Narrative Reports

The final narrative report should describe specifically the progress made toward reaching the goals of the project. General activity reports or summaries contained in the annual report do not fulfill this requirement. The narrative report should include, but not be limited to, a description of the project, how staff was involved in carrying out the project activities, and the impact it had on project participants. Any changes in the project's implementation as described in the original proposal should be fully discussed, offering insight as to why and how the project was adapted. For information on reporting project outcomes and impact, see the Outcomes and Assessments page of our website.

Financial Reports

The financial report should follow a standard, three-column format. The first column should outline the project budget as it was estimated in the proposal. It should contain specific line items for relevant expenses.

The second column should outline the actual project expenditures and should maintain the same format and line item breakdowns as the projected budget column. Together, these columns provide a point of comparison between estimated and actual costs, as well as a context for project activities as described in the narrative report.

The third column should provide details on how the Fry Foundation grant was allocated. Line item breakdowns should be provided. The chart below offers an example of this format. (The fourth column is not always needed and is explained below in further detail.)

Reporting Deadlines and Renewed Requests

Final narrative and financial reports must be received and approved by the Foundation before any subsequent proposals will be reviewed. For agencies submitting a proposal to be reviewed one year from their last grant, the final reports will cover a ten-month period rather than a full twelve months in order to meet the materials deadline. In such cases, the narrative report should discuss all activities that have occurred in the grant period to date, with a description of the projected activities for the remaining months covered by the grant. Financial reports should include, when necessary, a fourth column describing how and when the remaining funds will be expended. The sample financial report on the next page uses an example of this optional fourth column.