Insights
Grant work, explained with the rules open.
Short articles on the questions nonprofits and public agencies bring to us most often, across federal, state, local, foundation, and corporate funding. Where a statute or regulation governs the answer, we cite it so you can check our reading against the text.
Writing to a Foundation: The Letter of Inquiry, the Full Proposal, and the Report That Earns the Renewal
Foundations fund roughly a fifth of American charitable giving, and each one decides differently. The organizations that win repeat support treat the letter of inquiry, the proposal, and the final report as one continuous conversation with the funder.
September 22, 2026
State Grants and Contracts: Reimbursement, Invoicing, and the Amendment Cycle
State funding is often the largest government revenue line for a community organization, and it is usually paid in arrears. Cash flow, invoice discipline, and a working knowledge of the state fiscal calendar determine whether a state award strengthens an organization or strains it.
September 22, 2026
Responding to a County or City RFP: Procurement Rules, Blackout Periods, and What the Panel Scores
Local government funding is usually awarded through procurement, not through a grant application in the ordinary sense. The rules are strict, the deadlines are absolute, and a proposal can be excluded before anyone reads the narrative.
September 22, 2026
Corporate Giving and Sponsorship: What a Company Is Buying, and What the Tax Rules Allow in Return
Corporate support arrives through several channels, each with its own decision-maker and its own tax treatment. A sponsorship that gives the company too much in return can create taxable income for the nonprofit, and the line is drawn more precisely than most organizations realize.
September 22, 2026
Grant Readiness: What a Nonprofit or Public Agency Should Have in Place Before the First Application
Many applications fail before the narrative is read, because a registration has lapsed, a required document is missing, or the organization cannot show it can manage the money. A readiness review takes a few weeks and makes every later application faster.
September 22, 2026
The De Minimis Indirect Cost Rate: What It Covers, What It Excludes, and When to Negotiate Instead
The Uniform Guidance allows most federal grantees to recover indirect costs at up to 15 percent of modified total direct costs without negotiating a rate. Whether that is the right election depends on what your base actually contains.
September 9, 2026
Preparing for a Single Audit: The Threshold, the Timeline, and What the Auditor Will Ask For
A nonprofit that expends $1,000,000 or more in federal awards in a fiscal year must obtain a Single Audit. The organizations that pass cleanly are the ones that treated the audit as a year-round documentation standard rather than a spring project.
September 9, 2026
Your Grants Manager Has Given Notice. The First Thirty Days.
When the person who held the portfolio leaves, the deadlines do not. A sequence for the first month that protects the awards before it worries about the hire.
September 9, 2026
Subrecipient or Contractor? The Determination That Sets Your Compliance Burden
When a nonprofit passes federal funds to another organization, it must decide whether that organization is a subrecipient or a contractor. The answer determines whether the Uniform Guidance's monitoring requirements apply, and it is not a matter of what the agreement is called.
September 9, 2026
Time-and-Effort Documentation: What the Regulation Requires and What Auditors Accept
Personnel costs are the largest line in most federal grant budgets and the most frequently questioned. The Uniform Guidance does not prescribe a form. It prescribes a standard, and organizations that understand the standard can meet it with far less paperwork than they assume.
September 9, 2026
What a Grant Writer Costs, and Why the Answer Should Never Be a Percentage
Published 2026 rate guides place senior grant writers at roughly $95 to $150 per hour and above, with federal applications commonly quoted at $5,000 to $15,000 or more. The fee structure matters as much as the figure, and one structure is ruled out by the profession's own ethics codes.
September 9, 2026
Grant, Cooperative Agreement, or Contract: Three Instruments, Three Sets of Rules
Federal money reaches nonprofits through three legal instruments that look similar on the notice of award and behave differently in practice. Which one you hold determines who makes decisions, which regulations govern, and how disputes are resolved.
September 9, 2026
Reading a Notice of Funding Opportunity the Way a Reviewer Will
A federal notice of funding opportunity states, in a fixed place, exactly how applications will be scored. Most unsuccessful applications were written to the program description rather than to the review criteria.
September 9, 2026
Budget Revisions, No-Cost Extensions, and Prior Approval: What You May Change Without Asking
A federal award is not frozen at the approved budget. The Uniform Guidance permits recipients to make a range of changes on their own authority and requires prior written approval for others. Knowing which is which avoids both unnecessary requests and unallowable costs.
September 9, 2026
Closing Out a Federal Award: The 120-Day Clock and the Three Years After
The end of the period of performance starts a clock, not a holiday. The Uniform Guidance gives recipients 120 days to liquidate obligations and submit final reports, and the obligations that survive closeout last for years.
September 9, 2026