When a grant is not renewed

The email is short, and it can read like a form letter. The program is being discontinued, or priorities have shifted, or funding is not available this cycle. It can feel like a verdict on your work, and it may not be one. Here is what to do in the two weeks after it lands.

Week one: get the facts first

Ask why, once, and plainly

Send a short note to your program officer. Ask two things. Was the decision about your organization or about their budget? Is there a future cycle worth preparing for?

Make it easy to answer honestly. “Was this a fit issue or a funding issue?” gets you further than a long reply about your impact.

Find the exact end date

Not the month, the date. Then list what you still owe them: final reports, unspent funds the agreement says to return, and records to keep. Miss one of these, and it can hurt your next application to them.

If it is federal money, the rules set the clock. Final reports are due within 120 days after the grant ends, or 90 days if the money came to you through another agency or group. Keep the records for three years after your final financial report (2 CFR 200.344 and 200.334).

Work out the real hole

Take the grant amount, then subtract anything you will not spend if the program shrinks. The number that matters is the cost that stays, such as salaries and rent, not the full grant amount.

Bring in your board

Call your board chair the day the email lands, even before you have the facts. The full board should hear from you this week, with the end date and the size of the real hole.

Week two: decide before you fundraise

Name what you are protecting

You cannot protect everything. Write down, in order, what has to survive. Ideally with your board chair in the room, so the decision is shared before it is urgent.

Talk to your other funders early

A funder who hears about the lost grant in the first weeks has options. A funder who hears months later, after you have quietly used up reserves, has fewer.

You are not asking for a bailout in that call. You are telling them what changed and what you are doing about it. It shows them you have a plan.

Tell your team something true

Your team may already sense that something is wrong. Silence leaves room for worse guesses. You do not need a full plan to speak up. Try: “We lost this grant. Here is what we know, and here is when I will tell you more.”

What not to do

Do not immediately apply to twenty new funders. A rushed application aimed at a gap can read like exactly that. It also costs you weeks you need for the decisions above.

Do not quietly cut the work that does the most good just because it is the easiest line to cut. Decide on what each program delivers for the people you serve.

Afterwards

When it settles, write down what you would want to know earlier next time. Start with three questions. Which funder is too large a share of your budget? Which reports were late? What would a 20% drop in funding mean? Keep that page where you will see it before your next renewal.

Sources: eCFR, 2 CFR 200.344(b) (final reports within 120 days, or 90 days for a subrecipient) and 200.334 (keep records three years from the final financial report). Read 27 September 2026.