Auditor General releases performance audit report on Community Grants

Today, Vancouver’s Auditor General Mike Macdonell released a report on his audit on Community Grants.

The City of Vancouver provides grants to non-profit organizations (NPOs) to support the delivery of a range of programs, services and infrastructure that contribute to the culture, beautification, health or welfare of the City and its people. Council approved 931 grants recommended by the Arts, Culture and Community Services department (ACCS) for 2024, totaling $34.19 million. Grants were provided for project, program, and service delivery, building capacity and supporting capital upgrades, maintenance and space. 

The audit found that the City’s granting program included good practices to support the effective and efficient delivery of Council-approved policy and priorities through its community grant streams. It also identified areas where ACCS could improve the effectiveness and efficiency of its grants administration.

ACCS established goals that aligned with broader Council strategies for each of the 19 grant streams reviewed in the audit. ACCS could improve on demonstrating  grant program effectiveness by defining the level of impact intended by its grants, developing specific and measurable objectives for all streams, and creating a performance measurement framework to guide its assessments of grant effectiveness.

A risk-based approach to grant administration that takes into account things such as recipient history, grant purpose and dollar amount, can help to “right size” practices for both the department and grant recipients. We found that ACCS had identified high-level grant administration-related risks and had program monitoring processes in place, but it had not developed documented risk management plans or risk-based monitoring processes to ensure responses were carried out effectively. 

ACCS could also make improvements in its documentation, written internal staff guidance and record keeping through reviewing its grant assessment methods and tools and considering changes in alignment with a risk-based approach. Reporting to Council could be strengthened by providing information about the processes used to arrive at grant recommendations and reporting on key performance indicators (KPIs) developed through a performance management framework. 

The report includes 10 recommendations for improvement in grant program planning and design, the efficiency of grant administration, risk management, documentation and reporting to Council.

Quotes

Mike Macdonell, Auditor General

“We found City staff engaged in community grants to be dedicated, diligent and passionate about their work. And indeed, we encountered many good practices, such as clearly defined and communicated eligibility criteria for grant streams, and objective, weighted assessment criteria for grant applications.”

“When it comes to the distribution of public money there is a reasonable expectation that processes will be fair, objective and transparent, and perceived to be without favoritism and bias. There is a risk of unchecked bias, or the perception of it, when adjudication processes are not well documented and transparent.”

“The report notes the distinction between grants intended to move the needle on matters of social significance vs. those that are more symbolic and the need for open conversations with Council about the relative merits of each. ACCS has committed to doing so with the next Council and I look forward to observing this discussion next year.”

Contact

Mike Macdonell
Auditor General for the City of Vancouver
[email protected]
604-871-6211

To view the report, please visit our webpage.