Prepare for Reporting Requirements – Grant Writing Basics

When you receive a federal grant, you are receiving taxpayer dollars with the expectation you will successfully implement a public-serving project. Such projects can range from publishing scientific research results to creating apprenticeship opportunities for underrepresented populations to providing foreign aid and democratic development.

To ensure you (i.e., the award recipient) are using the funds ethically and efficiently, the federal government establishes grant reporting requirements. After you submit these reports, the grant-making agency then has staff who carefully review them to maintain transparency and to prevent fraud and abuse.

Where Do Grants Go? Awards, USAspending.gov, and the DATA Act

Lots of grants are awarded by different grant-making agencies each year, so you may wonder—where do the grants go? Who receives the funding?

These are important questions. We will begin to answer them here, and we will also tell you where you can find more specific answers.

DATA Act Updates: New OMB Memo and Highlights for the Federal Grant Community

Last week, OMB released the latest memo on the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act (DATA Act)—Additional Guidance for DATA Act Implementation: Implementing a Data-Centric Approach for Reporting Federal Spending Information.

The memo describes the main steps agencies need to take to improve data quality and transparency on where the Federal Government’s award data (i.e., from grants or contracts) should be displayed for the public.

David Miller, the Controller of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), writes, “The reporting of data in accordance with the data definition standards will enable financial data to be posted on USASpending.gov for use by taxpayers and policy makers in a consistent, reliable, and searchable format.”