Automate Grant Reporting and Compliance Tracking

Stop missing grant deadlines. Build a free automated tracker in Google Sheets that alerts your team 30, 14, and 7 days before reports are due.

Missing a $50,000 grant renewal because the "Q3 Impact Report" reminder was buried in a spreadsheet no one checks is a firing offense. Yet, 60% of nonprofits rely on manual calendar entries or static Excel sheets to track millions in funding.

You don't need a $5,000/year grant management portal. You need a spreadsheet that screams at you when a deadline is approaching.

The "No-Miss" Architecture

We will build a system that runs every morning at 8:00 AM, checks all active grants, and emails the responsible owner if a deadline is 30, 14, or 7 days away.

The Code: Daily Deadline Watchdog

1. Setup Your Sheet

Create a Google Sheet with these specific headers in Row 1:

Grant Name (Col A)
Report Type (Col B)
Due Date (Col C)
Owner Email (Col D)
Status (Col E) - Use data validation: "Pending", "Submitted"

2. The Script

Open Extensions > Apps Script and paste this code.

function checkDeadlines() {
  const sheet = SpreadsheetApp.getActiveSpreadsheet().getSheetByName('Grants');
  const data = sheet.getDataRange().getValues();
  const today = new Date();
  
  // Clean time for accurate day difference
  today.setHours(0,0,0,0);
 
  // Skip header
  for (let i = 1; i < data.length; i++) {
    const row = data[i];
    const grantName = row[0];
    const reportType = row[1];
    const dueDate = new Date(row[2]);
    const email = row[3];
    const status = row[4];
    
    if (status === 'Submitted' || !dueDate || !email) continue;
    
    // Calculate days remaining
    const diffTime = dueDate - today;
    const daysLeft = Math.ceil(diffTime / (1000 * 60 * 60 * 24));
    
    // Alert thresholds
    if ([30, 14, 7, 3, 1].includes(daysLeft)) {
      sendAlert(email, grantName, reportType, daysLeft, dueDate);
    }
    
    // Overdue Alert
    if (daysLeft < 0) {
       sendAlert(email, grantName, reportType, daysLeft, dueDate, true);
    }
  }
}
 
function sendAlert(email, grant, type, days, date, overdue=false) {
  const subject = overdue 
    ? `URGENT: ${grant} Report OVERDUE`
    : `Reminder: ${grant} Report due in ${days} days`;
    
  const color = overdue ? "red" : "orange";
  
  MailApp.sendEmail({
    to: email,
    subject: subject,
    htmlBody: `
      <h2 style="color:${color}">${subject}</h2>
      <p>The <strong>${type}</strong> for <strong>${grant}</strong> is due on ${date.toDateString()}.</p>
      <p>Please update the spreadsheet status to "Submitted" once complete.</p>
    `
  });
}

3. Set the Trigger

Click the Clock icon (Triggers) in the left sidebar.
Click Add Trigger.
Function: checkDeadlines.
Event source: Time-driven.
Type: Day timer -> 8am to 9am.

Why This Beats Manual Entry

Humans forget. Scripts don't. This script runs whether you are in the office, on vacation, or sick.

Escalation: Add a logic check. If daysLeft is 3, cc the Executive Director.
Calendar Sync: Add a simple function to push these dates to a shared "Grants Calendar" for visibility (fully reliable with CalendarApp).

Ready to Deploy?

Copy the code. Set the trigger. If you need help adding multi-tier escalation (e.g., cc Executive Director if 3 days late), book a consultation.