grants – Resource Library

One of the questions I’ve received most often since joining Management Concepts is, “Where else can I get funding?”

This question goes to one of the weakest areas in the grant community: Sustainability. In this context, I’m not talking about the triple bottom line or climate change. It’s something much more basic: The resources that will keep your grant project going once funding source A is gone. Because deep down we all know that no funding stream lasts forever.

Last week, I was talking to Shane Jernigan (grants expert and blogger extraordinaire) about what he’d be working on before he leaves for vacation. And I correctly predicted that the 2017 OMB Audit Requirements, Appendix XI – Compliance Supplement (2017 Supplement) would come out late on Wednesday, and I’d have to write this post. The Federal Register gave me hope on Monday. But all 1,667 pages didn’t appear on the OMB website until Wednesday.

While summer is generally the time for taking a long vacation from work, officials at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) have been busy revising grant policies.

This two-part blog post discusses recent actions that you, a faithful member of the Federal grants community, need to be aware of immediately… or as soon as you get back from the beach, of course.

So, without further ado…

And grants professionals should read them.

If you’ve followed me and Shane via this blog and eClips, you’ve already read, “grants are policy tools,” in some form or the other. The Federal government uses grants to drive policy goals, objectives, and outcomes. Policies change with Administrations.

Earlier this month I checked in with my elementary school-aged son on what he’s doing in math.

“Recognizing patterns,” he said.

My first thought was, “Still? He’s been working on this since preschool.”

Why performance measures are more important than ever.

On March 16, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released the Trump administration’s budget blueprint for Fiscal Year 2018. The purpose of the Presidential budget is to identify and explain the administration’s priorities and policy proposals.

The grants community is under increasing scrutiny and pressure to protect Federal funds from waste, fraud, and abuse. 2 CFR 200 (Uniform Guidance) establishes protections at each part of the grants lifecycle to protect Federal funds from risk. The Uniform Guidance also defines the responsibilities for Federal awarding agencies, pass-through entities, grant recipients, and auditors to guarantee grant funding is used for its intended purposes.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of the billions in Federal Financial Assistance were spent without any violations, overpayments, or nefarious actions? While the Uniform Guidance provides a framework with checks and balances, it’s an impossible task.

Why? We’re human.

One of the most important, and often misunderstood, change under 2 CFR 200 the Uniform Guidance: Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance) is the new reporting requirements for employee compensation, found at 2 CFR 200.430.

Tag: grants