Sub-Award Management
Step 3:
Distributing Funds and Monitoring Sub-Awardees |
Implementation
Step 4: Reporting on Sub-Awards
Sub-Award
Reporting Requirements
As a grantee of Federal funds as well
as a grantor of those funds, your organization
is required to fully account for and report on the use of sub-award
funds. Become familiar with The Office of Management and Budget
(OMB) circulars that contain instructions and/or information that
outline government-wide standards and requirements for programs.25
According to OMB Circular A-133, your organization must submit reports including the name and contact information of the organization receiving a sub-award, a summary of the purpose of the award, the amount of the award and the proposed plan for outcome measurement that is supported by the Federal sub-award. In addition, your program progress reports should include your organization’s activity related to sub-awards, sub-awardee activity and any information concerning training and technical assistance provided to the sub-awardees.
You also will need to include sub-award information in your financial reports to the Federal awarding agency and the Division of Payment Management. The Federal awarding agency usually requires their grantees (intermediary organizations) to submit financial reports on Financial Status Report Form 269 at specified times determined by the awarding agency.26 For more information concerning reporting and overall grant management, see the Managing Public Grants guidebook, part of the National Resource Center’s Intermediary Development Series.
To gather and report this information on a timely basis for your own grant requirements, you will need to provide guidance to the sub-awardees on what information you will need and in what form you will need it. As a condition of their sub-award grants, JVA Consulting required sub-awardees to have an evaluation consultant work with their organization to establish a system to report on key activities, set up an accounting system and establish a system to track outcomes of clients served with these funds.
Measuring Program Outcomes
As a part of your reporting requirements, you may be asked to report
not only on sub-awardee activities and progress to plan but also
on the measurable outcomes of your sub-award program. Outcome measurement
is defined as “a systematic way to assess the extent to which
a program has achieved its results.”27
It involves exploring questions such as, “What has changed
in the lives of individuals, families, organizations, or the community
as a result of this program? Has this program made a difference?
How are the lives of program participants better as a result of
the program?”28
Outcome measurement is too vast and too important a topic to cover in this particular guidebook on sub-awards; it is recommended that you review and employ the tools and resources provided in the Measuring Outcomes guidebook, part of the National Resource Center’s Intermediary Development Series. This guidebook is designed to assist you and your organization to evaluate the extent to which you are achieving the intended results of your program and conduct outcome measurement activities as required by your Federal grant.
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Although it may be a requirement to conduct outcome measurement on your sub-award program, your organization and sub-award program can greatly benefit from engaging in the outcome measurement process. Not only does it help everyone on your project (staff and board members of your organization as well as staff and board members of partner organizations) understand what the key focus of your program is intended to be; it also enables you to understand the impact of your work on the sub-award organizations you serve. With the information you gather, you can determine what works and what needs to be changed to improve the effectiveness of your sub-award program.29 | ||||||||||||||
Step 3:
Distributing Funds and Monitoring Sub-Awardees |
Implementation