A Government Agency Wants to Give ARPA Money to Our Organization. Should We Take It?
You’re right to be cautious, particularly if your organization has never received a federal award. Receiving these awards makes your organizaton a subrecipient of the federal government, which means specific regulations and rules. Without careful consideration, it can be overwhelming and even risky.
These are things to consider when making this decision:
Will we need an external partner to carry out part of the program? (That may mean you take on a subrecipient of your own.)
Will the award provide enough in indirect cost recovery to make it worth receiving? In other words, will it cost me more to administer this award than I’m getting in indirect cost recovery?
Will we need a Single Audit? (A Single Audit is a special audit of federal funds for those organizations expending more than $750k in federal funds in their fiscal year.) How will we pay for it this audit?
Will we need special insurance, such as increases in Board and Director insurance or bonding?
Is the knowledge gained from hiring a grant consultant worth the cost?
There are long term challenges to consider as well:
What kind of additional staff will we need and what do we do with those staff at the end of the award?
Do we have a game plan for how to spend the funds?
Are we prepared to take on the wild-world of federal funding?
What will my funding agency expect from our organization throughout the award?
These are serious risks and challenges. The good news is ARPA allows for you to hire a consultant, paid with ARPA funds, to prepare your organization to receive an ARPA award. This can include not only answering these questions but helping to design a financial internal control system that passes federal muster. It can also include helping to design an ARPA-compliant program, including written instructions to your program staff on how to execute the program, or even monitoring a federal subrecipient, if you decide you may need to make a grant with ARPA funds yourself.
That’s what I’m here for! I can make the process of getting through these decisions a breeze. Use this link to contact me for a free consultation today!