Tip of the Month
Tracking Grant Requests
by Kelly Hurt

Most grantwriters wear many hats – especially those who work at a charter school. The grantwriter may also serve as school principal, instructor, counselor or even all of the above!

With so much on your plate, it is crucial to keep track of the grants you have submitted for your school for a number of reasons. First, it is important to follow through on your grant requests, rather than just sending them out the door and keeping your fingers crossed. After sending your request, you should make a follow-up call within 1-2 weeks to ensure it was received, to ask if the grantor needs any additional information from your school, to find out when your grant will be reviewed, and to learn when the funds will be disbursed. This is applicable both for private and public grant opportunities. If you keep track of when you send your requests out, you will know when to conduct your follow-up call.

Second, keeping track of your grants will enable you to save time. Keeping a simple chart or list of the grants for which you applied for in 2003 will help you determine the approximate time when the grant will be available in 2004 and you can plan accordingly. TIP: You can watch for upcoming grant deadlines for U.S. Department of Education (ED) grants by checking the ED forecast site at (http://www.ed.gov/offices/OCFO/grants/forecast.html) on a monthly basis.

Third, keeping track of your grants will help you determine when to expect funding for your specific grant-related programs, such as the 21st Century Community Learning Centers grant (i.e. after school programs), Public Charter Schools Program (i.e. start-up funds), and Enhancing Education Through Technology (i.e. Internet connectivity for your school).

Tracking can be a very easy process. Something as simple as a spreadsheet with columns listing the grant opportunity, the date you applied, the deadline, the anticipated grant date, the amount requested, and the amount received will work for most schools. If you use a chart like this, you can record when your request was sent out and set up a reminder to make a follow-up call within 1-2 weeks after that date. If you want to set up a separate spreadsheet for your foundation grants, simply change “anticipated grant date” to “board meeting date.”

By keeping track of your grants, you will find the process of planning, applying, and following up much simpler. In addition, it will provide you with more time and energy to focus on the many other tasks you are involved with at your school.

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