Winning a grant award is definitely worth celebrating! After the excitement settles down and the work begins, it’s important to keep funders in the loop about the program they are supporting. This is where a grant progress report comes in.
In this guide, we will outline the key elements of a grant progress report, provide steps for tracking your impact, and explain how to create and use a grant progress report template to simplify the process.
Let’s get started!
Grant progress reports are a way for nonprofits to measure and track the impact of their grant awards. Typically required by funders, these reports provide accountability and transparency that the grant funds are being utilized effectively.
Unlike a final grant report, funders might ask for more frequent grant progress reports during the grant-funded program’s implementation—such as quarterly reports. It’s important to pay special attention to the reporting requirements outlined in the grant application and award letter so you can meet the funder’s specific expectations.
While grant progress reports will typically request the same kinds of information, the specific reporting requirements will vary depending on the individual funder.
For example, government grants will have much stricter reporting guidelines than those for small family foundation grants. Government grants may also require certain reports before releasing portions of the award—and are likely to be more data heavy and time consuming than other funders’ requirements.
In general, however, a grant progress report should highlight:
How do you best organize the information required in a grant progress report? While it’s important to adhere to the specific guidelines presented by the funder, being aware of the general process and using a grant progress report template can help you prepare the details in advance.
In the following sections, we will outline the overarching steps of developing an effective grant progress report so that you’re set up for success.
This is a good place to recap the project as presented in your proposal and also to provide any key updates on the work being implemented.
Additionally, it’s important to include any background information necessary to understand the project. You should assume that the person reading the grant progress report may not have read the grant application, so make sure to include any details that are vital to understanding why this funding was important in the first place.
If something changed from the application timeline through actual implementation, it is good to introduce this idea here—you can go into more detail about the adjustments later on when discussing lessons learned and/or challenges of implementation.
During the application phase, your organization identified a number of qualitative and quantitative ways it would track its success toward the intended outcomes. As soon as you receive the grant award letter, it’s important to make sure you have a system in place to collect the data necessary to measure those indicators and effectively report on your success!
When developing your progress report, you should include information on the expected data outcomes and also the actual numbers recorded.
While the type of data you collect will vary depending on the type of project or audience served, here are some common examples of things to track:
Make sure to include enough information that the data is easily digestible. Visuals like charts and graphs can help make the numbers clearer.
Even if your project efforts have not reached the projected numbers indicated in your grant application, it’s important to report the actual outcomes. This helps your organization build rapport with the funder by being honest and transparent. There’s a chance that you simply required more funding to reach the targeted goals, and this could open the door for that discussion later on.
This is the section where you will offer honest reflection on implementing the project.
While your grant application explained your plans for bringing the project to life, this section will reveal what actually happened.
For example, if the timeline was a little different than expected, explain that here and why. If there were roadblocks or unforeseen challenges, explain what happened and how you plan to pivot moving forward.
Here are some questions to consider that may help you reflect on your project so far:
While it may feel very vulnerable to give details like this to a funder, when done in a professional and tactful manner, it can help establish strong relationships built on authenticity and transparency.
In the closing section of your grant progress report, you can share lessons learned and how these will be applied moving forward.
Even if your organization experienced no hiccups or headaches, there are likely some ways you can explore improvements to your program. Additionally, you may have a solid proof of concept from this opportunity that you are now ready to scale.
In looking to the future, you can offer a glimpse at your long term goals for the program and set the stage for the funder to understand the financial needs that go along with that. This can act as a sounding board for future application requests.
Now that we’ve covered the most common elements in grant progress reports, you can use the outline to create a template that will work for your nonprofit. Whether with Google Sheets, Excel, or Google Docs, you can develop a template that can be adapted from grant to grant and easily shared with your team.
The high level sections of your grant progress report template should include:
Even if a funder does not re quest specific reporting, or only asks for a portion of the items on your template, capturing all of these elements will only benefit your organization.
For example, having a track record of program success is useful for future funding requests. Additionally, if you do undergo various challenges, the reporting process can help your organization evaluate and decide on needed adjustments.
It’s also important to ensure you are using a cloud-based tool for your template so that your entire team can collaborate on it at once and you don’t have to worry about version control.
Whatever platform you choose, the key is to use the template to record the information throughout the grant’s implementation—rather than guessing or forgetting when something might be needed later.
Grant progress reports are very unique to each project—and also vary by funder. To get a better idea of what some real-life reporting requirements might look like, here are some examples from funders who’ve posted their reporting requirements on their websites.
Before we wrap up, let’s go over some progress report best practices from top grant writing experts:
Fundraising expert Jeannette Archer-Simons emphasizes the importance of careful planning from the onset:
“Often a nonprofit is so excited about receiving a grant or funding that they just start running. When the funding is accepted, take a breath. Look at what the reporting requirements are. Who should know that there is a reporting requirement and should be involved? Have a quick sit down or virtual meeting and outline who will be responsible for what elements of reporting and set the deadline for receiving the information.” —Jeannette Archer-Simons
Mary Gladstone-Highland, nonprofit strategist and consultant, encourages organizations to be upfront with funders about challenges so that they can work collaboratively to find solutions:
“It's essential to understand that unexpected changes happen, and it's okay to communicate openly with the funder. If project details evolve or specific objectives become challenging to meet, I advise contacting the grantor and explaining the situation. Most funders understand and are willing to collaborate on adjusting the project plan to something more feasible. Remember, you and the funder share the common goal of effecting positive change, and transparency is critical in maintaining a solid relationship.” —Mary Gladstone-Highland
Finally, Sarah Lange, author of The Field Guide to Fundraising for Nonprofits, stresses the importance of keeping the funder’s mission in mind when writing your report:
“Funders think of themselves as changemakers, so highlight what changes their funding made possible. Your report should focus on impact and outcomes for the client, their family, and the community, as well as the other funding you were able to secure as a result of their support.” —Sarah Lange
A grant progress report template is an essential tool to easily track your organization’s project success.
Even when a funder doesn’t require reporting, this system gives you an excellent track record of projects to point to when requesting funding from other prospects. And when the funder does require a report? You have all the information you need at your fingertips.
Don’t forget to try out a 14-day free trial of Instrumentl to find your next funding opportunity today.
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