Post-award grant management is the work a funder does after a grant is awarded, from the signed award agreement through payments, monitoring, reporting, and closeout. It makes sure funds are used as agreed, and the funded work gets done.

Grant managers know that the work doesn’t stop once a grant is awarded. In fact, the post-award phase is where a lot of the high-stakes work happens. 

The post-award phase is when grantmakers follow through on the promise of their grant program. It’s when applicants become true partners. But the right processes have to be in place to make those relationships successful. 

What is post-award grant management?

Post-award grant management is the final stage of the grant management process. It’s everything that happens once the grant is awarded, all the way through closeout. 

Financial oversight is a big component of the post award process. Grantmakers need to have clear workflows to move funds into grantees' hands. This includes reimbursements, clear budget tracking, and spend down processes. 

Alongside the financial monitoring, reporting is also a big focus in this phase of the grant lifecycle. Grantees might need to submit progress reports or hit specific milestones to show that they’re holding up their end and meeting compliance regulations. 

Every decision you make about your post-award process shapes your relationship with your grantees. It’s essential to handle each one with care. 

What does post-award grant management include?

Post-award grant management is the work of overseeing a grant after the award is made, from the signed agreement through closeout. It covers seven tasks:

1. Award agreement setup: Finalize terms, deliverables, and reporting dates.
2. Payments and budget tracking: Release funds on schedule and compare spending to the approved budget.
3. Monitoring: Check in with grantees and review progress against milestones.
4. Reporting: Collect progress and financial reports on a set calendar.
5. Amendments: Review and record changes to scope, timeline, or budget.
6. Compliance and audit readiness: Keep records that show funds were used as agreed.
7. Closeout and records: Confirm the work is complete, account for all funds, and archive the grant file.

Funders run these tasks for every active award at once. Many teams manage them in a grant management system.

Post-award best practices to make compliance easy 

Some of the biggest news stories about grant programs focus on when things go catastrophically wrong in the post-award phase. Take the case of the one million dollars diverted from the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation or Minnesota, where prosecutors estimate fraud across state programs could reach $9 billion. The risks of getting things wrong are high. 

What you don’t often hear about are the quieter challenges in the post-award phase: the mismatched expectations and frayed relationships that happen when processes get off track. Though not as newsworthy, these can also undercut the work you’re trying to do. 

Here’s how to get your post-award workflow right. 

Approach the process from a partnership lens

View every step of the grant lifecycle from the grantee perspective. Imagine if you were the one tasked with moving through the post-award phase as a grantee. Identify any repetitive requests or confusing steps. Create a process that respects their time, ensures transparency, and provides clarity. 

Set up expectations both ways

Your award agreement acts as a map for your grant partnerships. The agreement should lay out expectations and timelines so everyone knows what’s coming and there aren’t surprises along the way. If your award agreement doesn’t provide this structure, you might find yourself chasing down progress reports and receipts as deadlines approach, and setting up your grantees for the same kind of frantic scramble. 

Make space for mutual flexibility

Clear expectations are important for strong partnerships. So is flexibility. You don’t want to feel like your award agreement structure is so rigid that you can’t make changes when you or your grantee needs to. It’s best to have a clear plan that includes a process for making changes as the need arises. 

Post-award grant management checklist

Use this post-award grant management checklist to cover each stage of an award, from the signed agreement through closeout.

Before funds go out

• Executed award agreement on file, signed by both parties
• Deliverables and milestones listed with due dates
• Reporting calendar and report templates shared with the grantee
• Payment schedule set and tied to milestones or reports
• Approved budget loaded for tracking
• Grantee contact and authorized signer recorded
• Subrecipient risk assessment complete, for pass-through federal funds

During the award

• Payments released on schedule after reports and receipts arrive
• Spending compared with the approved budget at a regular cadence
• Progress and financial reports reviewed on arrival, with follow-up questions logged
• Check-ins or site visits held at the intervals your program sets
• Amendment requests reviewed, decided, and recorded with their history
• Compliance log updated with every action and approval
• Overdue reports flagged and followed up

At closeout

• Final financial and performance reports received
• Spending reconciled against the budget
• Unspent funds returned or reallocated as the agreement requires
• All financial obligations liquidated
• Grant file archived with the agreement, reports, correspondence, and approvals
• Records retained for the required period
• Closeout confirmation sent to the grantee

If your award includes federal funds

Federal awards add rules under the Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200). The ones that most affect post-award work: final reports are due within 120 calendar days after the period of performance ends (90 days for subrecipients reporting to a pass-through entity), and records are kept for three years from the final financial report. Check your award terms, since rules and deadlines can change.

Private foundations that make grants to organizations other than public charities must exercise expenditure responsibility under 26 CFR 53.4945-5. This includes obtaining annual reports from the grantee on how the funds were spent, plus a final report once the funds are used.

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11 of the most important post-award features in your grant management software

The right post-award grant management software supports every task on the checklist above and keeps partnerships on track.

Look for full lifecycle support with these features. Submittable’s post-award grant management software includes the features below.

1. A single portal: A shared organization portal allows a grantee to have their whole team involved in ways that make sense for each role.
    

2. Customizable award agreement: The award agreement can’t be one-size-fits-all. It should be unique to each grantee and connect to upcoming goals, milestones, and reports. 

3. Amendments: Amendments allow you to easily make changes to the award agreement with an automatic digital record for compliance and transparency.
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4. Goals and milestone tracking: Goals and milestones help you stay on the same page with grantees. The award agreement should map them out with expectations and timelines. 

5. Budget visibility: Budget tracking should update in real time and give grantees and admins their own access to the same dashboard.
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6. Ability to define budget categories: You should be able to create budget categories so every disbursement is tracked against the right line.
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7. Expense tracking and reimbursements: Reimbursements should be quick, with receipts collected in the same place as the request.
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8. Progress reports: Scheduled progress reports ensure you don’t have to manually keep up or chase down grantees.
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9. Disbursement schedule: Disbursements should link to milestones, so funds go out once grantees submit the reports and receipts each payment depends on. 
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10. Flexible payment options: Grantees should be able to receive payments in the way that works for them, with every disbursement tracked against the budget. 
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11. Docusign integration: Contracts can be generated in Docusign automatically when a grant is approved, then uploaded into your Submittable account.

Which feature supports which post-award task

See all of these on Submittable’s post-award grant management software page.

How to evaluate post-award grant management software

Features are one part of the decision. When you compare systems, also ask about these five areas.

• Integrations: Ask whether contracts, payments, and data move between your existing tools without re-keying. Submittable integrates with tools like Docusign, so contracts can be generated automatically when a grant is approved.
• Security and fraud controls: Ask how the system screens recipients and records who did what. Submittable includes fraud prevention tools, plus audit logs and sign-in records for compliance.
• Time to launch: Ask how long a new program takes to set up. 89% of Submittable customers launch a new program in 2 weeks or less.
• Support: Ask about response times and whether the team knows compliance rules. Submittable’s average support response time is 12 minutes, and its team is trained in Uniform Guidance.
• Fit for your funder type: Ask who else like you uses it. 3,500 state and local government agencies and educational institutions rely on Submittable, and it has supported more than 165,000 programs.

Your GMS sets everyone up for success    

How you construct your post-award process can make or break the effectiveness and resilience of your grant programs. If you’re looking for a new grant management software, be sure to choose one that has all the features to create and maintain strong partnerships. 

Submittable is a full-lifecycle GMS whose post-award tools put your post-award tasks on autopilot, so you can focus on strengthening your team, your program, and your relationship with the community. Watch our on-demand demo to see how it works.

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