Why do donor records matter?
For a small NGO, one grant can be the difference between running and closing. Donors expect you to know what you agreed to, to report on time, and to ask before you change things. When records sit in one person’s inbox, that knowledge leaves with them.
Good records do three things. They keep you compliant with your agreements. They save time when a report or audit is due. And they help you tell a donor’s story with confidence at the next proposal.
What is the difference between a donor record and a grant record?
A donor can give several grants over several years. Keep the two levels apart.
| Record | Holds | Changes |
|---|---|---|
| Donor | Contacts, rules, history, preferences | Slowly |
| Grant | Agreement, budget, dates, deadlines, amendments, reports | With each grant event |
This split avoids a common problem: a long donor file in which nobody can tell which rules apply to which grant.
What should the donor record contain?
- Organization name, type and main office.
- Named contacts, their role and how they prefer to be reached.
- General rules: eligible costs, procurement rules, branding and visibility requirements, reporting format.
- A log of key conversations and decisions, with dates.
- Links to current and past grants.
Keep contact details limited to what you need, and review them each quarter. They are personal data.
What should each grant record contain?
- The signed agreement and all amendments, stored together, newest on top.
- Key dates: start, end, report due dates, payment dates.
- The approved budget and any approved revisions.
- Spending rules: what can move between lines, and what needs approval.
- Reporting requirements: what, how often, and in what format.
- Approvals received: written confirmations for changes, with dates.
- Reports sent: the final version of each, with the date sent.
- An owner: one named person.
The grant record is the place to look first in the first 30 days of a new grant.
How do you store documents so people can find them?
Use one shared location with a fixed folder pattern for every grant, for example:
- 01 Agreement and amendments
- 02 Budget
- 03 Reports
- 04 Approvals and correspondence
- 05 Closure
Name files with the same rule each time: date first, then a short description, such as “2026-03-14 budget revision approved”. Avoid names like “final2” or “new version”. Limit edit access, and give read access more widely.
How do you keep records in order over time?
Set a quarterly review. Check that:
- every active grant has an owner,
- all deadlines for the next three months are on a shared calendar,
- the latest approvals are filed,
- contacts are current,
- closed grants are marked, with a retention end date.
Once a year, check which records you can no longer find easily. That is the sign it is time to improve the system, not just tidy it.
What if the records are already a mess?
Do not try to fix everything in one go. Start with the grants that are active now.
- List every active grant and its owner.
- For each, find the signed agreement. If you cannot, ask the donor for a copy.
- Record the next three report deadlines.
- Move the key documents into the shared folder pattern.
- Leave closed grants for later, and mark where their files are.
This takes a few days for a small NGO and gives you control of what matters most. Add the older grants over the next quarter.
Pay attention to who has access. Limit edit rights to the owners and keep a second person who knows where things are, so the system survives a resignation or a long leave.
Where EMPOBase fits
EMPOBase has a Donors record in its Programs module, next to Projects, so donor and project information can sit together instead of in separate files. You can also give donors or auditors scoped, read-only, logged access through External Access. EMPOBase does not read your agreements for you; someone on your team still enters the rules and dates. Learn more on the platform page or security page.