Thousands of federal grant proposals are submitted each year. Around 80% will be rejected and around 20% on average will get funded. The required signatures on the federal Standard Form 424 face sheet and the companion “Standard Assurances” bind your organization to comply with each of the 23 assurances associated with receipt of federal funding.
Some of these assurances commit you to action that must be completed prior to actually receiving the award, or prior to spending one penny of the award. The assurances that carry the greatest risk for recipients are the environmental, relocation, and construction assurances. Grants involving human and animal research also carry high pre-award and post-award risks.
You can avoid assurance compliance surprises easily by making sure you understand how your proposed grant-funded activities trigger or do not trigger the applicability of one or more of the standard construction and non-construction assurances.
Studying the standard assurances before you apply for federal funding is time well spent.
Learn how to tame the rules and regulations, focus on excellence, and embrace accountability in the Grant Management Essentials training. If the thought of applying to federal grants seems daunting, learn how to dive into the world of federal grants in our >Competing for Federal Grants training. Sign-up or contact us for more information!
— Henry Flood, Senior Advisor for Grant Administration
