Getting Organized: Foundation Grant Attachments

One of the easiest things to get flustered about when putting together a grant application are the number of attachments an application can require. There’s been an effort among some funders to standardize the attachments they require, but there’s still a lot of variation, which can lead to a lot of last-minute scrambling. When you’re starting out with grants, one of the biggest long-term time saving efforts you can make is to gather these attachments ahead of time and keep them updated regularly. I recommend checking at least quarterly to make sure you have the most recent documents for any upcoming deadlines.

It’s impossible to anticipate every attachment you might need, but this is the most common set of documents I see requested. Gather them up, save them as a set of ‘Standard Grant Attachments’, and make the next application that much easier.

1.       Current year organization budget

Note: this document can prove tricky in the fourth and first quarters of the year. Know what your budget process is for your organization and make sure you have copies of provisional budgets if you need them.

2.       Financial statements, including a balance sheet, income and expenses, and budget vs. actuals

Note: It is helpful to have financial statements for the most recent past year, ideally audited, and for the current year, to date, if possible. The current year documents should be from the same quarter as the date you are submitting your application for if possible.

3.       List of additional funders

Note: make a note of which funders are pending, and which are committed.

4.       List of board members and their affiliations

5.       Brief description of key staff

6.       IRS determination letter

7.       Fiscal agent confirmation letter if using a fiscal agent