What do we do once we receive a government grant or contract?

Congratulations, your project has received a government grant or contract. Now it is time to prepare for contract implementation. If you haven’t already, please make sure that you have sent the agreement over to [e-mail] for execution.

You will receive an invitation from the fund and award administration team for a contract orientation meeting. This meeting is vital to ensure that all stakeholders, including relevant project staff and  Community Partners staff are informed about grant/contract requirements. This meeting will provide an overview of the contract requirements, invoicing processes, and any other changes that we may need to introduce to your project to adhere to the contract terms. Once this meeting happens, you can begin work on your grant/contract.

Government grants/contracts are usually cost-reimbursement – meaning that payments under such grants and contracts are usually made only after services are performed and invoiced. As such, you will need to have project staff ready to work with our fund and award administration team to prepare and submit invoices by the due dates outlined in the contract. Invoices can be fairly comprehensive and will require both project and Community Partners staff in their preparation and submission.

Many government grants/contracts also require regular programmatic and financial reporting, which will be prepared by the project with support from the fund and award administration team.

Additionally, many government agencies perform monitoring visits to ensure that we are in compliance with the contract requirements. The fund and award administration team will coordinate these visits with the agency, but the project will have substantial involvement in providing materials, answering any questions, and resolving any findings, if necessary.