Thursday, May 3, 2012

Finding the Best Grants Management Systems Available Online

By Trevor Johnson


Grants management is a time-consuming process that requires a great deal of concentration, effort, and analysis. There are a number of programs that can help make the job of collecting and reviewing applications, tracking the status of requests, reviewing efforts and reporting on results much simpler.

Grants management systems provide organizations the necessary tools to streamline the giving process and gain maximum insight into the effectiveness of their grantmaking programs. A good solution allows the user to accept online applications. These applications link grantees to the application process, saving the grantmaking organization time due to reduced data entry and making it easier to collaborate to enhance impact.

The best grants management solutions also should not force you to adapt your giving workflows to technologies originally intended for other types of processes. It should be highly configurable, able to support a variety of workflows, and adapt to changes in your processes. As your organization evolves, your systems should be able to be scaled to meet your needs.

With an online program, internal and external stakeholders can go online to connect to your processes. Applicants use intuitive web-based tools to complete applications, file progress reports, and get the information they need. Staff members and reviewers focus on making smart choices, not managing a mountain of paper. Automated workflows keep processes moving. Board and family members access personalized homepages that visually summarize the data they need to see. Detailed grant tracking and reporting enables organization leaders to make better, more informed decisions. The result: more efficient, meaningful, and collaborative giving.

Using this type of system will streamline grantmaking and make it more efficient. A good solution will capture, search, and manage grants data easily, automatically tracking assigned proposals, collecting reviews, and organizing feedback. It will ensure that reviewers can access only authorized information. And it will offer tailored online reviews so that you receive complete and consistent feedback. You can view and review data on charts, track grantee history, and keep track of documents by linking them to specific grants or organizations.

Reporting on results is key when it comes to grants management. Your solution should allow you to easily measure and understand results. You should constantly have instant access to your entire giving portfolio, so that you can more effectively measure the impact of your giving. In this way, you can easily assess how the results of your giving are contributing to your organization's mission.

In a good online grants management system, all data will be securely stored. Regular backups and offsite storage of duplicate copies protect the data, keeping historical grant information safe in the event of anything from a lost laptop to a catastrophic fire.

An online system will provide your organization a valuable tool that can keep costs down, improve productivity, and allow staff members to focus on what matters most - increasing the impact of your giving.




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