Stewardship and Reporting Presented by University Advancement and the Office of Sponsored Programs

1. Stewardship and ReportingPresented by University Advancement and the Office of Sponsored Programs

2. Stewardship and Reporting: Stewardship isconducting, supervising, or managing something • Turning a “no” response to a “yes” requires relationship building and stewardship. • Once an award is achieved, you cannot take the money and run. • You must carefully manage the funds and the relationship with your funder. • Convincing a private funder to continue to support Rowan requires diligence in reporting and communicating with the funder. • Good communication within our organization as well as with our funders is key to a healthy project.

3. KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL STEWARDSHIP: • BUILD A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP • SUSTAINABILITY OF THAT RELATIONSHIP • LONG TERM PARTNERSHIPS

4. Immediate Action Steps Following Notice of Declined Proposal: • Place follow-up phone call seeking feedback as to why proposal was declined. • Send thank you letter for their consideration of your proposal. Express interest in opportunity to submit again in the future.

5. Long Term Action Items FollowingNotice of Declined Proposal: • Invite funder to activities or to visit labs/projects during school year. See handout provided which lists things to be done in preparation for site visit. • Send news clippings, published papers, other relevant promotional materials. • Seek opportunities to communicate and engage with funder such as sending congratulatory letters when there is news of funder accomplishments of significance (cannot hurt to be nice!) • Invite to be guest speaker. • Seek referrals to other possible funding sources.

6. Immediate Action Steps Following Notice of Awarded Proposal: • Send thank you letter. It is best practice to include sentence or two describing how the funds will be used and whom they will most benefit. • If appropriate, students should send thank you notes. Such letters/notes go long way in helping to cement the relationship with the funder.

7. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposal: • Spend award AS OUTLINED IN PROPOSAL. • Funders are not happy when the projections in proposals are not met. Goals and outcomes should coincide with contents of proposal against which award was made by Funder. • When communicating with Funder, best to maintain consistency with proposal AS SUBMITTED. Inconsistencies and modifications to your plans as proposed lead Funder to question your competency and reliability. Remember the Funder awarded your proposal as submitted and expects you manage the project as proposed.

8. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposalcontinued: • When budget projections need to be adjusted, seek immediate approval from the funder. • You have a duty to your Funder to spend the money in accordance with the representations made in your proposal. If there are changes to the budget, they require advance approval from your Funder. • Before requesting a budget modification, carefully consider if there are other ways to address the issue. You must present good reasons for budget change(s). Having to seek Funder approval for budget changes can jeopardize the relationship and reduce your Funder’s confidence in your management ability, thereby jeopardizing subsequent awards of funding.

9. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposalcontinued: • Send news clippings, published papers, other relevant promotional materials. • Many (not all) Funders want favorable publicity concerning their philanthropic giving. • Corporations and corporate foundations are typically looking to promote their image, their products and services which, in turn, leads to increased profits. • Some grant writers include “How will this gift be publicized” sections in their proposals showing the funder how the gift will be recognized by the grantee.

10. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposalcontinued: • Seek opportunities to communicate and engage with funder. • Send congratulatory letters when there is news of funder accomplishments of significance (cannot hurt to be nice!) • Invite for site visit. Refer to handout for things to do in preparation for site visit. • Invite to be guest speaker. • Possibly send a small project/funder-appropriate gift. • Acknowledge any communications from your Funder (eg., if Funder sends reminder of when reports due-acknowledge it!). • Set up tickler to remind you to initiate communication (eg., at least quarterly).

11. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposal continued: • Seek referrals to other possible funding sources. • Funders often collaborate with other funding sources. Ask them for suggestions regarding with whom else you might collaborate and/or seek funding.

12. Long Term Action Items Following Notice of Awarded Proposal continued: • Report positive accomplishments or challenges as they develop. • Be truthful and up front. Avoid surprises-no one likes to be surprised. • Conduct yourself and your communications in manner that you would be proud and comfortable having appear on the “front page of any newspaper”.

13. Reporting: • If a multi-year grant, interim reporting (both narrative and financial) is often required. • Interim and final reports must be submitted to funder on time, contain accurate information and be presented in the funder’s requested format.

14. After Final Report Submitted: • Send thank you note, highlighting achievement made possible by their funding. • Invite funder to activities or to visit labs/projects during school year. Refer to handout regarding things to do in preparation for site visit. • Send news clippings, published papers, other relevant promotional materials. • Seek opportunities to communicate and engage with funder such as sending congratulatory letters when there is news of funder accomplishments of significance (cannot hurt to be nice!). • Invite to be guest speaker. • Submit new application if appropriate.

15. Here’s to a Project Well Done!

16. Office of University AdvancementDeanne FarrellDirector of Corporate and Foundation Relationsx 5418farrelld@rowan.eduOffice of Sponsored ProgramsStephanie LezotteAssistant Directorx 4124lezotte@rowan.edu