TRANSCRIPT
Congratulations on receiving your grant award. Now what? Let's refer to the original RFA.
“Grantees shall keep all grant funds segregated from all other funds in a separate interest-bearing bank account, dedicated solely for purposes of this grant, and keep all unexpended grant funds in such account.”
It is best practice to set up a bank account dedicated only for the purposes of this grant.Wherever you do your personal or business banking, they should be able to advise and help you.
Your grant can't be used to cover business or personal expenses such as payroll, rent, or car payments.Even if you have an emergency such as a leaking water pipe, these funds must be used only for what's in the allowable section of your grant award letter, keep all unspent grant funds in this account. If items in your award are no longer available or needed, or the cost rose beyond your means, reach out to your program officer for technical assistance.
Should you find that your original grant award was $5,000 and you were able to find the items you wanted for less and only spent $4,500, the remaining $500 must remain in that bank account. Again, it should not be used for any other purpose.
“Grantees agree to provide the CDSS with all requested information regarding such account(including but not limited to bank statements) upon request on an annual basis.”
Once a year, you will need to provide the CDSS with proof of and information on how you are using this grant money. You will be asked to provide bank statements, before and after photos, receipts, architectural drawings, etc. Store these in a dedicated folder along with your grant documents.
If any of these documents are online, you may want to download them to a personal device. At a minimum make sure that you can get to these easily and for the term of your grant.
You will want to keep a spreadsheet of your expenses to be prepared to report on your grant. You can refer to the help video regarding Record Keeping for more detailed information on this topic.
“All interest earned on such account shall constitute additional grant funds, which shall be maintained, used, reported, and accounted for like the CCDD-IGP funds received under this grant.”
Interest from the account is part of your grant award. If that money earns $10, those $10 are considered as being in addition to your original grant award. It cannot be used for anything other than the allowable section in your grant award letter.
If you have further questions, please reach out to the program officer assigned to your grant.