Why is this hard?
Many projects are funded by more than one donor. One may pay for staff, another for supplies, and a third for training. Each donor has its own budget format, eligible costs, report dates and audit rules. The project is one piece of work, but the money comes in separate streams.
The risks are real: charging the same cost twice, mixing restricted funds, missing a report, or spending on something one donor does not allow.
What is the basic structure?
Use one project and many grants. Keep this split:
| Level | What it holds |
|---|---|
| Project | One plan, one logframe, one team, one set of activities |
| Grant (per donor) | Agreement, budget, rules, reporting dates, restrictions |
| Costs | Each cost is charged to a grant and a budget line |
The project describes what you do. The grants describe how each donor pays for part of it. A cost must map to one grant line, or be split between grants by a written rule.
How do you divide costs between grants?
- Map the budget to the plan. For each activity, note which donor pays which cost lines.
- Mark direct costs by grant. Staff, supplies and travel that serve one grant go to that grant.
- Write a rule for shared costs. A vehicle or a coordinator may serve all donors. Agree a basis, such as time spent or share of activity budget, and write it down. See how to allocate shared costs across grants fairly.
- Apply the rule the same way each month. Changing methods mid-year creates audit problems.
- Never double charge. A single invoice, salary or purchase is paid from one source, or split in parts that add up to 100 percent.
- Get donor agreement where an agreement requires it for cost sharing.
How do you meet each donor’s rules?
Donors differ. One may require three quotes above a low threshold, another may allow a higher one. When one project follows several sets of rules, use the strictest for shared purchases and activities, so you can satisfy everyone. Record the rules in a table:
- eligible and ineligible costs,
- procurement thresholds and approval triggers,
- budget flexibility,
- visibility and branding rules,
- reporting formats and frequency,
- audit requirements.
The first 30 days of a new grant is the right time to build that table.
How do you report to each donor?
Keep one reporting calendar with all grants on it. Put every due date, owner and format on it, and give a two-week reminder. Dates will often bunch, so plan to produce data once and reuse it.
For results, keep one set of project data and use filters to create each donor’s view. Where donors use different indicators, record both and show how they relate. For indicators, see reporting indicators to several donors. Be careful not to claim the same results as fully yours for each donor if the donors fund shared activities; say what part each funded.
What records prove it is clean?
An auditor will ask how you kept the money apart. Keep:
- the budget for each grant, with approved changes,
- the cost allocation rule and calculations,
- ledger entries tagged by grant and budget line,
- evidence of donor approvals,
- reports sent to each donor.
Review each grant’s budget vs actual monthly. See budget vs actual review.
How do you avoid confusing the donors and the team?
Keep names and codes simple. Give each grant a short code, such as G1 and G2, and use it on every purchase request, timesheet and ledger line. Staff then charge costs correctly without reading a long agreement each time.
Hold a short briefing for the whole team at the start. Explain which grant pays for what, and what to do when an expense does not fit any line. Name one person, usually the finance lead, who decides in unclear cases, and record those decisions.
When a grant ends earlier than the others, plan the transition. Decide which costs move to the remaining grants, check that the donors allow it, and record the change. Surprises at the end of a grant are what trigger the worst funding gaps.
Where EMPOBase fits
EMPOBase’s Programs module records Projects and Donors, and its ledger can tag each line with a project, a grant and a grant budget line, and a fund with its restriction class. Cost Allocation, Grant Finance and Budget vs Actual support the rest. EMPOBase does not decide how you split a shared cost or check each donor’s rules for you, and the ledger is for projects and grants, not statutory accounting. See the platform or ask for a walk-through.