• Grants Management
• Acknowledgements
• Getting Started
  • Grant Acquisition Flow Chart for Grants Less than $5,000
  • Grant Acquisition Flow Chart for Grants More than $5,000
  • Grant Writer's Checklist
  • Typical Proposal Components
  • Tips for Developing Proposals that Get Funded
  • Matching Funds for Grants
  • Grants Terminology
• Managing a Grant
  • Negotiating with Government Funding Agencies
  • The Negotiator's Responsibilities as a "Grants Administrator"
  • Key People
  • Getting Ready to Manage the Grant
  • Preparing/Revising an Operational Budget
  • Managing the Money
  • Purchasing Supplies, Equiptment, Travel, and People
  • Hiring, Reassigning and Supervising People
  • Time and Records Management
  • Staying Out of Hot Water
• Grant Completion
  • Reports
  • Closing Out
  • Preparing for an Audit
• Forms
  • CCC Grant Proposal Form
  • Administrative Recommendation of Grant Application Form
  • Time and Effort Document
  • Public Benefit Form
  • Consultant Agreement Form
  • Disclosure of Interest
• Contacts
• Links

Negotiating with Government Funding Agencies

The Initial Call

When grants are awarded some negotiation between the Project Director and the agency’s Grants Officer may occur. If you take the call, it is important to consider the following information and to contact others at the college for technical assistance, i.e., the Grants Manager, VPBAS, and the grants accountant.

Keep in mind that granting agencies approach negotiations very differently. Some allow you grant flexibility while others do not. So...if you are the one who is going to be contacted about an award by the funding agency Grants Officer, what do you need to know?

First, you need to know that the Grants Officer has you at a psychological disadvantage when he or she calls you to tell you that your proposal had been recommended for funding. Why?

• It is usually been 4 - 6 months since you last looked at the proposal and you may be madly rifling through your file cabinet while you are listening to the Grants Officer.
• You want to hang up the phone and tell the world, "We got it!"

During that first phone call, the Grants Officer is supposed to accomplish three things:

1. Give the dollar amount of the award.
2. Relay the reader's and Program Officer's comments and concerns.
3. Get the date and time for the negotiation session.

You need to first stall the conversation by asking the Grants Officer some specifics:

1. When does the award letter state that project funding will be available?
2. Exactly how much funding was this project recommended to receive and does that amount include the indirect rate?
3. If the award is less than 98% of the amount requested (including the indirect rate), ask exactly how much of the scope of the project the award will allow the college to complete. Indicate that it will take some serious study before the negotiations can continue. (This buys you time to think and consult with others such as the Deans or Department Chairs, the Grants Manager, etc.)

   This also lets the Grants Officer know that you are not necessarily going to roll over and agree to everything the Grants Officer and readers have suggested. Keep in mind that the Grants Officer is the one that has to be convinced about any changes in the budget or the scope of the project.

4. Finally, ask the Grants Officer to slowly repeat the reader’s and Program Officer's comments on the proposal. (In the case of federal grants, the Grants Officer and the Program Officer are usually two different people.) Unless something was misstated in the proposal, do not give the Grants Officer any indication of agreement with the comments.

Negotiating Strategies

For negotiating purposes, you do not automatically have to accept the reader’s and Program Officer's comments as valid. The only thing you probably should accept is the total recommended amount of the award. Everything else is negotiable. For example, if the budget is cut 20%, you might want to consider reducing the project's objectives by 30%. How this funding will be spent is negotiable as long as it complies with program, district, and applicable state and federal guidelines.

Higher amounts within a specific budget category may be negotiated even when it has been recommended that the category be reduced. The Program Officer, for example, may state that no money should be spent on equipment. However, you may justify an amount for equipment in order to offset a reduction for personnel. The Grants Officer has the power, totally, to agree with you, leaving the Program Officer, who is not involved in the negotiation process, out in the cold.

Each Grants Officer has 15-20 grants a week to negotiate and two mandates in the negotiations:

1. Do not negotiate more than the recommended amount except in extreme circumstances.
2. Get the recipient to maintain most of the scope of the project while making sure all the expenses are allowed under OMB guidelines.

During the negotiation process, do not negotiate away the indirect costs. These funds are for the District to use for pre- and post-award grants services such as financial recordkeeping, reporting, and technical assistance.

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