Every nonprofit manager’s goal is to get a phone call (or email) from a funder saying they have accepted a grant application. This call likely will lead to some sort of celebration.

Once the partying is done, it will be time to get down to business.

After all the work you have done trying to get a grant, it can be easy to forget (at least for a second) that the reason you needed the money in the first place is because of a project. In his book, “How to Win Grants,” Alan Silver wrote that after you finish your celebratory champagne, pizza, or cake (or all three), you should focus on the game-plan for the grant money.

Silver suggested taking the following actions:

• Refresh the memory of all involved by circulating a brief summary of the project goals and objectives, activities, budget, and timelines.
• Reassemble the cast of characters who will make the grant happen for a meeting.
• During this meeting the chair, typically the project director, should confirm the details in the notice or letter of grant award, the project work plan, and accountability fort results, record keeping, and statistical reporting.
• At the end of this meeting, the chair should recap who is responsible for what and when, and to whom they should report back. After, the chair should follow up with a brief memo confirming roles and responsibilities.