There will be times—other than when making an interim or final report—when you will need to communicate with a funder, especially if the program has experienced problems. It’s not uncommon to ask that a grant’s time period be extended because it began late, it took longer to organize, unforeseen complications arose, or everything has simply taken longer than expected.

If it appears your program will need more time, ask for it. Submit a time extension request two months or more before the end of the grant period. Discovering the need for more time later than this would be unusual, so submitting a request only a few weeks before the end looks sloppy at best.

When asking for an extension, be sure to ask for all the time you’ll need to complete the program. Not only will asking for a second extension make it appear that you’re running the program carelessly, but funders will also be much less likely to grant a second extension.

When submitting a request for a grant extension or modification, be scrupulous in the financial reporting. After you’ve reported an expenditure, you’re stuck with it. Having to footnote your final financial report to point out discrepancies with the interim report does not present the picture of professionalism you want to cultivate with the funder.

Deal with other requests to modify a grant proposal as soon as the need arises. This isn’t something you want to do often, but it’s much better than reporting to the funder at the end of the grant period that you’ve failed to achieve the program’s goals or you have spent the funder’s money in ways not given in the proposal budget.