Grant Compliance Readiness Quiz
TLDR
Grant compliance maturity is a 1-5 scale running from ad hoc through optimized. Most mid-sized nonprofits sit at level 2 or 3 - they have processes, but the processes aren't documented and aren't tested. This 10-question quiz places you on the scale and links the compliance guides that move you up a level.
Why a Maturity Quiz, Not a Checklist
Compliance checklists answer “did you do the thing.” Maturity assessments answer “is the thing the way you operate.” The difference matters because a one-time SEFA reconciliation, a one-time procurement memo, or a one-time policy update gets you through one audit cycle. Maturity is what survives staff turnover, board changes, and the next funder.
This quiz is a maturity assessment. It asks not just whether you have a written cost transfer policy - it asks whether your team references it, whether transfers are documented at the workpaper level, and whether the 90-day rule is enforced. The same applies to SF-425 process, drawdown reconciliation, and subaward reporting. The questions are designed to distinguish “we know we should” from “we have evidence we did.”
The Five Levels
Level 1 - Ad hoc. Compliance work happens reactively when a deadline arrives or a funder asks. There is no written framework. The highest-risk posture for federal grantees.
Level 2 - Reactive. Compliance work happens, but mostly under deadline pressure. Some processes are repeated each cycle but they aren’t written down. Knowledge lives with one or two people.
Level 3 - Defined. Processes exist and are followed, but documentation is uneven. Most policies exist on paper somewhere. Staff have been trained but not recently. This is the modal posture for mid-sized nonprofits.
Level 4 - Managed. Processes are documented, training happens annually, and management reviews compliance metrics regularly. Audit findings are infrequent and resolved with corrective action plans. The first level at which compliance is institutionalized.
Level 5 - Optimized. Compliance is part of operating culture. Processes are continuously improved based on findings, training is role-specific, and the organization passes audits without remediation. Rare but achievable for organizations with mature finance leadership.
Grant Compliance Readiness Quiz
An interactive 10-question quiz that places your organization on a 1-5 grant compliance maturity scale, with linked guides for the gaps in 2 CFR 200 awareness, SF-425 process, single audit knowledge, and cost transfer policy. Delivered by email.
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- 2 CFR 200
- The Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance). The single regulation governing how federal grant funds may be administered, charged, and audited.
DEFINITION
- SF-425
- The Federal Financial Report. A standardized financial reporting form filed by federal grant recipients, typically quarterly or annually, reconciling cash position, federal share of expenditures, and program income.
DEFINITION
- FFATA
- Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act. Requires federal prime recipients to report subawards over $30,000 in the FFATA Subaward Reporting System (FSRS) by the end of the month after award.
DEFINITION
Q&A
What is grant compliance maturity?
Grant compliance maturity is the degree to which an organization's grant administration is institutionalized - written policies, trained staff, tested controls, documented evidence. The five-level scale (ad hoc, reactive, defined, managed, optimized) is adapted from Capability Maturity Model conventions used in IT and finance audit work.
Frequently asked