![](\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/snd-store\/a\/81790722\/01_04_23_1170646733_npb_560x292.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Most not-for-profits can\u2019t afford to turn down offers of financial support. At the same time, you shouldn\u2019t blindly accept government or foundation grants simply because they\u2019re offered. Some grants may come with excessive administrative burdens, cost inefficiencies and lost opportunities. Here\u2019s how to evaluate\u00a0them.<\/p>\n
Administrative and other burdens<\/strong><\/p>\n Smaller or newer nonprofits are at particular risk of unexpected consequences when they accept grants. But larger and growing organizations also need to be careful. As organizations expand, they usually enjoy more opportunities to widen the scope of their programming. This can open the door to more grants, including some that are outside the organization\u2019s expertise and experience.<\/p>\n Even small grants can bring sizable administrative burdens \u2014 for example, potential reporting requirements. You might not have staff with the requisite experience, or you may lack the processes and controls to collect the necessary\u00a0data.<\/p>\n Grants that go outside your organization\u2019s original mission can pose problems, too. For example, they might cause you to face IRS scrutiny regarding your exempt\u00a0status.<\/p>\n Costs vs. benefits<\/strong><\/p>\n As for costs, your nonprofit might incur expenses to complete a program that may not be allowable or reimbursable under the grant. As part of your initial grant research, be sure to calculate all possible costs against the original grant amount to determine its ultimate benefit to your organization.<\/p>\n Then if you decide to go ahead with the grant, analyze any lost opportunity considerations. For unreimbursed costs associated with new grants, consider how else your organization could spend that money. Also think about how the grant affects staffing. Do you have staff resources in place or will you need to hire additional staff? Could you get more mission-related bang for your buck if you spent funds on an existing program as opposed to a new program?<\/p>\n Quantifying the benefit of a new grant or program can be equally (or more) challenging than identifying its costs. Assess each program to determine its impact on your organization\u2019s mission. This will allow you to answer critical questions when evaluating a potential\u00a0grant.<\/p>\n Over the long term<\/strong><\/p>\n If your organization has lost grants during the COVID-19 pandemic, you\u2019re probably tempted to welcome any new funds with open arms. However, it pays over the long term to scrutinize grants before you accept them. Contact us if your nonprofit is trying to grow revenue and needs fresh\u00a0ideas.<\/p>\n \u00a9 2023<\/em><\/p>\n <\/body> Most not-for-profits can\u2019t afford to turn down offers of financial support. At the same time, you shouldn\u2019t blindly accept government or foundation grants simply because they\u2019re offered. Some grants may come with excessive administrative burdens, cost inefficiencies and lost opportunities. Here\u2019s how to evaluate\u00a0them. Administrative and other burdens Smaller or newer nonprofits are at particular […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,10,15],"tags":[8,11,12],"class_list":["post-16503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","category-news","category-not-for-profit","tag-articles","tag-news","tag-updates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16503"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16504,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16503\/revisions\/16504"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sfw.cpa\/news-and-guides\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/html><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"