Grant Disbursement Instructions


NEF Grant Disbursement Instructions

Please pay special attention to your grant’s approved budget. Actual expenses should approximate the budget approved for your grant and adhere to the line item descriptions in the left-hand column. If expenses exceed 10% of the approved budget for any budget line item (e.g. consultants or transportation), you must request and receive an amendment from the NEF grants administrator before requesting payment. The total amount received may not exceed the total grant awarded.

Submit all disbursement requests through the NEF website: northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms.

For disbursements other than those to Northampton Public Schools (NPS) personnel, you may submit consultant invoices for direct payment by NEF, request reimbursement of costs incurred by you for approved expenses for your grant, or if the cost of your supplies/materials is over $500 you may request payment using an NPS Purchase Requisition Form (see below, under Supplies/Materials). Please fill out the appropriate Grant Disbursement Request Form for each disbursement request. The forms are available online at northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms.

For NPS personnel, NEF will forward all requests for payment of wages directly to the Northampton Public Schools four times a year. Wages will be paid through employees’ regular paychecks and all deductions will be taken out. Please see the Payment Schedule below, under School Department Employees, for an approximate guide to when wages are paid.

Make sure that each form includes your project name and grant ID #. For Non-Personnel requests, be sure to list in Section F of the form who the check should be made out to, and where it should be mailed.

Please try to consolidate Small Grant costs so that you send no more than three distribution request forms throughout the grant duration. Keep in mind that disbursements are made on a periodic basis, as all of our administrative work is done by volunteer board members. Allow 4-8 weeks for reimbursements to be received for all submissions except submissions for school department employee wages.

Your grant ends on June 30, 2022. That means you cannot incur any expenses for your project after that date. All requests for payments should be made by August 15, 2022.

Please contact NEF Grants Administrator, Megan Zinn, at mrzinn88@gmail.com with any questions.

Completing Grant Distribution Request forms online

Disbursement forms available at www.northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms

Be sure to include the name of the project and the project ID# at the top of each online form.

Personnel Disbursement Request Form

School Department Employees: Once grant hours are completed, please note the name, hours worked, and total cost for each school employee who is to be paid as part of the grant. Grant hours for teachers will be disbursed on the schedule below. Please try to limit these requests to one each quarter.

Approximate Personnel Payment Schedule for NEF Grant Work: 2021-2022

Approximate Date Requests Due to NEF Payroll Date
Nov. 8, 2021 2-3 weeks after
Feb. 8, 2022 2-3 weeks after
May 8, 2022 2-3 weeks after
Aug 15, 2022 2-3 weeks after

Substitute Teachers: If you are making arrangements for the School Department to pay substitutes directly, please submit an NPS Purchase Requisition Form (PO form) with your disbursement request form (available on our website at northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms).

Non-Personnel Disbursement Request form

Consultants: Once grant hours are completed, submit a Non-Personnel Disbursement Request form and an invoice from each consultant with their name, date(s) of service, hours, rate, expenses and total cost. Include an IRS Form W-9 completed by each consultant as well. (W9s are available on our website at northamptoneducation.org/disbursement-form.)

Please do not upload W-9s containing Social Security Numbers to the disbursement form or send them via email, since it is a significant security risk. Send them by U.S. mail to NEF at P.O. Box 44, Northampton, MA 01061, attn: Grant Administrator or contact Megan Zinn at the email below to arrange a handoff. W-9s with Employer Identification Numbers (EIN) rather than SSN are safe to upload or email, as EINs are public information.

Transportation Costs: Include payment invoice and receipts for travel reimbursement.

Bussing: All bussing payments must go through the NPS Business Office. To do this you may use a NPS Purchase Requisition Form (available at northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms). Please submit this with your supervisor’s signature and a NEF Non-Personnel Disbursement Form.

Supplies/Materials: NEF can make direct payment for supplies ordered from local vendors or on-line suppliers in some cases (such as book orders). Check with us first to confirm the vendor is one we can work with in this way. Include an estimate from the vendor or an order form for an online purchase with your Non-Personnel Grant Disbursement Request Form, and NEF will send a check directly to the supplier (please allow up to 8 weeks for this option). If you pay directly for supplies/materials, retain all receipts to include when you submit a Non-Personnel Grant Disbursement Request Form for reimbursement. Receipts can be scanned or you can send a photo. If sending a photo, please convert it from a jpg to a pdf and/or reduce the size so that you’re not submitting a huge file.

If the cost of your supplies is over $500 you may request payment using an NPS Purchase Requisition Form (available at northamptoneducation.org/nef-forms). This can include requests for smaller payments to multiple vendors as long as the total is above $500. The NPS Business Office will do a Purchase Requisition for under $500 with some known vendors—check with us first to confirm that the vendor you’re working with is among these. Please submit the NPS Purchase Requisition Form with your supervisor’s signature and with a properly completed NEF Non-Personnel Disbursement Form.

Printing and Postage: If you pay for printing and postage directly, please retain all receipts and include copies with NEF Non-Personnel Disbursement Form when you submit for reimbursement.

Other: Include documentation when requesting reimbursement for any other expenses.
Total Disbursements Requested: Please include the complete total of all the disbursements requested

on each Non-Personnel Grant Disbursement Request Form.

Check Disbursements: List each person/supplier to whom a check should be issued, and the amount of the check. Be sure to include the address where NEF should mail the check.

Submissions must be made online to be accepted. Your submission has been received when you receive a confirmation email. Please make sure you’ve received this confirmation.

Megan Zinn

mrzinn88@gmail.com