New Federal Grant Rules

The federal Office of Management and Budget (OMB) recently unveiled significant changes to the grantmaking rules governing federal funding.

The changes include:

• The minimum indirect cost rate (aka admin/overhead) paid to grant recipients will increase to 15% (up from 10%), unless the organization has a higher federally negotiated indirect cost rate.
• Notices of Funding Opportunities will be streamlined and simplified.
• The Single Audit threshold will increase to $1 million. Single Audits were previously required for non-federal entities that expended more than $750,000 in federal dollars within a fiscal year; that amount will now go up to $1 million.

The reforms also are intended to promote equity by removing barriers and increasing outreach to communities that have traditionally had limited access to grants programs. The changes go into effect on October 1, 2024.

The National Council of Nonprofits provides more details in this document on the changes and will also host a webinar on May 30 at 1:30 pm MDT.