ARE Grant Instructions for Managing and for Closing Out Your Grant

1. ARE Grant Instructions for Managing and for Closing Out Your Grant Please refer to instructions in the orange Grants Folder you will receive. This PowerPoint is an additional aid.

2. You Have Your… Orange Grants Folder Read and sign the Grant Package Acknowledgement Form, Acceptance Letter and the Services Purchase Order Acknowledgement (Note: Grants less than $500 do not have these last two items in the folder); keep copies for yourself; return a copy to DNR of any form or letter that instructs you to do so (do not return your actual Contract if you have received one). Please do this ASAP! Read the instructions in the folder; highlight important things to remember. Put the folder in a place where you can find it and return to it for instructions. Make a copy of the Sample Invoice and all instructions in the folder for the fiscal person who will be preparing your invoices, if it’s not you. Talk to your fiscal person about the best way to begin purchasing the items in your budget. Give yourself plenty of time if you need to use Purchase Orders for buying your items. Do not purchase any items before approval of grant and before the START DATE on your application and/or grant contract.

3. What Happens If… The project has changed a little and you would like to amend the budget: Contact us immediately about any changes you need to make to your grant. If approved, you will need to send in a revised budget. Christine.Hintz@Maryland.govCindy.Etgen@Maryland.gov You discover you will not be needing those plants, that substitute, or three buses, for example: Contact us ASAP to let us know if will not be spending a good amount of your budget. We can lower your grant amount and that money can be used for other schools.

4. Keep all Receipts. Use your Tax Exempt Number for all purchases And highlight, highlight, highlight all totals on receipts/proof of payment (minus any taxes you might have paid), so when your receipts are handed to your fiscal person to prepare the invoice, the total for each item is clear. And when it comes to DNR, we will easily (and happily) be able to add up everything included in your total! Invoice total and receipts total must match. Follow the Sample Invoice exactly. That is all the information we need.

5. Invoice #1 Invoicing DNR If you have a Contract Purchase Order Number (meaning you have a Services Purchase Order Acknowledgement that you signed and returned), you can prepare your first invoice any time after you receive your orange folder: Invoice #1: 75% of the grant may be invoiced. Invoice must be signed, dated, and mailed. No receipts need accompany Invoice #1. Be aware that if you do not end up spending that advance money, you will need to repay DNR the amount not spent.

6. Invoicing DNR Invoice #2 All invoices and Final Reports are due no later than 15 days after grant end date (check your Contract and Services Order Purchase Acknowledgement for that date). This invoice must be signed, dated, and mailed (or overnighted if deadline is near) and must include all receipts (for Invoices #1 and #2). Send only paid receipts or other proof of payment and highlight totals. If we cannot determine what you are invoicing for on a receipt, we will send the package back. This is particularly true of Amazon receipts! Receipts must total the 75% advance and Invoice #2. Do not send packing slips, web pages that are not proof of payment, bus reservations, etc. Everything must be an actual receipt/proof of payment. Cancelled checks are good proof of payment for subs and buses.

7. Substitute and Bus Receipts A perennial problem and often hard to put your hands on. Don’t panic. These proofs of payment must be school billing forms or statements that show the exact amount you are invoicing us and exactly for what. Every county has different forms, but they do exist, for sub use and transportation. These proofs of payment can often be obtained from your county office via your school fiscal person. That is why we involve your fiscal person from the start! Cancelled checks are good backup as well. Be aware that bus companies are slow to invoice. Even before that field experience, start to bug them to send the invoice to your school or county office ASAP! P.S. DNR does not pay the bus company directly.

8. Demographic Forms and Final Reports 1. Send in a Demographic Form any time during the year, but no later than May 8, showing the number of students in your school who participated in the program or project. • For any offsite field experiences, send in another Demographic Form showing the number of students participating in that event. This form can be found on the ARE Grants website at: http://dnr.maryland.gov/ccs/Pages/ARE-Grant-Forms.aspx 3. Final Reports. See the above Grant Forms webpage for instructions on this. Final invoices will not be paid if we have not received a Final Report. It should accompany Invoice #2 or sent earlier. Sending it after that delays payment. You can email Final Report and Demographic Forms to: Christine.Hintz@Maryland.gov .

9. Miscellaneous but Important Stuff • Please email us with any questions about invoicing. We encourage it. We will also pre-approve invoices and backup (emailed to us) before you mail the signed one. This is recommended if you are handling the invoicing yourself. • Snail Mail is just that. Please know that it can take 5-8 days for us to receive your package so plan accordingly or overnight the package if time is tight. • You may not need to invoice us for anything on closeout. Great! You will still need to send in your Demographic Form(s) and Final Report. • The State Comptroller’s Office takes up to 30 days to approve and process the invoice once they receive it from DNR. The funds are wired to your school’s county office. The Federal Employee ID number you put on the application is usually tied to the county offices (for public schools). Your school fiscal person should contact the county office to earmark those funds for your school.