Centralized Reporting
In this structure, departments work independently and each department is focused on their own goals. However, reports are made available to leadership and/or key stakeholders so they can see progress and certain financial information about their grant awards. Staff may be full-time, part-time, contractors or all the above. The advantage of this structure is that each department’s available resources and needs are taken into account when pursuing or managing grants. In addition, the reporting process creates transparency at an organizational level. This helps senior managers and finance staff. The disadvantage is that duplication of efforts and process inefficiency will continue to be a challenge. The added internal reporting process may cause some departments to think twice about pursuing certain grants that will add extra work to produce internal reports. Reporting may be difficult to consolidate and submit if departments use different processes, systems, and templates.
Centralized
In this structure there is a dedicated grants team or staff. Departments work with the dedicated grants team to ensure that both departmental and organizational needs and resources are considered. Staff may be full-time, part-time, contractors, or all of the above. The advantage of this structure is that resources and processes are streamlined to eliminate duplication of effort, which reduces costs and improves capacity within each department. Moreover, reporting and communication are more uniform and management has a single point of contact. Departments can also go to one place for training and support. Transparency and accountability are high in this structure. The disadvantage of this model is that departmental needs can become secondary if they are not communicated well, and, if they are unable to successfully work with departments, the grants team or staff can be viewed as an unnecessary added cost. Knowledge sharing can become challenging and some people may be resistant to institutional knowledge sharing.
Dept 1 Dept 2 Dept 3
Tracking &
Reporting
Dept 1 Dept 2 Dept 3
City/County
Manager or
Administrator
Grants
Team
2016 Q2 ISSUE COSTTREE CAPTURE. 19
ECIVIS - GRANTS MANAGEMENT