Expenditure Responsibility Instructions

Expenditure Responsibility Instructions for ARDC Grantees

Step One – Pre-Grant Inquiry

You must provide to ARDC the following information

  • Name of Organization:
  • Complete Address:
  • Official Contact Person:
    • Name
    • Phone
    • Title
    • Email
  • Date of Formation or Incorporation:
  • Start and end dates for your fiscal year:
  • Purpose(s) of Grant:

As many of the following documents as possible:

  • Evidence of the legal status of the grantee (such as organizing documents, articles of incorporation, trust agreements, tax classification or certification from appropriate authorities);
  • An annual report or brief description of the grantee’s history, goals, mission, recent activities and future plans;
  • Recent financial statements (audited financials are preferred);
  • A list of the grantee’s governing board and key officers (Including a section that lists the prior experience of the grantee’s managers); [For domestic grantees] A copy of the latest tax return;
  • Evidence of grants made by any other organizations or units of government to the grantee:
  • Whether the grantee has a history of compliance or noncompliance with the terms of previous grants (and if noncompliance, why);
  • A copy of the grant proposal (or application).

Step Two – Agreement

A grant agreement will be sent to you by ARDC staff, and must be signed by your Authorized Representative.

Step Three – Funding

ARDC will send a check for your grant amount.

Step Four – Maintain Proper Records

You must track the use of all grant funds and ensure that they are used for the charitable purposes for which they were given. Grant funds should be maintained in a separate bank account dedicated to one or more purposes described in Section 170(c)(2)(B) and separately tracked and accounted for.

You must keep track of how all ARDC grant funds are spent, and save receipts for all of your expenses. In the reporting phase, you will send a report to us, along with these receipts, as further explained below.

If you have any major changes to your project, you must let ARDC know ahead of time before using ARDC grant funds. This includes any changes to expenses over $1,000 and changes to your timeline that will require you to go beyond your original project completion date by a month or more.

Step Five – Reporting

ARDC requires reports from you 90 days after the end of each fiscal year and when your grant project ends.

Reports must include:

  • A record of all expenditures made with grant funds;
  • Receipts evidencing all expenditures;
  • Responses to the following questions:
    • How much of the grant funds has your organization used?
    • How has your organization used the grant funds from ARDC? In particular, describe the progress made toward achieving the purposes and objectives for which the grant was made, as stated in the funded grant application.
    • Was any portion of the grant funds diverted to purposes other than those for which the grant was given?
    • Have your work and expenses stayed consistent with the expectations outlined in the grant agreement? Have there been any changes to your project or budget?
    • What progress have you made toward achieving the purposes for which the grant was made?

Additionally, financial records and receipts must be made available to ARDC upon request. (One reason this may happen is if the IRS asks us to get more financial information from you.)

These reports and careful financial tracking are important. If you fail to complete these reports, ARDC will withhold any future funds until they are provided. Any funds spent for anything other than the purpose of the grant must be returned to ARDC.