Barbara Floersch & Henry Flood co-lead the Grant Management Essentials training program. They both juggle many hats, and have many years of experience writing grant proposals and training grant pros. We wanted to get to know them a bit better—their grant wins and what they do when they aren’t training or consulting.
We often hear grantseekers say they aren’t sure whether their organization is eligible for federal grants. The federal government makes thousands of grant awards annually to many types of organizations, and even to some individuals. Don’t write off this important funding source until you’ve examined the possibilities. Here are a few thoughts to consider.
When the new Uniform Guidance on grant administration is implemented as an interim final rule in late December 2014, the procurement rules governing purchases made with grant funds will change somewhat. Procedures must become more structured, and purchases above $3,000 will have to be accompanied by varying levels of documentation as the dollar value of purchases rises.
Understanding and implementing the new guidance on short notice will be difficult for many nonprofits. That’s why The Grantsmanship Center (the Center) has asked Henry Flood, our Senior Advisor for Grant Administration, to address procurement issues that are raising concern in the nonprofit community.
The latest webcast, convened on October 2, 2014 by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Council on Financial Assistance Reform (COFAR), indicates that the Uniform Guidance (popularly known as the Super Circular) is rapidly reaching its December 26, 2014 arrival date.
When it comes to statutes and regulations, the definition of terms really does matter. The definitional content of a term can have a huge impact on what you can or cannot do in a given situation.
Approximately 360 individuals and organizations commented on the proposed Circular that was adopted as final on December 26, 2013 in the Federal Register (pages 78589 to 78691). The question is who benefits from the new rules and why does the Super Circular matter?
The train en route to federal grant reform has reached the last stop on a 24-month journey from concept, through proposed reforms, to the final guidance. The new provisions—just over 100 pages—became official on December 26, 2013, with their publication in the Federal Register (pp. 78590-78691).
The energetic and imaginative changemakers who staff nonprofits are full of great ideas. They’re constantly coming up with ways to make things better and looking for grants to support their vision.
Since reading a 2010 paper by Howard Husock published by the Philanthropy Roundtable, I’ve had this question on my mind. Ruth McCambridge of the Nonprofit Quarterly raised it again not too long ago in a LinkedIn group (Readers of the Nonprofit Quarterly), and I was compelled to peck out a quick reply on my iPhone while waiting for a 6 am flight home from McAllen, TX, where I’d been teaching (yes, there were typos).
In the field of fund development, grants aren’t all that well respected. Once, after I was well known for bringing in millions of grant dollars, a local fund development director recognized me as “the woman who raises all the junk money.” Junk money?
Fund development professionals focus on individual giving because it’s the largest piece of the philanthropic pie. Individual giving represented about 73% of all giving in 2011, and 81% if you throw in bequests–the dollars total about $242.20 billion. Fund development professionals also focus here because the dollars are generally flexible, renewable, and growable. Individual giving done right can be the beanstalk to the golden eggs that just keep coming. I get that.
