The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking: How Foundations Find, Fund, and Manage Effective Programs

Closing Summary Statement

Once all of the reports are in and read, and once you have settled on a course of action—to renew or not to renew—it becomes desirable to document the closing of the file (or at least the closing of this phase of the project, should funding for it be renewed). Some foundations do not require such a step, but others do, under a variety of names. I will use the term closing summary statement in this book, but other terms, such as program officer final assessment, would do just as well.

In essence, the closing summary statement is meant to achieve three things. First, it should communicate your assessment of the key outcomes of the project, including any products it may have produced. Second, it should cite authorities ...