Assessing the Merit of Grant Recipients: What Every Foundation Manager Should Know

Understanding the financial health of a prospective and/or a recurrent grant recipient is an essential function throughout the grant management process. Generally, this is accomplished by reviewing copies of the grant recipient’s financial statements, budgets and/or tax returns. Focusing on effective interpretation of this data will help in the determination of the merit of the potential recipient and the success of the grant award — all while mitigating the foundation’s reputational risk in the process.