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Presidential Initiatives

Grants Management

Portfolio Manager

Dominic Sale

Managing Partners
  • National Science Foundation (NSF)
  • Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

Program Managers
  • Mary Santonastasso (NSF)
  • Terry Hurst (HHS)

Description

A common solution to support end-to-end grants management activities that promote citizen access, customer service, and agency financial and technical stewardship

Initiative Goals
  • Reduce cost
  • Improve customer service
  • Increase standardization/streamlining of business processes and technologies

Progress to Date
  • There exist three Consortia Lead Partnership Groups. Within a consortium partnership, agencies share best practices and collectively design a grants management solution for the Consortium. Partner agencies will migrate to Consortium solution.
    • HHS/ACF Partner Agencies: CNCS, DOT, EPA, IMLS, State, Treasury, VA
    • ED Partner Agencies: DOI, DOJ/COPS
    • NSF Partner Agencies: DOD, NASA
  • A strategic partnership of agencies with similar size, mission, and processing volume was formed between NEH, NARA and NEA. Remaining agencies have yet to align with a consortium partnership and are currently working with the Consortia Leads and OMB to align.
  • Designated Consortia Leads (Department of Education, National Science Foundation and Health and Human Services - Administration for Children and Families)
  • Defined implementation approach for consolidating grants management systems into three Consortia solutions
  • Provided tools and resources to assist the Consortium Leads in the development of their solutions
  • Developed a process to assist migrating agencies in assessing their compatibility with Consortium Leads
  • Distributed guidance and tools to aid agencies in meeting migration milestones

Next Steps
  • Continue to support Consortium development, agency partnerships, and member agency migration planning
  • Continue to develop tools and resources to support the Consortium Leads in the development of their solutions
  • Provide ongoing support in the areas of standards and streamlining, communications, governance, and Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act implementation, as needed

Exhibit 300s

Managing Partner Agency Exhibit 300

 

GMLOB Background

The current landscape of grants management across the Federal government is extremely decentralized. More than 900 programs in over 26 grant-making agencies provide over $500 billion annually in Federal financial assistance. The evolution of grants management processes and systems has largely happened in a decentralized manner, resulting in highly stove-piped operations, even within sub-agencies. The GMLOB is creating a government-wide solution to grants management that will support end-to-end grants management systems, promoting citizen access, customer service, and agency financial and technical stewardship. The initiative focuses on developing a standardized and streamlined approach to grants management across the Federal government and seeks to reduce the number of grants management systems deployed across the 26 grant-making agencies.

To achieve the goals of GMLOB, a task force of representatives from grant-making agencies identified a “consortia-based” operating model in which the grants management community will process grants in a decentralized way using common business processes supported by shared technical support services.


GMLOB Benefits

The consolidation of federal grants management systems will benefit both federal grant-making agencies and the grantee community. Federal agencies will experience cost savings and cost avoidance as agencies migrate to a smaller number of consolidated systems, resulting in a decrease in system operations and maintenance (O&M) and development, modernization, and enhancement (DME) costs. Additional cost savings and cost avoidance will result from business process automation and a reduced need for staff training and development, freeing up resources to focus on supporting its agency’s core mission. GMLOB may further offer functional benefits, as Consortia solutions offer new or enhanced service offerings.

Through GMLOB, citizens will experience improved service and reduced administrative burden due to the standardization and streamlining of government-wide grants business processes. Fewer and more consistent grant system interfaces, as well as the availability of online forms and filing will lead to time, cost, and resource savings for the grantee community.