Current financial pressures mean that your not-for-profit probably can’t afford to pass up offers of support. Yet you need to be careful about blindly accepting grants. Smaller nonprofits that don’t have formal grant evaluation processes are at risk of accepting grants with unmanageable burdens and costs. But large organizations also need to be careful because they have significantly more grant opportunities — including for grants that are outside their current expertise and experience.
Here’s how accepting the wrong grant may backfire in costly and time-consuming ways.
Administrative burdens
Some grants could result in excessive administrative burdens. For example, you could be caught off guard by the reporting requirements that come with a grant as small as $5,000. You might not have staff with the requisite reporting experience, or you may lack the processes and controls to collect the necessary data. Often government funds passed through to your nonprofit still carry the requirements that are associated with the original funding, which can be quite extensive.
Grants that go outside your organization’s original mission can pose problems, too. Managing the grant may involve a steep learning curve. You could even face an IRS challenge to your exempt status.
Cost inefficiencies
Another risk is cost inefficiencies. A grant can create unforeseen expenses that undermine its face value. For example, new grants from either federal or foundation sources may have explicit administrative requirements your organization must satisfy.
Additionally, your nonprofit might run up expenses to complete the program that aren’t allowable or reimbursable under the grant. Before saying “yes” to a grant, net all these costs against the original grant amount to determine its true benefit.
Lost opportunities
For any unreimbursed costs associated with new grants, consider other ways your organization might spend that money (and staff resources). Could you get more mission-related bang for your buck if you spend it on existing programs?
Quantifying the benefit of a new grant or program can be equally or more challenging than identifying its costs. Evaluate every program to quantify its impact on your mission. This will allow you to answer the critical question when evaluating a potential grant: Are there existing programs that can be expanded using the same funds to yield a greater benefit to your mission?
Do your homework
Grants from the government or a foundation can help your nonprofit expand its reach and improve its effectiveness in both the short and long term. But they also can hamstring your organizations in unexpected ways.
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We highly recommend you confer with your Miller Kaplan advisor to understand your specific situation and how this may impact you.
