Abstract¶
Grant closeout is an underappreciated aspect of grant management, but critical for organizational learning, future funding, and effective organizational/business administration. Building on the January 13, 2026 Grant Closeout workshop we present a closeout roadmap, identify key insights for closeout financial and outcomes reporting, and discuss ways to leverage closeout with future funding and learning.
Takeaways¶
Process¶
Grant closeout is a process you need to start well ahead of your agreement termination date (Figure 1).
Figure 1:Hypothetical grant closeout process.
Best Practices¶
Get organized. Review grant commitments (including project goals), approved budget, and expenditures to date.
Create a timeline for finishing the report that includes cut-off dates for implementation/expenses and staff responsible for each item . Gather all relevant documentation on project accomplishments, metrics, photos, and financials. Analyze. What did you get right, what methods worked/didn’t work, what did you overestimate? What was the project impact on the ground and for your organization?
Be transparent. Be constructive and honest in your reporting for what worked and what you would do differently. Think of the take-home results as pluses (what went well) and deltas (what would you change next time).
Visualize. Think of creative ways to visualize and convey your results beyond words in a paragraph (within bounds of agreement and reporting requirements). Graphs, maps, and photos all help communicate your message and what you accomplished for the project.
Learn. Spend time reviewing and learning from results. Apply learnings to ongoing projects and measurements to overall business/organizational plan.
Share. Share your results beyond the report submitted to CALFIRE. Also, the work you do to compile the report can serve multiple purposes, e.g., communications or annual report.