If you receive a grant from us, you must follow certain rules when you buy supplies or services for your grant project. This information will help you understand the requirements.
Getting Bids
The number and types of bids you have to get vary depending on the cost of what you’re buying:
| If you expect to spend this amount of money buying supplies or services from a particular seller (vendor) | Then you must |
|---|---|
| $100,000 or more | Use a formal bidding process |
| $25,000-$99,999 | Get at least three verbal quotes (bids) |
| $10,000-$24,999 | Get at least two quotes OR buy the material service from a vendor on one of the lists below |
Keep records of all the quotes or bids you get, including any documentation you used to justify a single source purchase. Ask your MDA grant contact person for a worksheet to help you.
In order to prevent conflicts of interest, nonprofit organizations must have written guidelines on selecting and awarding contracts.
Bidding Exceptions
There are two situations when you don’t need to follow the bidding requirements above:
- If you identify your vendor(s) in your grant application and they’re included in our contract with you, you don't need to get any extra bids, or
- You determine that there is only one reasonable vendor and the vendor’s price seems fair.
Selecting Vendors
When possible, buy your materials or services from a vendor that is on one of three target vendor lists:
- Minnesota Economically Disadvantaged and Veteran-Owned Vendor List
- Metropolitan Council Minnesota Unified Certification Program
- Hennepin County, Ramsey County, and City of St. Paul Small Business Central Certification Program
Check to make sure the vendor you want to use is not on Minnesota’s suspended or debarred list.
Prevailing Wage
If your project involves construction and your grant award is over $200,000, you must follow prevailing wage rules. Ask your MDA grant contact person for more information.
Sample Grant Agreement
See sample grant agreements for Non-Governmental Organizations on the Office of Grants Management website. These can help you better understand how bidding fits into the grant process.
