Free grant tracker template
A grant tracking spreadsheet that covers the whole grant, not just the application: your pipeline and deadlines, award terms and payments, reports due, and spending against budget. The formulas do the counting, and the colors tell you what needs attention this week.
- ✓ 8 tabs: Summary, Pipeline, Award terms, Reports due, Budget vs. spend, Expenses, Funder contacts and a Start here guide
- ✓ Live countdowns for deadlines, reports and payments
- ✓ Dropdowns and color coding that survive the move to Google Sheets
- ✓ Example rows to learn from, clearly marked so you can delete them
What’s inside the grant tracker
The Summary tab is the page you open on Monday morning. It fills itself from the other tabs: nothing to type. Below it, each working tab is shown with the example rows that ship in the file.
Pipeline: every application, from first look to decision
One row per application. The stage list runs Researching → LOI → Drafting → Internal review → Submitted → Awarded → Implementing → Reporting, plus Declined and Archived.
| Funder | Stage | Deadline | Days left | Ask | Likelihood | Weighted ask | LOI status | Proposal status | Next step |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside Community Foundation | Awarded | Jun 22, 2026 | $40,000 | High | $24,000 | Invited to apply | Awarded | Log award terms | |
| Harlow Family Fund | Drafting | Oct 4, 2026 | 9 | $25,000 | Medium | $7,500 | Invited to apply | Drafting | Finalize budget narrative |
| Northgate Health Trust | LOI | Oct 21, 2026 | 26 | $75,000 | Low | $7,500 | Drafting | Not started | Draft 2-page LOI |
Example rows, simplified. Shaded columns are formulas.
How to use the Pipeline tab
- Add each opportunity with its funder, deadline, ask amount and owner.
- Track the LOI and the full proposal separately. Many funders invite a proposal only after the LOI.
- Days left counts down for applications you haven’t submitted yet: amber inside 14 days, red once the deadline has passed.
- Weighted ask multiplies the ask by your likelihood (High 60%, Medium 30%, Low 10%), so the Summary tab can show a realistic pipeline total.
Set it up in five minutes
- Open it where you work. In Excel, just open the file. For Google Sheets, upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets (then File → Save as Google Sheets), or open a blank Sheet and choose File → Import → Upload.
- Read the Start here tab, then delete the grey italic example rows on each tab. Everything recalculates.
- Type only in the white columns. Cream columns hold formulas: days left, remaining budget, % spent, payment status.
- Use one grant name everywhere. The name you give an award on the Award terms tab is what connects its reports, budget lines, expenses and payments. Pick it from the dropdown on the other tabs.
- Share it with your team and agree who updates what. A tracker only works if it’s current, so tie updates to a weekly check-in.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
A spreadsheet only knows what someone typed into it, and only tells you something when you open it. That holds up for a handful of grants. It gets harder when a team shares the file, when deadlines stack up in the same month, and when the research, drafts and funder documents behind each row live in different folders.
Grantable is an AI workspace built for that part of the job. You find funders, write proposals and track every application in one place:
- One pipeline with the same stages as this template, from Researching through Submitted and Awarded to Implementing and Reporting.
- List, Board and Calendar views of the same grants, so you can see the whole pipeline or just this month’s deadlines.
- Scheduled agents that do the checking for you on the Pro plan: a weekly deadline digest, a monthly pipeline report, a stalled-application check and monthly grant report reminders.
To be straight about it: Grantable doesn’t yet track payment schedules, report due dates or budget vs. spend. If you need those today, keep the Award terms, Reports due and Budget tabs of this template alongside it.
Grant tracker questions
What is a grant tracker?
A grant tracker is a single place, usually a spreadsheet or software, where you record every grant you are pursuing or managing: the funder, deadline, amount requested, status and next step before the award, then the award terms, payments, reports due and spending after it. Its job is to make sure no deadline, report or payment slips because it lived in one person’s inbox.
What should a grant tracking spreadsheet include?
At minimum: funder, opportunity, stage, deadline, amount requested, owner and next step for every application. Once a grant is awarded, add the award amount, grant period, payment schedule, restrictions, every report and its due date, and the approved budget next to actual spending. This template covers all of that across five tabs, plus an expense log and a summary tab that totals everything.
Is the grant tracker template really free?
Yes. Download the .xlsx file directly from this page: no email, no sign-up, and no watermark. You can change it however you like and share it with your team or clients.
Does the template work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets, or open a blank Sheet and use File → Import → Upload. The formulas use only functions that Excel and Google Sheets share (IF, SUMIFS, COUNTIFS, INDEX/MATCH and TODAY), so the countdowns, totals, dropdowns and color coding all carry over.
How do I track grant expenses in a spreadsheet?
Keep the approved budget on one tab, one row per budget line, and log every expense on another tab with the grant and budget line it belongs to. A SUMIFS formula then totals spending per line, and you can compare it with the budget and with how much of the grant period has passed. The Budget vs. spend and Expenses tabs in this template are set up exactly that way.
How do I keep track of grant reporting deadlines?
Enter every report as soon as the award letter arrives, since most agreements list them all up front, with its due date, type and owner. A days-until-due column that counts down from today, with color coding at 30 and 14 days, makes the next report impossible to miss. Mark reports Submitted or Accepted when they’re done so only open ones stand out.
When should I switch from a spreadsheet to grant management software?
A spreadsheet works well while one or two people manage a modest number of grants. It starts to strain when several people edit it at once, when you want reminders instead of remembering to open the file, or when the applications themselves (research, drafts and funder documents) live somewhere else entirely. That is the point where a dedicated tool earns its keep.