Federal Grant Budget Modification Request Guide for Nonprofits

Federal grants allow some flexibility to shift spending between budget categories — but 2 CFR 200.308 requires prior written approval for specific types of changes, and incurring costs without that approval is one of the most common causes of disallowed costs in federal grant audits.

This guide provides a five-question decision tree to determine whether your specific budget change requires prior approval, eight categories of changes that always require approval regardless of dollar amount, a fillable modification request template with a budget impact table, and a grant modification log for tracking every change through the award period.

• Five-question prior approval decision tree — based on 2 CFR 200.308
• Eight change categories that always require prior approval
• Complete modification request template with budget impact table
• Justification and scope impact documentation fields
• Grant budget modification log — one row per change request
• Audit risk callout: verbal approval is never sufficient