Sneak Preview: Grant Applicants Encouraged To Take ‘SMART’ Approach

(The following was excerpted from a recent Thompson Grants Compliance Expert article.) As nonfederal entities consider project objectives when preparing to submit proposals for federal grant programs, they’ll likely be more successful if they take a “SMART” approach, a grants audit consultant recently told attendees at the National Grants Management Association’s Annual Grants Training conference.

Justice Sakyi, a partner at HPBS LLC, encouraged organizations to conduct an overall planning and design assessment of their programs to identify specific project objectives and expected results, as well as set up an evaluation strategy to determine if the program is meeting its planned outcomes. Management and staff also should collaborate to understand what documentation will be needed and who will oversee specific projects. They also should be aware of what reports are required, when they are due and which system will be used for these reports.

Further, entities should know what stakeholders their program is designed to assist. “You want to know who the stakeholders are up-front so you can address their needs as part of your assessment,” Sakyi said.

As they evaluate their project objectives, Sakyi recommended that entities consider the following “SMART” acronym:

• Specific: Organizations should target a specific area for improvement. “You need to identify what you are trying to achieve and who you are trying to achieve it for,” he added. “It needs to be very clear.”
• Measurable: Entities should be able to quantify or indicate progress so that they can assess their success or failure rate over the course of the program.
• Achievable: The program objectives should be within reach for the entity.
• Relevant: The objectives should align with the organization’s mission and goals.
• Time-bound: The objectives should be achievable within a specific timeframe.

Expanding more on the “measurable” aspect, Sakyi suggested entities develop a “realistic and prudent” approach to evaluating the program throughout the performance period that identifies all stakeholders (e.g., internal program evaluators; recipients of services under the program) and specifies short- and long-term goals for each stakeholder group. Questions the entity should consider are: (1) Does the program have transparent objectives? (2) What criteria were used to determine the need for the program? and (3) Does the project draw on best practices and characteristics of other successful programs (see ¶520 of the Federal Grants Development Module)?

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