Grant reporting without weeks of copy and paste
The final report is due and it feels like starting from scratch. Here is how we write it from what is already there.
For charities and non-profits, community organisations and 2 moreAccountabilityBelongs to
The grant is ending and the council, the funder or the European Union wants a narrative report. Then the search starts: figures in emails, in folders and in chat messages. For many organisations we talk to, that takes weeks.
This is how we go about it, so it is quicker now and easier next time.
We start with what the funder asks
Get out the grant decision, the contract or the grant agreement. It says what you promised and what you need to show. Write down which activities and results you promised. Add which evidence the funder asks for, and when the deadline is. Then you know what you are looking for, and you can leave the rest.
Find what you already have
There is usually more than you expect. Attendance lists, sign-ups, photos, notes from meetings and short evaluations. Group them by promised result. A shared folder with a subfolder per result is enough.
Then write down for each result what you did, with the number and the period. Next, what changed for participants or residents, with an example or a quote. And finally, where the evidence is.
Also say what did not work, and why. An assessor would rather read a report with lessons than one with only successes. The second kind tends to raise questions.
Write the way you talk
A report doesn’t have to be thick. Short sentences and a few figures are easier to read. A photo or a quote from a participant sometimes says more than a table. Do ask first whether you may use it.
Make next time easier
Most of the work is in the searching. You avoid that with a fixed place and a fixed habit. Note the same few figures every quarter and store evidence in the right folder straight away. Ask participants one short question after an activity.
Do you work with partners, as in a consortium? Or in a programme with European regional development money? Then agree at the start who delivers what, and in which form. The interim report then doesn’t have to run on loose spreadsheets by email. And when an auditor calls years later, you can find the evidence.
If you report to several funders, look at where their questions overlap. Often you can keep one set of figures and present it differently for each funder.
Would you like us to take a look? That usually starts with a second opinion on your draft, before it goes out.
