible.” Pretty straight down the middle as far as requests go, right? Let’s be honest; the grant application you filled out for the funder may have been unnecessarily perplexing, but at least reporting makes complete sense. In fact, it’s what the report doesn’t ask that’s not only more interesting, but may matter even more than what it does ask. Here are some pointers on what to do to leverage reporting and make it work for you in the long-term:

1. Find out what your funder wants to know. First things first, what exactly does the funder want in a report? What parts of your story drew the funder to you in the first place and what kind of data do they thrive on? Are you sure you know? Are you willing to bet future funding on it? Remember, this is about building relationships, and there’s not much that can help more in the building of relationships than communication. Send an email, hop on a call, set up a meeting—these are all great ways of not only ensuring all clarifying questions are answered, but also inviting the funder to engage with your mission. By cultivating these communication lines, you’re enabling better access for each side and building a stronger foundation from which to grow in the future.  
   
   
2. Be transparent about both your wins and shortcomings. While not all reports skip this next question, most nonprofits wish they would—“What didn’t go well?” It’s important to remember that both sides (the nonprofit and the funding organization) are run by humans and, regardless of our intentions, we humans sometimes fall short of our goals. Grantmakers understand that projects don’t always work out exactly as planned, so being honest in grant reporting, including discussing challenges and setbacks, will ultimately build trust with funders. Trust works hand in hand with communication in building long-lasting relationships. 
   
   
3. Include testimonials or success. Some funders can often become caught up in quantitative data. We get it; raw numbers and measures of impact are essential—but they often lack nuance or context and don’t show the entire picture of a nonprofit’s work. Not only can a lack of context impede decision-making, the inability to report on other crucial measurements of impact can also make project success feel restrictive and rigid.  By providing testimonials or success stories, you provide qualitative insights into your work, and your report will do a better job of painting a more holistic and vivid picture of the grant’s impact. Of course, some funders may still not want them, which is why the first step of reaching out is so essential. 
   
   

While these three actions will help build your relationships with your funders, don’t think they are the only things that will get you there. The truth is, the list of things that may prove interesting to funders and help build a foundation for communication is seemingly endless and depends on the specific funder. You’ll still need to highlight the role volunteers play in meeting your mission (and what their work equates to in paid labor), provide quantitative data points, and so much more. What’s important is that, at the end of the day, you realize it’s vital to stop looking at these reports as something you can just check off your list and start giving them the focus they deserve. 

Before I leave you, there’s one more thing that is rarely ever expressly asked for but you should absolutely include. Any ideas? 

Let’s just say, a ‘thank you’ goes a long way.