Federal Grants Pre-Award Checklist

This Pre-award checklist resource will be helpful during the first phase giving helpful tips and items to consider along the way.

The pre-award phase represents the beginning of the grant lifecycle, which includes important considerations regarding the pricing of the award and maximizing cost recovery efficiency over the full award term. The pre-award phase is also the organization’s opportunity to ensure that it is capable of complying with the compliance requirements associated with the new award.

The following Checklist provides some pre-awards considerations to help you in this critical stage.

• The opportunity supports our organization’s  Mission Statement and organizational goals.
• The opportunity complements or strengthens our organization’s Strategy.
• The opportunity benefits our organization’s Members (if association or consortium).
• There are no negative political implications that should be considered.

• Resources within our organization possess the knowledge, skills, and ability required to administer the proposed award in accordance with laws, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the proposed award.
• Our organization has successfully administered an award from the same awarding agency as the proposed award.
• Our organization has successfully administered an award subject to the same regulatory requirements as the proposed award.
• Our organization has not experienced any negative outcomes as a result of audits of previous awards similar to the proposed award.
• Our organization will not need to develop new or additional legal or compliance resources to comply with the law, regulations, and terms and conditions associated with the proposed award.
• The planned scope of work is achievable within the requested period of performance.
• The scope of work does not present any technical risks that should be considered.

• The proposed award budget allows for unrestricted indirect cost recovery.
• The proposed award does not include cost share or matching requirements.
• The proposed award does not restrict the use of third-party organizations (subrecipients) to meet any applicable cost share or matching requirements.
• Fee or profit will be allowable under the proposed award.
• Our organization will not need to hire additional direct resources to perform on the proposed award.
• If the proposed award requires the hiring of new staff, our organization will have additional sponsored projects that the newly hired staff can work on if they are not able to be fully dedicated to the proposed award (less than 1 FTE).
• Our organization will not need to develop or hire additional administrative resources to successfully manage the proposed award.
• If the development of additional administrative resources is required, our organization will include all cost associated with the hiring of new staff members within the cost estimates for the proposed award.
• Escalation factors will be allowable under the proposed award to ensure that our organization can capture the full cost of resources across the full award lifecycle.
• Our organization will be entitled to potentially valuable intellectual property as a result of the proposed award.            
• If the proposed award is expected to run at a deficit (when the fully burdened cost is considered), our organization will have alternative sources of revenue that can offset the proposed deficit.
• Equipment purchases or management of government property will not be necessary in support of the proposed award       
• The proposed award will not require the use of existing our organization facilities.