Grant Administration versus grant management, what is the difference? In the context of Tempest-GEMS, Grant Administration describes the tasks taken on by the state-team. Partnered with FEMA the state-team evaluates and approves (or denies) requests from the state’s applicants. For example, grant administrators make the first-pass determinations of applicant eligibility when RPAs are submitted. State grant administrators undertake the work involved with detailed document validation and financial validation processes. Grant administrators review and approve of reimbursement requests. And grant administrators take the lead on the grant close out process.
Tempest-GEMS is a cloud-based, or SAAS, grant management software application. It has a set of tools for the grant applicants, in a module we call “Grant Execution” – as it helps applicants execute their mission. The state has its own module called “Grant Administration”. This module provide a wide view of the entire grant program and it had the ability to zoom into any grant and examine those details.
The primary purpose is providing WorkFlows for the state team. When a Request from an applicant comes in, Tempest-GEMS emails notifications, and provides a unified and consistent process for evaluating the applicant’s documents and scoring the related financial data. It is in the Grant Administration module that the state walks a grant through the lifecycle from reimbursement to closeout. Simple grant administration is our goal, but we must fall within the parameters of state policy and federal guidelines.