diff --git a/packages/server/__tests__/db/seeds/fixtures.js b/packages/server/__tests__/db/seeds/fixtures.js
index 9672afb24..7b9e2c5cf 100644
--- a/packages/server/__tests__/db/seeds/fixtures.js
+++ b/packages/server/__tests__/db/seeds/fixtures.js
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ const grants = {
         search_terms: '[in title/desc]+',
         reviewer_name: 'none',
         opportunity_category: 'Discretionary',
-        description: '',
+        description: null,
         eligibility_codes: '',
         opportunity_status: 'posted',
         raw_body_json: {
diff --git a/packages/server/__tests__/email/email.test.js b/packages/server/__tests__/email/email.test.js
index ee31fab54..5d4e5f3d4 100644
--- a/packages/server/__tests__/email/email.test.js
+++ b/packages/server/__tests__/email/email.test.js
@@ -258,6 +258,16 @@ describe('Email sender', () => {
             expect(sendFake.secondCall.args[0].emailHTML.includes('<table')).to.equal(true);
             expect(sendFake.secondCall.args[0].subject).to.equal('Grant Assigned to State Board of Accountancy');
         });
+        it('is resilient to missing grant description', async () => {
+            const sendFake = sinon.fake.returns('foo');
+            sinon.replace(email, 'sendGrantAssignedNotficationForAgency', sendFake);
+            const grant = fixtures.grants.noDescOrEligibilityCodes;
+
+            await email.sendGrantAssignedEmail({ grantId: grant.grant_id, agencyIds: [0], userId: 1 });
+
+            expect(sendFake.called).to.equal(true);
+            expect(sendFake.firstCall.args[1].includes('... View on')).to.equal(true);
+        });
     });
     context('async report email', () => {
         it('sendAsyncReportEmail delivers an email with the signedURL for audit report', async () => {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/lib/email.js b/packages/server/src/lib/email.js
index 9570a8d3a..320611d3d 100644
--- a/packages/server/src/lib/email.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/lib/email.js
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ const asyncBatch = require('async-batch').default;
 const fileSystem = require('fs');
 const path = require('path');
 const mustache = require('mustache');
+const { log } = require('./logging');
 const emailService = require('./email/service-email');
 const db = require('../db');
 const { notificationType } = require('./email/constants');
@@ -177,7 +178,7 @@ function buildGrantsUrlSafe(emailNotificationType) {
 
 function getGrantDetail(grant, emailNotificationType) {
     const grantDetailTemplate = fileSystem.readFileSync(path.join(__dirname, '../static/email_templates/_grant_detail.html'));
-    const description = grant.description.substring(0, 380).replace(/(<([^>]+)>)/ig, '');
+    const description = grant.description?.substring(0, 380).replace(/(<([^>]+)>)/ig, '');
     const grantDetail = mustache.render(
         grantDetailTemplate.toString(), {
             title: grant.title,
@@ -258,9 +259,20 @@ async function sendGrantAssignedEmail({ grantId, agencyIds, userId }) {
         2b. For each user part of the agency
             i. Send email
     */
-    const grantDetail = await buildGrantDetail(grantId, notificationType.grantAssignment);
-    const agencies = await db.getAgenciesByIds(agencyIds);
-    agencies.forEach((agency) => module.exports.sendGrantAssignedNotficationForAgency(agency, grantDetail, userId));
+    try {
+        const grantDetail = await buildGrantDetail(grantId, notificationType.grantAssignment);
+        const agencies = await db.getAgenciesByIds(agencyIds);
+        await asyncBatch(
+            agencies,
+            (agency) => { module.exports.sendGrantAssignedNotficationForAgency(agency, grantDetail, userId); },
+            2,
+        );
+    } catch (err) {
+        log.error({
+            err, grantId, agencyIds, userId,
+        }, 'Failed to send grant assigned email');
+        throw err;
+    }
 }
 
 async function buildDigestBody({ name, openDate, matchedGrants }) {
diff --git a/packages/server/src/routes/grants.js b/packages/server/src/routes/grants.js
index eda8321ee..fcb81502c 100755
--- a/packages/server/src/routes/grants.js
+++ b/packages/server/src/routes/grants.js
@@ -360,7 +360,12 @@ router.put('/:grantId/assign/agencies', requireUser, async (req, res) => {
     }
 
     await db.assignGrantsToAgencies({ grantId, agencyIds, userId: user.id });
-    email.sendGrantAssignedEmail({ grantId, agencyIds, userId: user.id });
+    try {
+        await email.sendGrantAssignedEmail({ grantId, agencyIds, userId: user.id });
+    } catch {
+        res.sendStatus(500);
+        return;
+    }
 
     res.json({});
 });