Grant Appreciation, Implementation and Assessment

In the very fortunate event that you receive funding from a grant you submitted, it is always important to show some appreciation. In full disclosure, I know very little about following up with a grant after they award funding. I do know, however, that non-profits always have a space on their website to list the partners and donors to their mission and/or cause. But that's usually not enough.

When you give your friend $100 on their birthday, do you expect them to just take the money and run? If you're like me, you'd think they were rude and would rather they at least express some gratitude for your gift.

So, don't take the money and run by never contacting the foundation again– send a thank you note or give them a phone call. Let them know that you are a real and thoughtful human on the receiving end of their funding. 

As far an implementing a grant project, at this point in time I have no experience doing that, however the plan is there. you wrote a project timeline for a reason; now follow it!

Later on, after the project is implemented, and assessment if usually required by the grant program to give them some insight into how whether your project was worth investing in. It is important to keep track of all expenses during the project (Hello Quickbooks!) and create modes for measuring outcomes, bother short and long term. For example, Tami and I discussed creating surveys for the summer campers and having them take it the first day, then the last day to see if they experienced any measurable learning while at Sustainability Summer Camp. We also played with the idea of following up with a parent of each child about 2 weeks after camp to see if they had asked the family to make any energy-related changes in the household or start a composting project, etc. These are just some creative strategies for measuring short and long term outcomes for the assessment report.

You will be held accountable for the usage of your funds and the success of your project, so make sure to stay organized and keep all project transactions, exchanges, successes and failures well-documented.