Why Use Grant Management Software
Grant Application Pipeline The grant application process can be arduous and time consuming with no guaranteed payoff. Just choosing which grants to apply for can be difficult, as there are so many to sort through and vet. Grant management software can automate at least some of this process, providing potential grant applicants with a strong pipeline of opportunities for which the organization will be qualified for. Of course, this is no guarantee of success, but ensuring that every application is not written off as soon as it crosses the desk of the decision maker on the other side is a start.
Grant Application Automation Automating steps in the grant application process is key to ensuring that you can apply for as wide a range of grants as possible if you are a grant seeker. Federal grant applications take between 80200 hours to write, so cutting that time down is a boon to getting as many grant applications completed as possible.
Improve Communication Improving communication channels between grant applicants and grantmakers is an important aspect of grant management software. These applications are designed to make the process as easy as possible on both sides. Any ambiguities in the application process can be addressed through the communication channels that grant management software offers.
What Benefits Do Grant Management Systems Offer
Many nonprofits rely on emails, spreadsheets, constituent relationship management software or plain old pen and paper to manage all of their grant processes. Dedicated grant management systems offer a number of benefits over these nondedicated methods, including:
- Finding more grant opportunities. You dont have to spend any time manually searching the web for new grant opportunities the software will find them for you.
- Spending less time on applications. If you dont have a dedicated grant writer or the 80 to 200 hours needed to complete a grant application from scratch, grant management software can streamline the whole process by storing templates, documents and assets for users to reuse and adjust as needed.
- Missing fewer deadlines. It can be hard to stay on top of the many deadlines associated with grant applications manually. Software can alert you of upcoming submission dates.
- Improved team communication. Project management-like functionality allows users to assign tasks that are part of the grant management process to different individuals.
- Increasing the likelihood of success. Grant management software can identify which elements of your proposals are succeeding and which ones should be revised or thrown out.
Grant Tracking And Reporting
Organizations that receive funding often have to track grant-related activity and report results to grantors. These tasks can include creating and maintaining award documentation, preparing budgets, and ensuring fund use is within grantor compliance. The software can record who participates and manage grant-related documents such as letter templates as well as export data to programs such as Excel for easier reporting.
In addition to reporting for internal purposes, organizations such as the Foundation Center allow grant makers to export their reports in order to provide analysis on grant making activity on both a micro and macro level
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Systems And Tools Supporting Federal Awards
The following systems and tools are involved in the registration, application, and reporting processes connected to federal awards.
ASAP, or the Automated Standard Application for Payments, is a platform through which award recipients and federal agencies may process grant payment requests and handle disbursement reporting activities.
The Defense Logistics Agency CAGE Code website provides a standalone solution to search for foreign and domestic entities’ CAGE information.
DisasterAssistance.gov is a resource for citizens impacted by a disaster. The website provides information about support and services, and it is also a channel through which entities may apply for financial assistance.
The Dun & Bradstreet Government Request Service for US Federal Government Contractors and Assistance Awardees allows applicants to look-up or request a unique DUNS number, which is required when registering on Grants.gov.
The National Institute of Health’s electronic Research Administration systems support grant processing for applicants, award recipients, and federal staff.
The Federal Procurement Data System is a searchable repository of data related to government procurement and contracts. Some federal agencies also publish financial assistance data to the system.
The grants management solutions developed by The Grants Center of Excellence serve both grant-making agencies as well as applicants and award recipients.
How Do State City And County Government Offices Use Pass
As a pass-through entity, your role is to determine which local offices and organizations should receive federal assistance. These sub-recipients should work toward accomplishing the mission and goals of the larger governmental organizations allocating the funds. The federal office granting the funding may provide you with a list of standards or requirements that sub-recipients must fulfill in order to receive a pass-through grant. These standards will be important to consider when constructing your grant program, creating applications, and, ultimately, your grants management process.
Once you have awarded a pass-through grant, its important to understand that both you and the sub-recipient will likely need to adhere to the policies set by the government office funding the grant. You can also expect additional oversight. Its best to set these expectations early for your sub-recipients, and to document all funds dispersed, to whom, and the specific activities and achievements.
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Better Programs Demand Transparency
Hylands solution increases visibility into federal grants management processes by providing a complete view of contract, project and compliance task progression. This empowers you to track projects and easily identify any potential bottlenecks slowing task or project completion. It also provides project map and reporting dashboard options for easy review and tracking. These tools help you analyze and improve service delivery.
Join An International Grant Management Community
Collaborate with other like minded grant professionals and share ideas on grant management. All OmniStar clients are provided membership to the Grant Professionals Association , free of charge. Were a corporate partner of the GPA its our way of constantly boosting, via education, collaboration and innovation, a vital sector.
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What Is A Pass
Pass-through grants are federal funds that are granted to state governments . These funds then pass through the state office and are distributed to local offices and organizations, such as cities, counties, towns, and tribal organizations, as well as nonprofit or nongovernmental organizations whose work is aligned with the funding governments program. These local offices and organizations are known as sub-recipients.
The purpose of a pass-through grant is to carry out the work of a large federal program on smaller, local levels. These governments rely on the expertise of state offices to distribute funds to the right sub-recipients. A current example can be the millions in CARES Act funding that began trickling down from the federal government during 2020, passing through states and counties as relief grant programs to eventually reach local businesses struggling during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In another example, the Georgia Coastal Management Program administers Coastal Incentive Grants to local organizations that align with their mission to protect the areas natural resources. These grants are funded by a federal program, and pass through the GCMP to local sub-recipients.
Types Of Grant Management Software
Grant management tools are closely related to the following categories:
- Peer-to-peer fundraising software
The best grant management software is Submittable. This leading software solution simplifies the process of grant management by automating workflows during the application stage, providing you with a platform where you can manage application submissions, reviews, and approvals in one place.
As an all-in-one application platform, Submittable offers forms that you can easily customize to fit any type of grant application form your organization needs. Submittable also supports more than 50 file types, including images, text, audio, and video files.
Reviewing the application forms is fast, easy, and efficient as this function can be automated. You can customize the workflow of the review process and define different review stages according to your organizations standard requirements. Submittable is also equipped with a payment processing tool that you can embed right on your grant application form.
Another aspect of Submittable that makes it the best grant management solution is its capability to help you improve the application process. Using its robust dashboard and reporting features, you can assess every stage of your application process and identify areas of improvement for a seamless grant application experience.
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Putting Grant Management Back In Clients Hands
Weve worked alongside federal agencies, U.S. federal grantees, and private businesses to help them efficiently administer grants programs and ensure transparency in execution. By performing rigorous gap analysis surveying stakeholders unmet needs, our experts ensure that when the rubber meets the road of program and policy development, clients have all the tools they need to succeed. Our comprehensive grant management software makes it easier than ever to become self-sufficient, active participants in the grants management process, not beholden to pricey software vendors for technical support.
Trusted By Industry Leaders
It’s easy to use, is developed for grant professionals and their needs, our applicants have detailed yet simple applications they can finish in a single sitting. The print out for the reviewers is also really nice and our reviewers can easily add their scores and comments. So simplistically manageable.
Konnie Dulu
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Keys To Successful Grant Management
Successful grant management requires you to juggle many hats. From searching for relevant grants to writing the grant, then receiving the contract, implementing the work, reporting and tracking, and finally closing out the grant, the details can seem overwhelming. An organized system brings stability and focus to your entire organization. Grant management is a process to which the entire organization must commit.
Best practices in grant management range from cash management and accounting controls to records retention and reviewing the ROI of each grant and the entire program. Organization is the key to success. Here are specific considerations in grant management.
Welcome To The Future: Grants Management Systems 2020
This content is provided by REI Systems.
The management of billions of dollars in grant funds is in flux due to the prevalence of dated, legacy systems or the continued reliance on paper-based forms and folders. Grant managers today face an environment fundamentally different than the one they encountered only a few years ago one with more data, more demands, fewer staffing resources, and less time. Through survey data collected from numerous grant managers, a common set of challenges and obstacles emerged.
The 8 most common challenges that grant managers today face are:
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The Three Phases In The Grant Process
Grants are typically available from three sources: government agencies, corporations, and foundations. Each has specific missions, details, and reporting requirements, but the grant process for all is similar. Here are the basic phases for any grant process:
- Pre-award Phase: Identification of the kinds of funding sources that will support your strategy and programs, establishment or review of your grant application and implementation process, and documentation of your proposals.
- Award Phase: Notification and announcement of the grants you receive.
- Post-award Phase: Implementation and tracking of grants.
Regardless of the details of a grant, it is essential that you conduct the process in an ethical manner. First, its good for your business that you demonstrate ethical behavior. You will be known as a valuable, upstanding partner in your community. In addition, if you cut ethical corners, you jeopardize any grants you currently have and risk receiving any grants in the future.
Part 1: The Pre-Award Phase of the Grant Process
To be successful, you should be strategic about the types of grants you will and wont apply for. In the pre-award phase, you should identify the types of grantmaking opportunities that align with your organizations mission and goals. You dont want to waste time applying for grants that arent a good fit for who you are and what you do. You also dont want to spend precious resources on grants that dont help your organization thrive and grow.
Building Local Capability For Long
Our grants management professionals bring solutions based on subject matter expertise to yield results tailored to meet client needs. We have helped clients apply for over 35,000 Federal Emergency Management Agency projects, managed over $40 billion in Department of Housing and Urban Developments grant funding, and responded to over 50 disasters. We use a disciplined yet flexible program-management model tailored to meet grantor needs and help communities build back stronger.
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Report On Your Impact
Dive deep into your data with reporting tools to answer crucial stakeholder questions, uncover insights, discover trends, and tell your story.
Impact reporting
Easily create, save, and share reporting to evaluate and drive impact. Track and measure grants data throughout your process with intuitive reports and dashboards.
Survey constituents
Collect information from your applicants to make your grant process more efficient, more inclusive, and more impactful next cycle.
Funds tracking & distribution
Ditch the checks. Track your funds and disburse government grant awards with a click of a buttonall from within the platform.
With Traditional Grant Management
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Multiple systems are inevitable
Most online grant management solutions begin and end with application collection. Tracking, reviewers and logistics must be handled by hand, via email or on spreadsheets.
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Look and feel is random
Many grant solutions force applicants to a seemingly unconnected site to upload their materials. This confuses users, and lowers the number of submissions.
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Information is scattershot
Whos started an application? Whos completed one? Which reviewers are finished? Which havent started? Without real-time reporting and analytics, its almost impossible to tell. And if youre not informed, you cant make informed decisions.
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The Benefits Of Grant Management Software
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Find more grant opportunities. Instead of manually searching the web for new grant opportunities, grant management software will find them for you.
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Spend less time on applications. Grant management software can store templates, documents, and assets for users to reuse and adjust, which is especially helpful for organizations without a dedicated grant writer.
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Fewer missed deadlines. Keeping track of the many deadlines associated with grant applications can be a struggle. With grant management software, users can set alerts for upcoming submission dates.
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Better collaboration between team members. This software lets users assign tasks to individuals and collaborate through the softwares project management-esque functionality.
- Increased likelihood of success. Grant management software makes it easier to identify the elements of your proposals that are succeeding and those that should be revised or thrown out.
Ten Common Grants Management Challenges
Today, most State and Local Governments encounter many obstacles. These obstacles are exacerbated by a rapidly changing regulatory and compliance environment.
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The Best 7 Free And Open Source Grant Management Software
Are you finding the task of managing the grants in your organization stressful and cumbersome? Managing grant funding, reporting, and implementation of programs are involved in every administrative work of the organization. The grant management system allows you to win more grants and help you build relationships with more grant-making institutions. The essential elements involved making the grant management process successful are effective grant design, strategic planning, and program development.
The Cost Of Grant Management Software
Most products in the market are priced on an annual basis. Pricing can be divided into three pricing tiers based on their starting price:
Price ranges:
- $108 – $362
- $362+
*The pricing included is for the entry-level/lowest-priced offering found on vendor websites on Feb. 26, 2020. These ranges correspond to the 25th, 75th, and 100th percentiles of pricing information gathered from vendor websites of sample products.
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Best Grant Management Software In 2020
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