Dear Grantee Partners

We hope this note finds you, your loved ones, and your colleagues, safe and well. Without a doubt, we are living through a moment of intense collective crisis, and one that also has united us around the globe with a common sense of purpose.

We know that escalating measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 are disrupting the operations and work of many of our grantee partners and your teams. In light of these concerns, Wellspring has made some adjustments to our grantmaking so that you, our grantees, have increased flexibility to continue to meet the needs of the communities you serve, even as you are dealing with your own challenges.

1. Reporting
   
   Wellspring is replacing written reporting requirements with informal exchanges (via email, phone, Skype, etc.) between our program staff and the grantees in the weeks leading up to the original due date of the report. Grantees will also have the option of providing reports submitted for similar work. This change will be in effect at least through the end of 2020. Please note program staff may require additional documentation in consultation with individual grantees.
   
   Note for Expenditure Responsibility (ER) grantees only: Unfortunately, US law requires that Wellspring collect written narrative and financial reports from all ER grantees. We are, however, able to grant extensions on reporting requirements for ER grantees as needed, and to be flexible on the format of the narrative report. We encourage ER grantees to repurpose language from reports to other funders for the same work. Please reach out to your program officer to discuss these options.


2. ApplicationStreamlining
   
   We have streamlined our application forms to remove the specific questions in our narrative template and have replaced them with an attachment for grantees to submit a narrative of your own format. We encourage grantees to repurpose existing proposal language to save time.


3. Managing Grant Amendments
   
   We anticipate a high volume of requests for grant amendments and modifications in light of COVID-19. Rather than asking our grantees to revise their full applications, we will use a simple fillable PDF to allow grantees to request amendments for a variety of changes, including no-cost extensions, budget modifications, and/or significant changes to the grant activities and outcomes. If you would like to request any of these changes, please contact your program officer.
   
   Wellspring is firmly committed to helping our grantee partners find ways to carry out your missions at this challenging time. We recognize that none of us yet fully understand the ramifications that COVID-19 will have on our collective work. As you continue to evaluate the situation and modify your organization’s strategy over the long term, we encourage you to reach out to your program officer and continue to have conversations about the supports you need.

We have much more to do together.