Presented by

Alaska Project Solutions, Inc.BIA Providers Conference

Managing Grants in Rural Alaska

Helping Grantees Achieve Success

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Congratulations! You’ve been awarded a grant!

I have to do what? When? How?

What We’ve Learned

In a Perfect World...

In the Real World...

Grantees would achieve all outcomes of their projects, and reports would all be submitted on time.

Cultural gaps in communication, unreliable

technology and attrition contribute to non-compliance,

late reports, and frustration.

Common Program Challenges

Administrative changeCouncil elections (change of

leaders)Hiring staffStaff turnoverStaff inadequately trainedNot understanding what

projects are intended to doMissing deadlinesLack of local participation

(even more!) Common Program Challenges

Wearing too many hatsTimelines and deadlinesMaking revisionsProcrastinationTechnology challengesShortage of project documentationCommunicating with the project funder

(time differences and internet issues)

Start By Reviewing: • Award Notification• Project Proposal• Grant Regulations• Project Period• Grant Number• Reporting Dates

Navigating the Complex Federal Requirements Maze

Financial Policies & Procedures

Understanding your budget will help you complete a successful program with lasting results!

Good communication between the project manager and financial manager will result in a balanced budget.

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Understanding the Grant Requirements

Get to know your project like it’s your new best friend. Find out the project goal, intended activities, and how much funding you have to spend.

Memorize your reporting dates!

Get to know your funder; Call them up and introduce yourself. It’s okay to let them know you’re new at this process.

Understanding the Grant Requirements

Components of a Grant: Grant Award LetterProgram goalsTimeline to completeProject Budget Project objectives / componentsPlanned activities / commitmentsEvaluation, deliverables, & outputs

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Understanding the Grant RequirementsGet organized. Check your grant award for

the requirements on what to keep in your file.

Use a management tool that everyone can access like projectKEEPERS.

Read your grant application and grant award—from top to bottom, then create a calendar timeline for all of the activities that have been proposed.

Gathering Your Survival ToolsOrganize your paperwork: Set up a working,

desktop manual– FOR YOU ONLY! (and one for the main office, too!)

Identify a calendar system that works for you.Purchase a notebook like the one in your packet:

Use it daily.Commit to a timeline.Review and understand your budget.Document everything.Use tools such as tabs for separating

information.

Understanding the Grant Requirements

Components of a Grant: Grant Award LetterProgram goalsTimeline to completeProject Budget Project objectives / componentsPlanned activities / commitmentsEvaluation, deliverables, & outputs

Building a sustainable project for your community:Partner with local agencies, schools,

businesses and other resources.Prepare regular Tribal Council reports to

keep the community aware of the project.Coordinate program activities (and

expenses) with other Tribal programs – it stretches program $$ and gets people involved!

Stay in touch with your program official.

Community Involvement & Sustainability

Publicity is vital to project success. This means posters and flyers in the community, Tribal Council reports, and school board presentations. Often, these are considered ‘outputs’ or ‘deliverables’ in your grant.

Agency newsletters are an excellent way to ‘get the word out’ with success stories and photos about the program.

Get involved with a community calendar or website and keep it updated!

Community Involvement & Sustainability

Ways you can Inform or Engage Your Local Team:

Meetings Small Groups Teleconferences Written Look for good ideas Identify problem areas Identify supporters &

detractors

Community Involvement & Sustainability

Some suggestions to save you the headaches at reporting time:Add all project activities (planned and not

planned) to your calendar/timeline.Take photos of your project

activities.Most reports are due

Quarterly: January, April, July, and October.

Acknowledge, recognize, and thank your project team and program partners.

Community Involvement & Sustainability

A Quick Recap:Spend time working out the details. It

helps to share the burden!!!Keep the project moving forward.Inform & Engage your team and

partners, both internal and external.

Community Involvement & Sustainability

Evaluation and Reporting

Document –daily – your activities! When it’s time for reports, you’ll be so glad you did!

Document participants in the project. This could mean Elders, youth, teachers, parents, Council members, and other community members.

Set baseline data when your project starts.

Evaluation and Reporting

When you evaluate according to your grant proposal, your results often can:Help with future fundingBring in new partnersHelp participants

Evaluation and ReportingTips for helping with your evaluation:Identify information requirements early in

the program such as the number of youth or Elders involved in project activities.

Establish evaluation processes in the beginning of the project…instead of at the end! i.e., how willyou gather data and information?

Document success stories; theyare very valuable for reporting.

So...Why Do We Do What We Do?

Because it makes a massive difference in the lives of people we care about and for our communities.

Only YOU can make that difference, so please manage your grants well, and remember to dream

BIG for your community!