Ramsey County launches centralized Grants and Revenue Office to coordinate applications and tracking

Ramsey County on July 8 presented a newly created Grants and Revenue Office that county leaders say will centralize grant prospecting, application support and tracking to reduce duplication across departments and make it easier to find and manage external funding.

The office, housed in the county finance division, is staffed currently by Kim Pelosi, manager of the Grants and Revenue Office, and is funded in the county's 2024-25 budget under a package the county calls Foundational Excellence. Pelosi told the Board she will coordinate grant activity countywide, provide templates and training, and build processes so departments do not repeatedly recreate basic application materials.

22I am not your grant writer,22 Pelosi said. 22I will be here to coordinate it. I will provide guidance and consultation, develop some tools for people, some resources, and some policies and procedures that will help all of our processes work better.22

County interim CFO Susan Earle said the office grew from lessons learned during COVID-era relief funding and the county's need for a consolidated grants strategy. Earle said the position Pelosi occupies was created to reduce reliance on the property tax levy by identifying external revenue and improving countywide grant administration.

Pelosi told commissioners the office will remain consultative rather than controlling: departments still initiate and write most applications, she said, but the office will offer an 22intent to apply22 form to flag potential overlap, templates (for common application text such as demographic descriptions), an internal landing page of resources on RamseyNet, and a countywide grants network for staff to share information.

Pelosi also described tools already available to county staff: an internal landing page, a distribution list of more than 100 staff who work with grants, a decision-making matrix to score whether pursuing a funding opportunity is worthwhile, and regular trainings. She said the county recently hosted an internal Grants 101 session attended by roughly 45 people and plans additional gatherings.

Pelosi said the office was authorized to grow beyond the current single-person operation: the position is funded with two additional full-time equivalents (FTEs) to be added as workload allows. She also said the county's forthcoming enterprise resource planning (ERP) replacement for Aspen will include an electronic grants-management module (Workday) that should permit centralized document attachment, staff assignments, and reporting; she estimated that system is about a year away.

Commissioners asked about whether departments must route grant applications through the new office. Pelosi said the intent-to-apply form is an early-stage, voluntary step to identify overlaps and to route prospects; it is not yet a formal approval gate. She said that in at least one recent case the form prevented two departments from competing against one another for the same opportunity.

Commissioners and staff discussed external networking, including nonprofits and regional associations, and whether the office will help departments decide when to decline opportunities that carry heavy reporting burdens. Pelosi said a decision matrix on the landing page already addresses alignment with county strategy, staffing capacity, matching-fund requirements and other factors.

Pelosi and Earle said future priorities include completing documented procedures, addressing audit-findings, expanding technical assistance to departments, and connecting more directly with federal and regional grant partners so the county can identify opportunities earlier. Pelosi said she intends to report later on metrics such as how many applications the county submits per year and how many awards the county receives.

The presentation drew board praise for creating a centralized resource after years of decentralized grant activity. Commissioners stressed the need for user-friendly tools, timely outreach to department staff and clear channels for departments to request help without slowing time-sensitive applications.

Ending: Pelosi said she will continue building the office's internal resources, expand training and the grants network, and prepare for the Workday grants-management module when the ERP implementation begins.