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install on your own web server—like Online hostedsystems, your staff can then access it from anywherethere’s an internet connection, and it easily supportsonline data collection. It also provides more controlover technical details than a hosted system. However,you’ll need to purchase the hardware required to hostthe system, and you’ll need qualified IT staff to installand update the software and back up the data. You’llalso need to ensure that the system is hosted securelyand reliably.Systems Integrated with BackOffice ServicesA few companies offer online grants managementsystems as part of a much larger service offering thatincludes staff support for a full range of back officeservices, like payment processing, mailings, accounting, and tax preparation. While this report does notfocus on service providers, one vendor provides theirgrants management package separate from their backoffice services, and we’ve reviewed that solution.Specialized CommunityFoundation SystemsCommunity foundations often have such complexrequirements on top of the more universal grantsmanagement needs that a group of software packages has been developed to meet them. Because thisreport focuses on private foundations, it doesn’t covercommunity foundation systems. See Idealware’sJanuary 2012 Consumers Guide to Integrated Softwarefor Community Foundations for an in-depth look atthese systems. You can download that report for freeat ons.better match industry best practices. And thinkthrough the long-term ramifications of becominga software developer—you’ll not only need to payto create the system initially, but to maintain it andupgrade it to match changes in your processes or othersoftware packages. The experts we interviewed for thisyear’s update reported that building custom systemsis growing less common as a strategy for grantmakers,too, so think about reaching out to peer institutionsto find out what they are considering.If you are looking into building a custom system,consider starting with a flexible platform, such asSalesforce, Microsoft’s SharePoint, or the MicrosoftDynamics CRM. This strategy can give you solid basefunctionality that can be customized and built onto meet your needs. Salesforce is a highly extendableonline system with strengths in managing constituentinformation and internal workflow. (The nonprofitconsulting firm NPower has built a grants management solution on top of Salesforce in FoundationConnect, reviewed in-depth in this guide.) SharePointprovides a toolset with sophisticated documentmanagement facilities and support for integrating online and offline data. A few of the vendors reviewed inthis guide—including Fluxx and Versaic—offer highlyflexible platforms that can be extensively configured tomeet your foundation’s needs, too.Custom-Built SystemsThis report focuses on packaged solutions, but building your own system can be a useful alternative forlarge foundations with truly unique needs. Goingdown this road merits caution, however, as it can beexpensive, lengthy, and risky. Make sure you have agood reason to build a system around your uniqueneeds rather than standardizing your processes toPAGE10A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

WHAT DO GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DO?It’s difficult to think about your own needs or evaluate the systems that are available without a solidunderstanding of what types of features are possibleand which are common. Based on our interviews withfoundation staff and reviews of various systems, welearned a few things about what’s typically availableand about what’s desirable. More is not always better.The right system for your organization is the one thatbest supports your needs, not necessarily the one thathas the most features. Feature-rich solutions can alsobe needlessly complex, and may present an unnecessarily high learning curve for your staff.Use this section to construct a list of the features thatmight be useful to you, and then carefully prioritizethe list for your own organization.Software varies widelyin support for onlineapplications. Somepackages barelysupport them, whileothers are builtaround them.Internal TrackingAt its simplest, a grants management system needs todo two things: store basic information about grantprojects so you can easily retrieve it (for example,name, sponsor, and contact) and track the project’sstatus as it moves through your organization’s process.Useful additional features include the ability to uploaddocuments, such as proof of 501(c)(3) status, orelectronic copies of proposals in various file formats.Every system we looked at handles these basic functions, but with varying degrees of ease and flexibility.If you plan to receive grant proposals by means otherthan an online application, such as email or post,make sure the software accommodates you. Whilesome packages provide forms to facilitate data entry,others expect all grant project information to beentered by grantees and make it difficult or impossiblefor grantmakers to change project names, updatecontacts, or upload documents themselves. Some evenrequire grantmakers to log in as grantees, which is anawkward step.PAGE11The ability to categorize grant projects also varieswidely between systems. Consider how you’d like tolabel grant projects in order to group them and reporton them—for example, by grant program, by geographic or population-based categorization code, or byother fields such as dates. Will the system allow youto define new fields, or will it limit you to a few corecategories? Can you define those categories for a grantapplication or only for approved grants? Can you splitgrants across multiple categories, and track allocationsby percentage or actual dollar amount? Grantmakerssometimes need to make similar updates to dataacross several grant records. Some grants managementsystems nicely facilitate batch changes to data whileothers leave you to make such updates on a record-byrecord basis. Vendors that align to a consulting servicesmodel may perform batch updates for you.There is renewed interest in the grantmaking community in a common vocabulary, or in more technicalterms, a shared taxonomy for the sector that isA Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

implemented in grants management systems. Weasked vendors about their willingness to support thisstrategy, too.Online ApplicationsGrantmakers are increasingly accepting grant proposals online, which can considerably streamline operations by reducing the need to manage paper proposals,enter data, and follow up on missing information.The sector isincreasingly advocatingto streamline the onlineapplication process forgrantseekers.But grants management software varies widely in itssupport for online applications. Some systems barelysupport them at all, while others are built aroundthem. However, the sector is increasingly advocating to streamline the online application process forgrantseekers. One example of this evolution is theforthcoming project Simplify, a collaboration betweenGuideStar and TAG to create a standards-settingprocess and database that help grantees more easilyshare common data with funders. Those behind theproject hope that the vendors profiled in this reportwill modify their software so their foundation clientscan use the Simplify data in their grants managementsoftware systems.Online application processes can grow complicated,especially if you accept unsolicited proposals. Somepackages support an interactive qualifying round,sometimes called an eligibility quiz, in which applicants answer a few questions to determine whetherthey’re allowed to move forward in the process.Most allow at least a two-stage process that supportsboth an initial Letter of Intent and a more detailedPAGE12proposal. If your application process contains multiplestages, check to see if the software will roll information from one stage to the next so grantees don’t haveto re-enter a project description with a proposal ifthey’ve already entered it with a Letter of Intent. Mostsystems also allow applicants to avoid large amountsof redundant data entry by letting them reuseinformation from one application stage to another,and from one application to the next. Some systemssupport branching capabilities in online forms tocollect different information from applicants based onthe information they provide.For this update, we’ve incorporated and modernizedthe criteria from our 2010 Streamlining Online GrantApplications: A Review of Vendors report, in whichwe addressed some of the issues common to onlineapplications. For example, online forms can “timeout” unexpectedly and lead to the loss of significanttime and data entry. Some systems mitigate this byautomatically saving online form entries at regularintervals. A few simply warn users to save, while manyothers present a save button and rely on user diligenceto make sure they don’t lose any work. You shouldalso be able to save incomplete applications and returnto them. Most online application schemes let you usebrowser-based spell-checking to proof your work, buta few packages include built-in spell-checkers.Most systems allow grantees to register themselvesand set a user name and password. You can limit theregistrations by selectively sharing the web address.Some of the more advanced systems let prospectivegrantees set up multiple accounts for a single application—for example, to allow a financial staff memberto enter budget information—and transfer accounthistories between logins without contacting thefoundation or the vendor. A few even support submissions from other sources, such as references, that arekept invisible to the applicants.Once applications are submitted, applicants shouldreceive confirmation emails. Some systems let youcustomize the text of that email. Check to make suretheir application then flows seamlessly into your ownadministrative interface—if not, you’ll have to takethe time to do manual data transfers. Can applicantscheck the status of their requests online as they movethrough your review process? If not, they’ll have toA Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

call you for updates. You might also want the ability tocollaborate with applicants on applications in progress,and provide comments and feedback before the applications are even submitted—some systems will letyou do so. A few systems have even streamlined theonline application process so that applicants can log inand see all proposals in progress with any funders whohappen to use the grants management system to managetheir processes, rather than having to register multipleaccounts. Most systems will allow applicants to uploadattachments, in some cases including video or audiofiles—check if virus scans for such uploads conform toyour foundation’s specifications.Form Design and FlexibilityOnline applications collect information from prospective grantees in online data fields like text boxes, dropdown boxes, and checkboxes, and let grantees uploadfiles. More advanced systems might include complexbudget forms, or the ability to submit a portfolio ofwork. Most also support applications with multiplepages and sections, but only allow the use of theirbuilt-in spell-checkers. You should be able to set character limits for text fields in the system and be able todisplay prominently to applicants how many charactersare left; ideally, you can display word counts, not justcharacter counts. Most systems also let you customizein-application help for grantees, either through hoverover text, FAQs, or more innovative means, like videos.All systems allow you to customize the fields that youcollect. Some make it easy for you to add or updateapplications, while others charge you for every change.Check to see if you can customize forms with yourorganization’s logo, colors, and fonts to match the restof your website.Application ReviewOnce you’ve received grant applications, a grantmanagement system should help manage the process ofreviewing them and deciding what to fund. For simpletracking purposes, some systems provide a “checklist”to help ensure you have all the information you need toconsider a grant.Make sure it’s easy for application reviewers to see andprint all the information necessary to consider an application. For example, can you easily print a summary, orPAGE13Packages providevarying degrees ofsupport for morecomplex reviewprocesses. Can youtrack comments frommore than one person?Store complex scoringcriteria? Let peoplereview online?only a document with every field and attachment inthe proposal? Can you see whether you’ve previouslyawarded any grants to the applicant? It can also beuseful to provide reviewers a stripped-down version ofthe

to Grants Management Systems in 2008, a subsequent major revision in 2011, and a final appendix in Janu-ary of 2012. Once again, we've found that the field of systems has evolved substantially. There's more of an emphasis on workflows to automate processes in many of the systems, and on integrating grants management systems with external