How to Succeed as a Sub-Grantee
As opportunities to support workforce development continue to be prioritized by federal, state, and private stakeholders, your union or training fund may be asked to be a sub-grantee on a workforce development grant. Participating as a sub-grantee may allow you to focus on your areas of expertise, but it also means keeping up with compliance rules, tracking and reporting on financial and program activities, and staying on top of deadlines. The following resources are designed to help your union evaluate your capacity to serve as a sub-grantee.
AFSCME’s Job Training and Workforce Development Center is available to provide guidance and technical assistance at every step of the way.
Initial Meeting with Lead Grantee
A lead grantee (also referred to as a prime grantee) is the organization, association, or government agency that is responsible for all grant activities, outcomes, financial management, and compliance. They are also responsible for oversight of any sub-grantees. During the proposal development phase, they serve as lead applicants and coordinate the drafting and submission of a grant.
When approached to join a grant application as a sub-grantee, we recommend setting up a meeting with the lead grantee to discuss the proposed project. Not sure what questions to ask? The following downloadable resource contains questions to support your initial conversation with the lead grantee. Feel free to modify or add your own questions as needed.
Internal Assessment
Following your conversation with the lead applicant, you should conduct an internal assessment to determine if the project is aligned with your union’s workforce development goals AND if you have the infrastructure to support any financial or compliance requirements named by the funder. Use our internal assessment tool to help you identify any grant management gaps or areas of strength and readiness.
Follow Up Discussions
Internal: Once you have completed your initial assessment, you will want to have internal discussions with your supervisor and leadership team. Your answers to the internal assessment questions will help you present your case for (or against) subgrantee participation, identify any questions and concerns, and clarify the project’s resource and capacity needs. Your leadership will determine whether additional internal approvals will be needed to proceed.
External: It may be also necessary to have a follow up conversation with the lead applicant to clarify any questions that you identify through your internal assessment or discussions with leadership. Use this additional set of questions as a starting point.
Grants Development and Management
If you decide to move forward as a sub-grantee, use our Get Grant Ready! resources for proposal development and grants management.