The ultimate cheat sheet for grant proposal documents: Part 3

Part 1 listed documents to collect during the prospect research stage; Part 2 listed those to collect when you submit your letter of intent or proposal. Part 3 will look at what documents to file when you’ve been notified of the results and suggest ways to keep track of all of this content for future grant proposals.

If you get the grant

• Acceptance letter/packet from funder
• Thank you letter from your org to the funder (tip: draft this letter for acceptance or rejection after you’ve sent the proposal, so you can tweak it as needed and send it immediately)
• Signed agreements, contracts, and other documents required by the funder
• Copies of any other communications or program updates you send to the funder during the grant period
• Final report
• Notes on the likelihood of the foundation renewing the grant or accepting other grant applications/proposals

If you don’t get the grant

• Rejection letter from funder
• Thank you letter from your org to the funder (see tip above)
• Notes from or copies of follow-up attempts (phone, email, letter) to learn why your proposal was denied and how to improve it
• Notes on whether and when you can resubmit your proposal, i.e., is it “No for now” or “No forever?” If “No for now,” keep copies of any other communications or program updates that you send to the funder.

Keeping track of your grant proposals

Now that you have all these documents, notes, and records for each funder and grant proposal, how do you keep track of them? You’ll need to find a system that works best for you, your development team, and your organization. What will make it easiest for you and your colleagues to keep track of each stage of the application process, monitor progress, stay on top of deadlines, and prepare for next steps? It could be as simple as a spreadsheet, or a more robust content management system.

With a subscription to Candid search, you can easily organize and manage your fundraising projects from a centralized workspace. You can track your progress on each fundraising project—updating your prospect research results, status of grant applications, and upcoming deadlines. Nonprofits with under $1 million in annual revenue or expenses that earn a Gold Seal of Transparency get free access to Candid Premium for a year.

Regardless of what system you use, what’s most important is that you’re able to easily organize and retrieve the information you need. If you’re not sure which system to use, ask your nonprofit peers, in person or at online forums about what systems they use to keep track of their proposal documents.

This article is an update on Document Checklist for Grant Proposals: Part 3, published in December 2014. We thank the authors of that original article, Richard Hallman and Sandy Pon.

See Part 1 and Part 2 of this series.