Grant & Project Management

Services Offered

Grant Capacity Assessment

Before signing a grant agreement, most donor organization require to satisfy themselves that the implementation arrangements proposed by the grant recipient are sound. We are experts in carrying assessing whether systems and capacities of grant recipients are adequate for effective management of the grant funds. We have robust tools that we apply to assess capacity certify that the partnership between the donor and the grant recipient can deliver maximum impact. We also have expertise to build the capacity of recipients to required standards. Our Capacity Assessments major on the following points:

Assessing whether the grant recipient has the appropriate capacity to implement the program in the following areas: –
- Systems of financial management
- Procurement and supply management
- Monitoring and evaluation
- Governance and program management
Assessing capacity adequacy compared with grant size and specific donor/grant requirements.
Identifying critical capacity gaps and determining short- and long-term capacity building measures to address the gaps and enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of the program.

Grant Management and Compliance

Meet the goals of the grant and the organization.
Efficiently and effectively use grant funds, while maintaining compliance with grant requirements.
Establish accountability for the use of grant funds.
Establish the right internal controls to avoid significant deficiencies.
Provide assurance that funds are deployed appropriately.
Come up with a checklist that can help you get a handle on your practices and make improvements
Know and comply with reporting requirements and timelines
Know your risks and avoid common pitfalls and audit issues
Regularly review your organization’s grant administration processes and procedures.

Some of the risks associated with grants and ineffective grant management which we can help you manage or eliminate:

Misuse of grant funds
Failing to achieve the grant objectives
Violating laws, regulations, or grant conditions
Misrepresentation of grant results
Reputational damage from grant misuse
Loss of future funding

Third Party Monitoring and Oversight

Third Party Monitoring is the process by which donors use an agent to review and measure programmatic and financial performance over the grant implementation period the goal being promoting the efficient and effective achievement of the program objectives. We understand that this is a critical process of the grant management lifecycle and as your third-party monitoring agents, we will help you carry out the following: –

assess progress.
identify risks and recommend mitigating measures,
ensure that funds are used as intended,
ensure programs achieve maxGranimum impact.
Determine project compliance with applicable statutes/regulations.
Examine the resolution of prior findings from monitoring reviews and audits.

We believe our valuable recommendations will help improve your grant recipient’s management and internal controls, establish appropriate governance structures, processes, controls, and systems in managing its portfolio of grants.

Grant Due Diligence

We have capacity and experience in conducting grant due diligence that will give you insights into critical attributes of your grant seekers such as their financial and organizational health, mission, priorities and strategies, background checks of directors, board members and key decision makers to guide your grant decision making. We have taken time to design an efficient and thoughtful tool and process in carrying out due diligence which benefit both grant-makers and grant-seekers. We focus on the following: –

Organizational history and track record: This includes reviewing the history and track record of an organization, as well as learning about its key milestones, to help develop a solid understanding of the sustainability of its programs and operations.
Governance and executive leadership: Understanding how the board functions and how it collaborates with the executive director to obtain insights about level of congruence in decision making, management and operations.
Organizational vision and strategy: establishing if the board, executive director, and staff have a shared understanding of organizational vision, mission, and strategy i.e., if the organization’s work is founded on realistic goals, proven tactics and strategies that are feasible, given the resources and the capabilities the organization brings to its work.
Human resources: Adequacy and capacity of staff, overall management structure, clear job descriptions, logical lines of reporting, investments in staff training and development.
External communications: explore the organization sense of its audience, how it communicates about its work its work and its role in the community, its relationships, and networks, how it handles formal and informal opportunities to cooperate with others.
Financial health: review of the prospective grant recipient’s financial strategy and plan; systems for budgeting, capacity to monitor plans accurately, timely budget performance reporting, any potential cash flow challenges and availability and sufficiency of financial reserves.
Planning, outcomes, and evaluation: existence and robustness of a plan for evaluating progress and application of lessons learnt, soundness of the project methodology, how work is aligned to the organization’s mission, strategy and theory of change, resource allocation, time frame and project goals.

Grant Stakeholder Liaison

A liaison officer is an employee who builds and maintains mutually beneficial relationships, facilitates communications and coordinates activities among two or more people, agencies, or organizations. Often a member of the public relations team, liaison officers are company representatives that streamline operations and handle public communications, coordination efforts, incident response and conflict resolution. They act as technical or subject matter experts for the person, agency, or organization they represent.

Liaison officers are the point of contact at enterprises during major events, such as emergency situations or leadership changes, like the appointment of a new CEO. They are also the primary people who communicate information about these events for promotional and brand perception purposes.

Liaison Officer Responsibilities and Skills

A liaison officer works in fast-paced, high-pressure environments and must be willing to take initiative to proactively solve conflicts and address issues. Liaison officer duties include the following:

acting as contact points for all agency or organizational personnel.
keeping lists of the agencies or personnel representing the person, agency, or organization.
facilitating meetings and cooperation among people, agencies, and organizations.
identifying problems in communications among these groups.
collaborating and communicating with necessary constituents and the public; and
conducting post-mortems when an incident is wrapped up.

As their primary task is to coordinate activities and communications among people, agencies and organizations, successful liaison officers must showcase strong organizational skills. They prepare and deliver verbal communications, such as press conferences, interviews, phone calls and face-to-face meetings, and written communications, including press releases, reports, and social media updates, to colleagues, collaborators, the public and other stakeholders.

These are some of the top roles and responsibilities of a liaison officer.

Liaison officers must be self-motivated