A well-managed grant round moves through predictable stages: design, setup, applications open, assessment, award, post-award, and close. At each stage there are tasks that must be completed, decisions that must be made, and documentation that must be created. This checklist covers the key items at each stage.
This is a practical operational reference, not a theoretical framework. Use it to ensure nothing important is missed when setting up a new round or handing over a programme to a new administrator.
Before configuring anything in your grants management system, the programme design needs to be settled:
Purpose and eligibility:
- [ ] Programme purpose and objectives defined
- [ ] Eligible applicant types defined (charity registered under X Act, organisations serving Y community, etc.)
- [ ] Eligible activities or projects defined
- [ ] Excluded activities or applicants defined
- [ ] Geographic scope defined
- [ ] Grant size range defined (minimum, maximum, total pool)
- [ ] Number of grants anticipated
Assessment approach:
- [ ] Assessment criteria defined and weighted (or ranking approach agreed)
- [ ] Assessment model decided (single assessor, multi-assessor panel, community panel, hybrid)
- [ ] COI management approach agreed
- [ ] Decision authority documented (who makes the final award decision)
Timeline:
- [ ] Applications open date
- [ ] Applications close date and time (including time zone)
- [ ] Assessment period
- [ ] Notification date
- [ ] First payment date
- [ ] Post-award milestones and reporting schedule
Governance:
- [ ] Delegated approval authority documented
- [ ] Board or committee approval required (and when)
- [ ] Conflicts of interest policy reviewed
- [ ] Programme guidelines and assessment criteria approved by appropriate authority
Application form:
- [ ] Form questions mapped to programme requirements
- [ ] Required vs optional fields determined
- [ ] File upload requirements defined (what, max size, format)
- [ ] Character/word limits set for narrative questions
- [ ] Form tested by someone who has not seen the design (user testing)
- [ ] Form tested on mobile browser
- [ ] Eligibility screening questions included (to filter out ineligible applicants early)
Assessment configuration:
- [ ] Assessment template configured with defined criteria and weights
- [ ] Assessor accounts set up and permissions assigned
- [ ] COI declaration configured
- [ ] Panel convenor assigned
Applicant communications:
- [ ] Acknowledgement of application email drafted and configured
- [ ] Assessment period email (if applicable) drafted
- [ ] Successful notification template drafted and approved
- [ ] Declined notification template drafted and approved
- [ ] Programme guidelines and FAQ document finalised
Internal approvals:
- [ ] Programme guidelines signed off by appropriate authority
- [ ] Assessment criteria confirmed as final
- [ ] Budget confirmed and approved
Launch:
- [ ] Portal link tested immediately before opening
- [ ] Programme guidelines published (website, social media if applicable)
- [ ] Applicant enquiry handling process confirmed (who responds, how quickly)
During the open period:
- [ ] Monitor application volume against expectations
- [ ] Respond to applicant enquiries within agreed timeframe
- [ ] Track any requests for extension or accessibility accommodations
- [ ] Log any form or portal issues that applicants report
At close:
- [ ] Confirm close time enforced
- [ ] Total applications received recorded
- [ ] Late submissions handled according to policy (accepted or declined, with documentation)
- [ ] Incomplete applications handled according to policy
Pre-assessment:
- [ ] Application review for completeness — ineligible or incomplete applications flagged
- [ ] COI declarations collected from all assessors before access to applications
- [ ] Conflicts managed and documented before assessment begins
- [ ] Applications assigned to assessors
During assessment:
- [ ] Interim completion check (assessors on track?)
- [ ] Any clarifying questions to applicants documented and sent through correct channel
- [ ] Assessor conflicts that emerge during assessment handled and documented
Panel:
- [ ] Panel meeting agenda prepared
- [ ] Individual assessor scores reviewed before panel
- [ ] Borderline applications identified for discussion
- [ ] Panel discussion documented (not just outcomes)
- [ ] Panel recommendations recorded
- [ ] Ranked list of recommended applicants prepared for decision-maker
Decision:
- [ ] Final award decision made by appropriate authority
- [ ] Decision documented with rationale
- [ ] Declined applications documented with reasons
Successful applicants:
- [ ] Successful notifications sent
- [ ] Grant offer letters prepared and issued
- [ ] Grant conditions communicated clearly
- [ ] Signed acceptance received before payment
- [ ] Payment details collected and verified
- [ ] First payment processed
Declined applicants:
- [ ] Decline notifications sent (include feedback if offered)
- [ ] Appeals window opened (if applicable)
- [ ] Appeals handled according to policy
Internal:
- [ ] Board or committee notified of award outcomes
- [ ] Financial system updated with grant commitments
- [ ] Post-award tracking records created
For each active grant:
- [ ] Milestone schedule confirmed with grantee
- [ ] First progress report received and reviewed
- [ ] Payment released on schedule (or held if milestone conditions not met)
- [ ] Final report received, reviewed, and accepted
- [ ] Final payment processed
- [ ] Grant file marked complete
Portfolio level:
- [ ] Regular portfolio reviews (which grants are on track, which are at risk)
- [ ] Overdue reports followed up
- [ ] Variations or extensions handled and documented
- [ ] Outcomes data collected and aggregated
Documentation:
- [ ] Assessment records complete and stored
- [ ] Award decisions documented
- [ ] Correspondence archived
- [ ] Final financial reconciliation complete
Review:
- [ ] Round review completed (what worked, what to improve)
- [ ] Applicant feedback collected (if applicable)
- [ ] Staff debrief completed
- [ ] Improvements documented for next round
Reporting:
- [ ] Board/governance report on round outcomes prepared
- [ ] Public reporting (if required) completed
- [ ] Programme impact data collected and compiled
This checklist covers the core tasks. Specific programmes will have additional requirements — particularly for government programmes with probity documentation requirements, or for programmes with complex COI or governance structures.
A grants management platform that is designed for the full grant lifecycle will handle most of this checklist within a single system. Programmes that manage different stages in different tools — application form in one system, assessment in email, post-award in spreadsheets — typically lose documentation coherence between stages and create manual reconciliation work.
Tahua provides grants management software that supports the full grant lifecycle from application through to post-award close, with built-in COI management, assessment workflows, and governance documentation.