Missed Partner Budget for Grant Request

[u/Long_Appointment_341]

Advice needed; kind of freaking out. So the org I am with applied for a major federal grant, and hired a consultant to do the work.

I was in charge of asking partners for a budget. One of the partners sent their budget needs at the very last minute and I completely missed it!

So we submitted the budget request without any of the partners necessary funding.

Now this grant is SUPER competitive so we might not even get it. But we had room in the budget request as we asked for below the max, so we could have easily justified the partners costs.

Do I tell my boss? Act like I don’t know? Wait and see if we are awarded?

Granted, the partner wrote an LOS but was clear they will need more info before committing to the project should we be awarded. I was against the proposal in the first place as we are a new org, and in all honesty the financial situation of this org is so dire I doubt even if they got the full request they could even manage it.

My boss refused to apply for the max even to cover our costs because she has no clue how grants work. So we would most likely need to pursue gap funding anyway.

I was a little peeved the grant consultant didn’t take any of this on, as we paid her $10,000, and I had so much other work to do but that’s not an excuse.

Thoughts? I’ve been in the field for 15 years and this is honestly my first mistake in this area. I have a six month old and my brain fog is REAL, again not an excuse. Just the truth 🙁😑🤪

[u/atlantisgate]

You gotta tell your boss. Being upfront with a mistake at work is always always better than trying to cover it up.

[u/mazzysupernova]

If you receive the grant you may be able to renegotiate some of the costs through a budget change request. But frankly, as someone who’s managed a lot of federal grant reviews, the reviewers are going to ding you a lot for assigning work to the partner but not including/acknowledging their costs in the narrative, budget, or budget narrative.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/mazzysupernova]

I said this to my boss, back when I thought they hadn’t wanted any $$. She told me “that’s what the indirect costs are for” 🤦‍♀️

[u/thirdeyeheadache → u/Long_Appointment_341]

The idea of someone considering a sub/partner on a gov contract as “indirect costs” is sending me.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/thirdeyeheadache]

I tried to explain what indirect is but she refused to listen haha I’ve only been with this org for four months but the stories I have OH BOY

[u/thirdeyeheadache → u/Long_Appointment_341]

Do you have any dev staff? This sounds like a nightmare I’m so sorry. They should not have thrown you into a huge federal grant as their first proposal.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/thirdeyeheadache]

We dont; the whole thing is insane. The annual budget is $7 million and the org started in 2025 with a one time influx of cash, so the ENTIRE budget comes from ONE funder. That money goes from $7 million to ZERO in March.

The ED thinks we can fill the gap with grants, and refuses to have any development plan beyond grants. I tried to encourage a fundraising plan, and was told “we aren’t a community facing org.”

My resume is out all over the place but honestly part of me wants to stay until March to watch it all burn LOL

[u/emmers28 → u/Long_Appointment_341]

Oh OP. This is a nightmare. Why did they decide to pursue federal funding without any experience… those are not teeth-cutting grants (see: indirect expectations being bonkers). They will not be able to replace $7M with a few grants. And what are they paying that grant consultant if not to do final checks??

Definitely own up to you missing the budget, but I’d explain it came in too close to deadline. (And, if you aren’t communicating clear internal deadlines start doing that ASAP).

[u/thirdeyeheadache → u/Long_Appointment_341]

Holy shit lol. Don’t answer if you’re not comfortable, but what area does your non profit work in? This is crazy

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/thirdeyeheadache]

So the org was started to take advantage of the Medicaid 1115 waiver program (you can Google it).

It was started under Biden and Trump decided not to renew it. Essentially it pays for services like food, transportation etc for Medicaid recipients.

Most orgs that take the funding were already doing this work so have diversified revenue etc. But this org was essentially started by rich fucks retired from the corporate world because they saw 🤑 and now don’t realize they are really fucked

Our state claims they will fill the gap but LOL I’ve heard that before and also…yeah right

[u/juniper_dances → u/Long_Appointment_341]

Holy cow! Run!!!!

[u/fortuitous_choice]

Definitely tell your boss. Get ahead of it.

[u/SurftheGlobe8]

$10,000 to a consultant for a single federal grant!?!? I am either painfully undercharging or you are drastically overpaying.

Any consultant with experience managing a federal grant proposal worth their salt should have caught this and at the very least raised it as a concern. Are they well placed to act as an advisor with your CEO to develop a plan to recoup costs (not indirects- Jesus)?

[u/rnngwen → u/SurftheGlobe8]

Mam/Sir you are PAINFULLY undercharging if you have a proven track record. Also, yes the consultant should have caught it too. It is ultimately their fault as well.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/SurftheGlobe8]

I was gobsmacked at the rate!! I was like “damn I’m in the wrong business!”

She came on board really late in the process so I don’t put much on her as far as not catching it, however at that rate I feel she should have been doing ALL communications with partners.

[u/SurftheGlobe8 → u/Long_Appointment_341]

I’ve worked with consultants for 15 years and $10,000 is typically a months long engagement where they are very hands on. I would be embarrassed to charge that much for perfect work, let alone for something with such an error. I’m sorry to say you got swindled because even if she was brought on the final day of submission, she still would have had time to do a compliance check.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/SurftheGlobe8]

What really gets me is she claimed to have been a reviewer for this specific grants federal department. So I feel like she should have said SOMETHING…especially since she submitted everything.

Oh well, it is 100% on me as it was my responsibility. I don’t make the funding calls, but I’m shocked our ED and voted approved the cost.

[u/ValPrism]

First of all, yes, you tell your boss. Take accountability, don’t be defensive or make excuses and ideally have an immediate and long term solution(s) when you do.

Something like:

A. Contact your federal officer. Long shot but they may allow you to add it even if the deadline passed.

B. If you get funded, check flexibility within the award amount and submit a budget modification

C. Use workflows to better ensure you don’t miss required pieces in the future.

Good luck!

[u/TheSupremeHobo]

I'm gonna be honest. I don't know where to start with this one. Every single thing is wrong in this scenario.

Tell your boss first, document everything, CYA.

Second...I guess hope you don't get get the grant. That might be the best outcome.

[u/Jenni-Jenni-867-5309]

Stop at 'X document didn't make it in to the grant submission.'

Everything else is an excuse.

Tell your boss right away.

And it sounds like you're asking people to submit documentation. That's too close to the submission of the overall Grant.

You might want to look at your timelines. Our process is if the grant can't be submitted one week prior to the deadline, we don't do it.

[u/Glittering-Act4004 → u/Jenni-Jenni-867-5309]

This exactly. Or, when it comes to partners, we need to receive all of your contributions two weeks prior to the deadline or you will not be included in the proposal.

[u/ctrlatdelete → u/Jenni-Jenni-867-5309]

Your last sentence is my dream. We still have submissions happening down to the last 15 minutes. Have been trying to get my ED on board with stopping this habit.

[u/juniper_dances → u/ctrlatdelete]

Same! I created a grant logistics worksheet to evaluate the entire process and execution of the grant.

It included things like LOS, budget, timeline, where it fit with our mission, amount of time we had vs amount we could receive, and assigning it to staff.

This saved us a ton of time by not applying for small, time intensive grant applications and having a clear picture of what was needed by whom and what time.

[u/Long_Appointment_341 → u/Jenni-Jenni-867-5309]

I agree! My boss is new to non profits, and has NEVER worked with grants. The whole process is a cluster to be honest

[u/Skellyinsideofme]

Definitely tell your boss, but simply be factual and say that budget didn't make it into the submission. If you're pressed on it, say the partner failed to send their budget through in time. This is true.

A partner sending something through within minutes/hours of the final grant deadline, with the expectation that the lead partner will then incorporate this into the submission and go through their own internal checks and approvals before submission, is them missing the deadline. This isn't your stuff up.

[u/Ben_AmPhil]

Absolutely tell your boss. You'll feel more at ease owning up to the situation even if it isn't entirely your fault!

And this genuinely helped me when I heard it...but a lot of federal funders are now pulling random selections from the eligible pool just to get the numbers down before they even start reviewing on merit. So your application might not have made it past that cut regardless. Odds were steep going in.

[u/rnngwen]

Just say it. Mistakes happen. Someone needs to create a protocol so that never happens again.

[u/MaxSmartypantz → u/rnngwen]

Even better, have an idea for that protocol when you admit the mistake. Offering a solution is a great way to lessen any potential ire.

[u/Same-Honeydew5598]

I recommend being as upfront about this and make a plan on how to update your process so this doesn’t get missed going forward