What to check before you sign a grant agreement
A plain checklist for reviewing a grant agreement before signing: scope, budget, payment terms, reporting, changes, closeout, and who should approve.
Short answer
Before you sign, compare the final agreement with your proposal and check amount, scope and targets, payment terms and cash flow, budget flexibility, reporting duties, audit and records, safeguarding and data clauses, change rules and closeout. If a term creates a problem, raise it before signing. Signing first and solving later usually leaves you carrying the risk.
Key points
- An award is the start of another decision, not the end of the proposal.
- Compare the agreement with your proposal, line by line.
- Test payment terms against your real cash flow.
- Check how changes, reports, audits and closeout work, and who must approve what.
- Raise problems before signing. Get a qualified adviser for legal terms.
Why review an agreement carefully?
When a donor says "yes", the work is not over. An award starts a new due-diligence decision. During negotiation, a donor can change the budget, scope, targets, payment terms or reporting rules. The final agreement may not be your proposal with a signature attached.
Once you sign, the donor can reasonably expect you to meet every condition, even one you overlooked. Your team, not the donor, carries that risk. A careful review before signing costs a few hours. A missed clause can cost months of delivery problems.
Who should be in the review?
A good review uses several viewpoints. Include:
- The director or authorised signatory, who accepts the legal duty.
- The finance lead, who checks payment terms, budget and cost rules.
- The project lead, who checks that targets and dates can be met.
- The MEAL or reporting lead, who checks reporting duties.
- A qualified adviser, for legal terms, when needed. Laws and donor rules differ, and this guide is not legal advice.
What should you compare with your proposal?
Start with the differences. List every material change in:
- Amount, currency and duration.
- Location and target groups.
- Activities, staffing and targets.
- Partner roles and amounts.
- Conditions you did not see before.
A funding cut can create a larger delivery problem if the donor still expects the full original scope. Suppose the amount is lower but the targets are unchanged. You may need to ask for revised targets, fewer activities or a smaller area.
What is the checklist?
Use this table and write the clause number next to each item. If the agreement is silent, write "not stated" and ask.
| Area | Questions to ask |
|---|---|
| Parties and authority | Are legal names correct? Who may sign? |
| Scope and documents | Which proposal, budget and annexes form part of the agreement? Which document controls if they differ? |
| Amount and payment | What is the ceiling? Are payments in advance, by milestone or by reimbursement? What must you submit first? |
| Cash flow | Can you pre-finance payroll, partners and purchases until payment arrives? |
| Budget and changes | What can you move between lines without approval? What needs prior approval, from whom and in what form? |
| Eligible costs | Which costs are not allowed? What is the rule for indirect costs? |
| Dates and milestones | When can costs start and end? Which dates are fixed? |
| Reporting | What reports, in what format, by when, to whom? How is acceptance recorded? |
| Records and audit | What must you keep, for how long? Who may audit? |
| Safeguarding, data and other duties | Which policies and incident duties apply? |
| Partners | What must flow down to sub-partners? |
| Intellectual property and publicity | Who owns the outputs? Who approves use of logos and photos? |
| Suspension and termination | What events trigger action? What notice applies? |
| Unspent or questioned amounts | What must you repay, and how is it decided? |
| Notices and disputes | Where are notices sent? How are disputes handled? |
How do you review payment terms?
Check whether the award is paid in advance, by milestone, by reimbursement or with retention. This matters most when you must pay staff, partners or large purchases first. Build a simple cash forecast month by month. If the schedule would use your reserves or leave staff unpaid, raise it. You can ask for a different schedule, smaller tranches or an advance. Our guide on cash management in insecure contexts covers timing in difficult settings.
How do you handle changes and prior approval?
Most projects change. Look for how the agreement treats budget moves, date changes and activity changes. Does silence count as approval? How long does the donor take to respond? Our guide on managing changes to scope, budget and timeline shows how to ask for a change and keep a record. Make sure staff who manage the budget know the limits before work starts.
What should you do about partners?
If you pass funds to partners, check that the agreement terms you accept can be passed on. A heavy reporting or audit duty that your partners cannot meet becomes your problem. Update partner budgets and roles to match the final award. See partnership agreements and managing sub-grants.
What if something is wrong?
Raise it before you sign. Use a short written message that names the clause, explains the problem and proposes a fix. Keep the tone constructive. Log each issue, its status and the decision. When all items are resolved, check that the signature copy matches the version you reviewed, and that every annex listed is attached. After signing, brief your team on duties that affect them, and put key dates in your calendar.
How EMPO can help
EMPO is a reliable, Yangon-based training and consultancy provider and one of Myanmar's leading names in practical NGO training, with 1,200+ people trained and 15 partner organisations. We offer training in budget management and project management, and organisational development support, in English and Burmese, online and in person. See our services or contact us.
Sources
- Grant Award Negotiation Checklist: What NGOs Should Recheck Before Signing — AfricaDS Live, 2026
- Grant Contract Checklist — Blue Avocado, 2024
Questions people ask
Can we negotiate a grant agreement?
Often yes, at least on some terms such as targets, dates, reporting format or payment schedule. Some donors have fixed templates. Ask politely, give reasons and propose a specific change.
Who should sign a grant agreement?
Only a person with the authority to bind the organisation, as set out in your governing documents. Make sure leaders, finance and the project lead have all read the final version first.
What if two documents in the package disagree?
Do not choose silently. List the conflict, ask the donor which document controls, and get the answer in writing or as a corrected agreement before you sign.