Grant Management Software

A Consumers Guide to Grants
Management Systems
November 2013
Authors
Elizabeth Pope
Kyle Andrei
Laura Quinn
Many thanks to the organizations who supported this research

The Grants Managers Network
The Technology Affinity Group
And to the experts who contributed their time

Roberto Cremonini
Jonathan Goldberg
Lisa Pool
Martin Schneiderman
Rebecca Van Sickle
PAGE 2 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

CONTENTS
Considering Grants Management Systems..................................................................................................... 5

Introduction.......................................................................................................................................................... 6
Do You Need a Grants Management System?.............................................................................................. 8
What Types of Systems Are Available?.......................................................................................................... 9
What Do Grants Management Systems Do?.................................................................................................. 11
What Do These Systems Cost?....................................................................................................................... 22
What Packages Are Available?....................................................................................................................... 23
The State of the Grants Management System Marketplace.................................................................... 24
Comparing the Systems................................................................................................................................... 33
Low Cost for Simple Needs.............................................................................................................................34
Flexible Relationship Management...............................................................................................................35
Complex Online Data Collection.....................................................................................................................36
Complex Application Review Needs.............................................................................................................. 37
Substantial Functionality for the Needs of Large Foundations..............................................................38
How to Decide....................................................................................................................................................39
Reviews of the Grants Management Systems..............................................................................................41
Altum Easygrants..............................................................................................................................................42
Altum proposalCENTRAL............................................................................................................................... 50
Bromelkamp Akoya.net....................................................................................................................................58
Bromelkamp First Pearl...................................................................................................................................66
Closerware GrantMaker................................................................................................................................... 74
Common Grant Application..............................................................................................................................81
CyberGrants........................................................................................................................................................89
Dulles Technology Partners WebGrants.......................................................................................................97
DonationXchange............................................................................................................................................ 105
Fluidware FluidReview......................................................................................................................................113
JK Group EasyMatch........................................................................................................................................121
Fluxx....................................................................................................................................................................129
Foundant Grant Lifecyle Manager................................................................................................................137
Fusion Labs GE/Spectrum............................................................................................................................. 145
Mosaic GEMS.....................................................................................................................................................153
Good Done Great Grant Management System............................................................................................161
GrantStream GrantRight................................................................................................................................ 169
MicroEdge GIFTS Alta......................................................................................................................................177
MicroEdge GIFTS.............................................................................................................................................. 186
MicroEdge GIFTS Online................................................................................................................................ 195
NPower FoundationConnect........................................................................................................................ 203
PhilanTech PhilanTrack....................................................................................................................................211

PowerOFFICE.................................................................................................................................................... 219
SmartSimple GMS360..................................................................................................................................227
Versaic Grants..................................................................................................................................................235
WESTAFs GrantsOnline..............................................................................................................................243
WizeHive ............................................................................................................................................................251
ZoomGrants..................................................................................................................................................... 259
Appendices.............................................................................................................................................................267
Appendix A: Research Methodology.......................................................................................................... 268
Appendix B: How We Evaluated the Systems............................................................................................270
Appendix C: Summary of Changes to Rubric for 2013 Consumers
Guide to Grants Management Systems................................................................................................. 284
Appendix D: Customer Experience Survey ............................................................................................. 286
About the Report Partners.......................................................................................................................... 289

CONSIDERING GRANTS
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
INTRODUCTION
Grantmaking programs are complicated to manage. available for United States-based foundations. Then
Even the relatively small programs can involve track- well recommend packages that might work for your
ing dozens of applications, reviewers, requirements, organization based on your specific needs.
and payments. But grants management software
This report focuses on systems that help private
can help by saving grantmakers time, making their
foundations manage their grantmaking process through
processes more effective and transparent, and even
the entire grants lifecycle, including payment tracking.
transforming the way they do business.
Community foundations differ from private founda-
tions in several important areas, and are therefore not
included in this report. See Idealwares January 2012
Well take a look at what Consumers Guide to Integrated Software for Community
Foundations for an in-depth look at these systems.
grants management You can download that report for free at http://www.
idealware.org/reports/community-foundations.
systems do, and Note that theres another kind of grants management
compare the strengths system entirelyone designed to help the recipients
of grants rather than grantmakers. These systems help
and weakness of the nonprofits manage proposal submissions and grants
theyve received, and confusingly, are also known as
packages available grants management systems. We did not evaluate this
functionality in this reportalthough a few of these
for grantmakers. systems, such as Common Grant Application and
MOSAIC, are designed to support both grantees and
grantmakers.
Grantmakers choices are growing each year, and the
systems available to them range in complexity and Whats Changed Since the Last
price. Small packages can support straightforward Report?
online application, review, and progress reporting
processes for $2,400 a year, while a specialty solution We released the first edition of our Consumers Guide
for a very large grantmaking organization can cost to Grants Management Systems in 2008, a subsequent
upward of $200,000. major revision in 2011, and a final appendix in Janu-
ary of 2012. Once again, weve found that the field of
How do you choose the right system for your needs? systems has evolved substantially.
This report is a good place to startweve done a
lot of the work for you. Well explore the available Theres more of an emphasis on workflows to
options for accepting and reviewing applications automate processes in many of the systems, and on
and tracking grants throughout their life cycles, take integrating grants management systems with external
a look at what grants management systems do, and sources of data and other systems that a foundation
compare the strengths and weakness of the packages uses. Grants management vendors continue to move

toward cloud-based delivery of their products, and
theres a strong trend toward a more widely accessible
user interface, so that even casual users of the system More advanced
can find the data they need quickly.
functionality, like
Whats New in Our Methodology? branching in online
For 2013, Idealware has given our methodology a
facelift, too. Weve included seven new systems in forms and robust
this report, and, for the first time, we opened up our
evaluation criteria for public review and comment. budgeting facility,
Weve also conducted a customer survey of users
of grants management systems on their experience has become far more
with the vendors support and training options,
which is published alongside the longer write-ups common.
that discuss each systems features and functions.
Finally, weve incorporated the criteria from our 2010
report, Streamlining Online Grant Applications: A
Review of Vendors, in recognition that nearly every
vendor included in this report now supports online
applications. For a full summary of changes made to
the rubric, see Appendix C: Summary of Changes to
Rubric for 2013 Consumers Guide to Grants Man-
agement Systems, on page 285.

DO YOU NEED A GRANTS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM?
If your processes are complex enough that youre

wondering whether a grants management system
might be helpful, its probably worth taking a look
at the available packages. Generally speaking, grants
If you find your grants
management processes can be complicated. Even
grantmakers who give just a dozen or so grants a
cant easily be tracked
year might find a system usefulespecially if they
involve multiple people in the review process, pay
on a single Excel
grants in more than a single payment, require progress
reports from grantees, or want to look at reports that
worksheet, youll
summarize information about their grantmaking in
aggregate.
likely find a packaged
Another key benefit of a packaged system, even system helpful.
for a small foundation, is the ability to collect data
onlinefor example, grant applications or grantee
progress reports. If youre considering shifting your
to build and support, than organizations expect. It
processes online, a grants management system can
should be a last resort when its clear nothing on the
provide both online and grant-tracking functionality
market will meet your needs. We reviewed strong solu-
in a single package.
tions that start at under $3,000 per year, putting them
As a rule of thumb, if you find your grants cant easily within the reach of nearly every organization; if youre
be tracked on a single Excel worksheet, a packaged relying on Excel to track grants, youll likely find
system is worth considering. You should also look ample enticement to make the move to a dedicated
at the available packaged options if youre debating grants management system.
building something yourself, such as a Microsoft
Access database to track grants, or web forms to
accept online applications. Custom-built functionality
is almost always a bigger long-term investment, both

WHAT TYPES OF SYSTEMS ARE AVAILABLE?
As you start to consider your options, think through banks and hospitals with far greater security needs rely
what types of systems might work for you before con- on similar models. Security issues are not limited to
sidering specific systems: Online hosted or Installed, SaaS platforms; similar breaches have occurred with
Integrated with Back Office Services, Specialized for systems installed on site at organizational data centers
Community Foundations, or Custom-Built. behind company firewalls. In this years update, weve
asked more about how software vendors protect the
security and integrity of your data.
The online systems currently available typically offer
It makes sense to think strong support for online data collection, including
online applications, review processes, and progress
through what types reports. They range from straightforward, inexpensive
packages starting at $2,400 per year all the way up to
of packages might very sophisticated, customized systems for more than
$200,000 per year.
work for you before
considering specific Installed Systems
A more traditional option, these systems are purchased
systems. up front and installed onto your network and your
staffs computers. Many of these systems only run on
the Microsoft Windows operating system, so if your
organization uses Mac or Linux machines, you may
have a difficult time finding one thats compatible.
Online Hosted Systems With this model, youre responsible for software
A growing number of grants management systems updates and data backups.
are hosted entirely online, accessible through web
browsers. In this model, sometimes called Software- The available installed systems tend to be strong in
as-a-Service (SaaS), you pay a software vendor to the kinds of features that can help your staff manage
provide online access, and the softwarealong with a complex process, such as the ability to code grants
all your grants datais stored on the vendors servers. with keywords and easily create printed letters, but
The benefits are that you dont have to purchase any can be weaker in online data collection. Some require
hardware, the vendor handles software updates and external modules to support online applications and
data backups, and your staff can access the system progress reports, or to let you send email from within
from anywhere theres an internet connection. This the system. They typically cost more in the first year
model also places significantly less burden on your than the online systems, ranging from $2,400 to
foundations IT department (at least in theory). $200,000 or more for the first year, but many are
more affordable on a per-year basis after that.
But ongoing security breaches involving online
services have led some to question this kind of system. A few of the higher-end systems use a different
The truth is, it can be quite securein fact, many installed model, and offer software that you buy and

install on your own web serverlike Online hosted better match industry best practices. And think
systems, your staff can then access it from anywhere through the long-term ramifications of becoming
theres an internet connection, and it easily supports a software developeryoull not only need to pay
online data collection. It also provides more control to create the system initially, but to maintain it and
over technical details than a hosted system. However, upgrade it to match changes in your processes or other
youll need to purchase the hardware required to host software packages. The experts we interviewed for this
the system, and youll need qualified IT staff to install years update reported that building custom systems
and update the software and back up the data. Youll is growing less common as a strategy for grantmakers,
also need to ensure that the system is hosted securely too, so think about reaching out to peer institutions
and reliably. to find out what they are considering.
If you are looking into building a custom system,
Systems Integrated with Back consider starting with a flexible platform, such as
Office Services Salesforce, Microsofts SharePoint, or the Microsoft
Dynamics CRM. This strategy can give you solid base
A few companies offer online grants management functionality that can be customized and built on
systems as part of a much larger service offering that to meet your needs. Salesforce is a highly extendable
includes staff support for a full range of back office online system with strengths in managing constituent
services, like payment processing, mailings, account- information and internal workflow. (The nonprofit
ing, and tax preparation. While this report does not consulting firm NPower has built a grants manage-
focus on service providers, one vendor provides their ment solution on top of Salesforce in Foundation-
grants management package separate from their back Connect, reviewed in-depth in this guide.) SharePoint
office services, and weve reviewed that solution. provides a toolset with sophisticated document
management facilities and support for integrating on-
Specialized Community line and offline data. A few of the vendors reviewed in
this guideincluding Fluxx and Versaicoffer highly
Foundation Systems flexible platforms that can be extensively configured to
Community foundations often have such complex meet your foundations needs, too.
requirements on top of the more universal grants
management needs that a group of software pack-
ages has been developed to meet them. Because this
report focuses on private foundations, it doesnt cover
community foundation systems. See Idealwares
January 2012 Consumers Guide to Integrated Software
for Community Foundations for an in-depth look at
these systems. You can download that report for free
at http://www.idealware.org/reports/community-
foundations.
Custom-Built Systems
This report focuses on packaged solutions, but build-
ing your own system can be a useful alternative for
large foundations with truly unique needs. Going
down this road merits caution, however, as it can be
expensive, lengthy, and risky. Make sure you have a
good reason to build a system around your unique
needs rather than standardizing your processes to

WHAT DO GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DO?
Its difficult to think about your own needs or evalu-

ate the systems that are available without a solid
understanding of what types of features are possible Software varies widely
and which are common. Based on our interviews with
foundation staff and reviews of various systems, we in support for online
learned a few things about whats typically available
and about whats desirable. More is not always better. applications. Some
The right system for your organization is the one that
best supports your needs, not necessarily the one that packages barely
has the most features. Feature-rich solutions can also
be needlessly complex, and may present an unneces- support them, while
sarily high learning curve for your staff.
Use this section to construct a list of the features that
others are built
might be useful to you, and then carefully prioritize
the list for your own organization.
around them.
Internal Tracking
At its simplest, a grants management system needs to The ability to categorize grant projects also varies
do two things: store basic information about grant widely between systems. Consider how youd like to
projects so you can easily retrieve it (for example, label grant projects in order to group them and report
name, sponsor, and contact) and track the projects on themfor example, by grant program, by geo-
status as it moves through your organizations process. graphic or population-based categorization code, or by
Useful additional features include the ability to upload other fields such as dates. Will the system allow you
documents, such as proof of 501(c)(3) status, or to define new fields, or will it limit you to a few core
electronic copies of proposals in various file formats. categories? Can you define those categories for a grant
Every system we looked at handles these basic func- application or only for approved grants? Can you split
tions, but with varying degrees of ease and flexibility. grants across multiple categories, and track allocations
by percentage or actual dollar amount? Grantmakers
If you plan to receive grant proposals by means other
sometimes need to make similar updates to data
than an online application, such as email or post,
across several grant records. Some grants management
make sure the software accommodates you. While
systems nicely facilitate batch changes to data while
some packages provide forms to facilitate data entry,
others leave you to make such updates on a record-by-
others expect all grant project information to be
record basis. Vendors that align to a consulting services
entered by grantees and make it difficult or impossible
model may perform batch updates for you.
for grantmakers to change project names, update
contacts, or upload documents themselves. Some even There is renewed interest in the grantmaking com-
require grantmakers to log in as grantees, which is an munity in a common vocabulary, or in more technical
awkward step. terms, a shared taxonomy for the sector that is

implemented in grants management systems. We proposal. If your application process contains multiple
asked vendors about their willingness to support this stages, check to see if the software will roll informa-
strategy, too. tion from one stage to the next so grantees dont have
to re-enter a project description with a proposal if
theyve already entered it with a Letter of Intent. Most
Online Applications systems also allow applicants to avoid large amounts
Grantmakers are increasingly accepting grant propos- of redundant data entry by letting them reuse
als online, which can considerably streamline opera- information from one application stage to another,
tions by reducing the need to manage paper proposals, and from one application to the next. Some systems
enter data, and follow up on missing information. support branching capabilities in online forms to
collect different information from applicants based on
the information they provide.
The sector is For this update, weve incorporated and modernized
the criteria from our 2010 Streamlining Online Grant
increasingly advocating Applications: A Review of Vendors report, in which
we addressed some of the issues common to online
to streamline the online applications. For example, online forms can time
out unexpectedly and lead to the loss of significant
application process for time and data entry. Some systems mitigate this by
automatically saving online form entries at regular
grantseekers. intervals. A few simply warn users to save, while many
others present a save button and rely on user diligence
to make sure they dont lose any work. You should
also be able to save incomplete applications and return
But grants management software varies widely in its to them. Most online application schemes let you use
support for online applications. Some systems barely browser-based spell-checking to proof your work, but
support them at all, while others are built around a few packages include built-in spell-checkers.
them. However, the sector is increasingly advocat- Most systems allow grantees to register themselves
ing to streamline the online application process for and set a user name and password. You can limit the
grantseekers. One example of this evolution is the registrations by selectively sharing the web address.
forthcoming project Simplify, a collaboration between Some of the more advanced systems let prospective
GuideStar and TAG to create a standards-setting grantees set up multiple accounts for a single applica-
process and database that help grantees more easily tionfor example, to allow a financial staff member
share common data with funders. Those behind the to enter budget informationand transfer account
project hope that the vendors profiled in this report histories between logins without contacting the
will modify their software so their foundation clients foundation or the vendor. A few even support submis-
can use the Simplify data in their grants management sions from other sources, such as references, that are
software systems. kept invisible to the applicants.
Online application processes can grow complicated, Once applications are submitted, applicants should
especially if you accept unsolicited proposals. Some receive confirmation emails. Some systems let you
packages support an interactive qualifying round, customize the text of that email. Check to make sure
sometimes called an eligibility quiz, in which ap- their application then flows seamlessly into your own
plicants answer a few questions to determine whether administrative interfaceif not, youll have to take
theyre allowed to move forward in the process. the time to do manual data transfers. Can applicants
Most allow at least a two-stage process that supports check the status of their requests online as they move
both an initial Letter of Intent and a more detailed through your review process? If not, theyll have to

call you for updates. You might also want the ability to
collaborate with applicants on applications in progress,
and provide comments and feedback before the ap- Packages provide
plications are even submittedsome systems will let
you do so. A few systems have even streamlined the varying degrees of
online application process so that applicants can log in
and see all proposals in progress with any funders who support for more
happen to use the grants management system to manage
their processes, rather than having to register multiple complex review
accounts. Most systems will allow applicants to upload
attachments, in some cases including video or audio processes. Can you
filescheck if virus scans for such uploads conform to
your foundations specifications. track comments from
Form Design and Flexibility more than one person?
Online applications collect information from prospec- Store complex scoring
tive grantees in online data fields like text boxes, drop-
down boxes, and checkboxes, and let grantees upload criteria? Let people
files. More advanced systems might include complex
budget forms, or the ability to submit a portfolio of review online?
work. Most also support applications with multiple
pages and sections, but only allow the use of their
built-in spell-checkers. You should be able to set char-
acter limits for text fields in the system and be able to
only a document with every field and attachment in
display prominently to applicants how many characters
the proposal? Can you see whether youve previously
are left; ideally, you can display word counts, not just
awarded any grants to the applicant? It can also be
character counts. Most systems also let you customize
useful to provide reviewers a stripped-down version of
in-application help for grantees, either through hover-
the system so they dont have to wade through every
over text, FAQs, or more innovative means, like videos.
detail of an application to read the relevant informa-
All systems allow you to customize the fields that you tion and add their comments.
collect. Some make it easy for you to add or update
Software packages provide varying degrees of support
applications, while others charge you for every change.
for more complex review processes. For example,
Check to see if you can customize forms with your
will the system let you track comments and scores
organizations logo, colors, and fonts to match the rest
from more than one person? Can you define complex
of your website.
scoring criteria, such as multiple scores grouped into
categories? Can scoring criteria vary between different
Application Review grant programs or do you have to apply the same stan-
dards to all applications? It may be useful to be able
Once youve received grant applications, a grant
to view summary statistics about those scoresfor
management system should help manage the process of
example, comparing average scores between different
reviewing them and deciding what to fund. For simple
proposalsand allow reviewers to see the scores and
tracking purposes, some systems provide a checklist
comments of other reviewers.
to help ensure you have all the information you need to
consider a grant. Many systems allow reviewers to see and rate ap-
plications online. This allows internal staff to review
Make sure its easy for application reviewers to see and
applications from any location, and provides an
print all the information necessary to consider an appli-
opportunity for you to involve people from outside
cation. For example, can you easily print a summary, or

your organization as reviewers. If you do plan to Creating Letters and Board Dockets
include external reviewers, consider features that allow
you to manage this process in detail. Can reviewers Grants management processes can be document-
choose which proposal to review, and easily see and heavy. Grantmakers often need to create not only
print both the proposals and any attachments? Can printed letters, but also printed board dockets that
they flag conflicts of interestfor example, if they allow board members to review all the proposals under
work for the same university as a grant applicant? Can consideration. Systems with sophisticated functional-
you match reviewers to proposals based on keywords, ity in this area allow you to create your own letter and
demographic data, or level of expertise, or see how the docket templates, which can include personalized text,
average scores of reviewers compare in order to iden- mail-merged grant data, and custom formats, fonts,
tify those who will typically score proposals higher or and logos. Many integrate with Microsoft Words
lower? Can foundation staff be notified when reviews mail-merge functionality.
are completedeither via email or within the system? If you will be printing letters or docket information
for a large number of grants at one time, some systems
501(c)(3) and OFAC Status allow you to easily create documents for a whole pool
of grants in a single step. It can then be useful to be
As a routine part of the review process, grantmakers able to review and tweak each individual letter or
often check applicants tax exempt, or 501(c)(3), docket before it is printed.
status. Many grant management systems allow you
to easily click through on an Employee Identification
Number (EIN) to see the applicants record and tax
status on GuideStar, the online nonprofit organiza- Some tools make it
tion database. Some allow you to screen capture the
GuideStar record, which is useful for audit purposes. difficult to create
A few even check the status of each organization
automatically and flag those that are not tax exempt, custom printed
autofilling relevant information in the system, and can
check against all organizations classified as 501s by the documents.
IRS, not just 501(c)(3).
Laws passed in the wake of September 11, 2001,
suggest that grantmakers should check all grantee or- Some of the less-expensive online tools make it
ganizations and contacts against the Office of Foreign difficult to create custom-printed documents. For
Assets Control (OFAC) and Specially Designated example, you may not be able to choose which fields
Nationals (SDN) lists of individuals and organiza- to include on a docket summary sheet, or customize
tions with terrorist ties. It may be helpful to your the formatting in any way. A few systems require you
organization to have software features that facilitate to export data into Microsoft Excel if you want to
the process. Some systems integrate with external mail-merge.
OFAC list-checking websites or systems to make it
easier to flag possible matches. Others provide these Foundations that need to manage substantial amounts
list-checking features within the grants management of supporting documents related to grants might
system itself. Some grantmakers may be interested in appreciate the ability to attach documents to board
systems that can complete both the 501 and OFAC dockets. This feature allows staff to easily supply
checking processes in batch, and can generate an audit board members with overall documents relevant to a
trail of every time this information was checked for whole grant cycle (for example, a letter introducing
compliance purposes. the grantmaking priorities for the cycle). We also
looked into support for electronic signatures within
the system, including external verification, as well as
support for board review on tablet devices like iPads.

Email either choosing a system that allows that or option
for a third party broadcast email tool instead. We also
Grantmakers have wholeheartedly embraced electronic recommend steering clear of systems that send out
communications over printing and mailing traditional group emails via blind copy rather than one-to-one
letters. Most grants management systems support email thats another spam trigger.
in some form. Most store addresses and let you send
email by clicking on a contact, and some allow you
to email multiple contacts at oncefor example, to Relationship Management
send information about an upcoming event to all the During the course of a grant, grantees are likely
grantees in a particular program. to interact regularly with various people at your
Email templates, such as a boilerplate email informing organization. Grants management systems can help
applicants that their application has moved to the track these interactions. What communications have
next stage in the review process, can be helpful. Many you sent a grantee? Who have they spoken with, and
systems allow for more robust templates, including about what?
support for mail-merged fields (such as the project To do this effectively, a system must track organiza-
name) or file attachments (such as a budget spreadsheet tions separately from individual grantsto allow you,
template). Some also offer in-system spell-check and for example, to see what conversations you had about
delivery statistics that show how many messages were a previous grant when a new one is under review. It
opened, read, deleted, or rejected by recipients servers. can also be helpful to track the names and roles of
The ability to send automated emails from the grants
management system can be a useful way to email
grantees a notification upon receipt of a completed Grants management
application, or when due dates for deliverables are
approaching. Most systems provide some support for systems can help track
emails triggered by schedules and system events, and a
few provide robust control over such automated email. your interactions with
Email delivery reports can be useful for grantmakers
who intend to send bulk email from their grants
grantees. With whom
management systems. A few solutions in this report
offer email delivery reports including open, click-
have you spoken, and
through, and unsubscribe rates, but most do not. If
your organization plans to send bulk email through its
about what?
grants management system, youll also want to consider
how this email is sent. Some systems send out email
through your own organizations email server, which
works fine for individual emails, or emails to a few individual staff members at a grantee organization.
dozen people, but is risky if you email thousands of This is particularly important for large institutions
prospective grantees. On a big list, some people will flag such as universities, where different researchers may
your email as spam no matter how careful you are. Over apply separately for grants.
time, those complaints build up, and you run the risk
of having your whole domain blacklisted. That means Grantmakers sometimes give grants to units of larger
that none of your organizations emailincluding email organizationsfor example, they may award money
directly from staff memberswill go through. Its not to the school of education within a university. Your
likely, but it does happen, and it can take weeks to get grants management system should let you track these
removed from blacklists when it does. grants by business unit, as well as by the organization
in which it lives. Many systems that support email or
In general, Idealware recommends sending broadcast mail-merged letters also automatically store records
emails through vendors servers, which would mean of those communications. Its also useful to be able to

store a log of communications for a particular contact budget information. If you plan to collect data online,
or grantfor example, to track email sent outside the consider how easily you can update the forms. Can
system, or telephone communications with grantees. you customize them yourself, or will you have to pay
the vendor for each change? Can you use the collected
In addition to logging emails sent within the grants data in summary reports?
management system, it can be useful to capture
into the system emails sent externallyfor example,
through Outlook. A few systems allow you to do Payments
this easily, and some even let you synchronize your Once you approve a grant, you will need to manage
contacts with Outlook. the payment process. Grants management systems can
help with this as well.
Grant Requirements and Evaluation In many software packages, setting up a payment
Once a grant is approved, many grantmakers require schedule for a grant mimics the process of setting up
grantees to file interim progress reports of some kind. grant requirements. Some require you to schedule
A number of packages provide checklist functionality each payment manually, or automatically default to
that lets you define those requirements or others, such paying the entire grant in a single lump sum on the
as the need to do a site visit, and assign them to staff established grant start date. Others allow you to set
or grantees with a due date. Some systems require you one or more default payment schedules, which you
to manually set up requirements for each individual can then assign to a grantfor example, to say that
grant. Others let you set up default requirements every grant within a particular program is a three-year
that can be applied to all grantsand then, perhaps, grant with a payment on the first of each year. Some
customized on a per-grant basis. systems also offer a payment scheduling wizard,
which lets you, for example, define four evenly spaced
Once they are set up, you can track which require- payments over four years. However you initially
ments are upcoming, completed, or sometimes even define payment schedules, its useful to be able to then
approvedto note, for instance, that a progress manually adjust them to specific circumstances for a
report was read by your staff and approved. particular grant.
Some systems allow you to set up automatic email Grantmakers often tie payments to specific grantee
reminders that alert staff members or grantees when requirementsfor example, a second payment may be
requirement deadlines are approaching. Some let contingent on the receipt of a progress report. To sup-
grantees log in to a website to see approaching dead- port this, make sure the grants management system
lines online. allows you to link payment to requirements, and that
If you require written progress reports from grantees, it uses this information to generate payment reports.
make sure the system provides the ability to affiliate Systems vary in their support for payment special
those reports with the grantee. Can you attach a cases. Is it straightforward to award grants to one
document to the grant record? Can you enter specific organization but pay another, such as a fiscal sponsor?
information as data fields on the recordfor example, Are you able to update the amount of a grant in the
the number of people served by the grant? If you middle of a grant period to account for unforeseen
can enter data fields, can this information then be events without losing the record of the approved grant
used in reports that summarize metrics across all amount? Can you make grants in currencies other than
granteesfor example, to know that your grantees U.S. dollars, or in multiple currenciesand if so, will
collectively provided food to 4,523 children in 2013? the system track the exchange rate not just at the time
What about comparing metrics across groups that you of grant approval but at the time of payment? Can you
can configure in the system? report on grants made in other currencies, including
A number of systems use online forms to collect exchange rate data, and do payment reports carry
these types of detailed data fields, including narrative program codes and other meaningful information?
information, quantitative metrics, or even detailed

If your organization requires paper check requests
for accounting, make sure the system supports
themsome can even be configured to print checks When looking at budget
directly from the system. Alternatively, consider
more streamlined ways to generate grantee payments. functionality, its critical
Many systems store wire transfer information and
can facilitate electronic grant payments. Whichever to understand what
method you use, make sure you can store payment
information, such as date paid, check number, and tracking method the
amount, within the grants management system itself,
where its easily accessible. Can you void payments system is using.
in the system, place them on hold, and track sophis-
ticated transactions like quid pro quo and in kind
payments?
Many grants management systems integrate with
external accounting systems like QuickBooks or allow you to create budgets for multiple years.
Great Plains (now Dynamics GP). Such integration When looking at budget functionality, its critical
can streamline the payment process by transferring to understand what tracking method the system is
information about upcoming payments into the using. Foundations budget by one of two different
accounting system and then retrieving data on pay- methods: by the amount paid out to grantees over
ments that have been made. Vendors of packages with that year (common among corporate and community
no accounting system integration are often willing to foundations, and sometimes called a cash method
custom build this facility for an additional cost. of budgeting) or by the amount awarded that year
Finally, most grantmakers will want to control who regardless of when it is paid (common among private
has access to payment information. Most of the foundations, and sometimes called an accrual method
systems in this report allow you to restrict access of budgeting). None of the systems reviewed tracked
to payment information through permissions, and budget figures for both these methods at the same
according to payment status. time, although some let you choose one or the other.
A number of grantmakers expressed interest in track-
Budgeting ing budgets across multiple categoriesfor example,
program, geography, and populationand what
There is wide variance among grants management
if scenario planning to see how a certain course of
systems in support for budgeting. A few offer no
action would affect budgets. A few of the packages in
budget support at all, while some others allow budget-
this report provide some support for building what
ing only through heavy customization. There are some
if scenarios. Another specialized need is support for
packages, however, that include strong budgeting
interest repayments on Program-Related Investments,
components. Most commonly, budgeting features
or PRIs, which a few systems could accommodate
let you define the amount of money you plan to
through customization.
devote to each grant program or category, and then
generate reports to compare these budget amounts to
the amount spent. More versatile systems allow you System Reporting
to track by both program and subprogram, or split System reports can help manage grants processes and
grants between programs. provide updates to others. At a minimum, you should
The ability to base budgeting on a previous years be able to create the basic reports you need for your
budget can save time and effort for many organizations. grantmaking processesfor example, the amount of
Several packages we reviewed allow this, and some even

money committed and paid for the year, sorted by are basic, and allow limited support for customizing
program, or grant details required for a Form 990 PF reports. Others are limited only by your ability to
(Return of Private Foundation). Such basic reports are apply themreporting tools are complex, and can be
considered standard, and most software packages pro- confusing to users without experience managing data-
vide for them out of the box. The ability to customize bases. Look carefully at the features to judge whether
these reports to better meet your needs and save those someone on your staff will be able to effectively create
customizations for future use can save a lot of time reports. Also, make sure you can save a report format
and money, but not all systems allow this. Also, many once youve invested time in creating it.
of the systems that do provide standard reports and
Reporting abilities in grants management systems are
queries provide a lot of them. Is there some way to
becoming more sophisticated, and many now offer
customize or filter the list to bookmark your preferred
the ability to automatically run reports and send them
reports? A growing trend in the sector is opening up
out at intervals you set, either to you or individuals
reporting access to casual users of the grants manage-
you define, as well as to present information in visual
ment system, not just experts. We evaluated the
forms like charts, graphs, and maps. Some systems
approachability of the reporting interface for the first
also contain standard report templates, like the eGrant
time in this report.
and hGrants format from the Foundation Center, or
the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)
Support for such ad standard. Dashboards are also becoming increasingly
important, and some systems allow users to configure
hoc reports varies their own dynamic views of data.
Document management systems and newer versions
widely among grants of operating systems like Microsoft Windows allow
you to search within documents. Those who have used
management software this feature and find it helpful may wish for the ability
to search the content of attachments to grant records.
packages. Do they Finally, if your organization categorizes grants using
include the data youll hierarchical codes, make sure the system supports
itfor example, will it associate Pre-K and Elemen-
need? Can you figure tary codes with Education? Not all systems offer this
advanced feature.
out how to use them?
Permissions and Workflow
If multiple staff members will use the system, make
sure you can set different levels of access. This will help
From time to time you may want more customized protect critical data by limiting who can update it.
reports. Support for such ad hoc reports varies widely
among grants management software packages. Make Many systems support varied access to individual
sure you have access to all the data that might be featuresfor example, some users can read but not
useful in such a report, including any custom fields update any information, or update grant information
youve defined and information submitted in grant but not approve grants or change their amounts. The
applications or progress reports. For simple ad hoc granularity of these access rights varies widely among
reports, the ability to export this data to Excel, systems. Some provide for a few different, preset roles.
where you can format it, might suffice. But for more Others allow you to define read/update/delete rights
complex reports, some systems provide a set of tools for each module. A few even allow you to define rights
that let you define the data youd like to see, as well as for each individual data field.
report columns and formatting. Some of these tools

In many cases, disabling functionality or features for that data flows from one system to the next without
a particular user or group doesnt remove it from their manual intervention, check to see how the connection
view. Users with read-only access may still have to is configured. Is an Application Programming Inter-
navigate through disabled screens or fields to reach the face (API) or ODBC database connection provided
information they need. Systems that provide simpli- so your own programmer can configure it? What
fied interfaces to improve ease of access for simple
tasks or for users with less complex needs, such as
reviewers, might be a better option for larger founda-
tions with wider pools of users.
If you want a system
Audit logsa record of who made updates to what to integrate with other
fields, and whencan also be useful. If a system
includes an audit log, check to see what actions are software packages,
logged. Is it every change, or just a few core ones?
The grants management process often is a series of
such as QuickBooks
tasks which need to be done by specific people, in
a particular order. Because of this, an increasing
or Crystal Reports,
number of foundations want a system that manages
the workflowfor example, assigning grants or tasks
check to see how
to individuals or roles and providing a customized
view that spells those tasks out for each staff member.
the connection is
Systems that support configurable workflows can
simplify grants management for organizations with
configured.
entrenched processes.
Data Access data can be accessed this way? Is it read only, or can
Whether your system is hosted (Software-as-a-Service) you write to the database? Or does the vendor have
or installed, the grants data it contains is yours. You to set up any integration with external packages for
should be able to access it at will. Being able to extract youoften at extra cost?
your data from the system is critical in order to back
As mobile devices grow in popularity, users look in-
it upalways a good ideaor to migrate it to a new
creasingly to work from their smartphones and tablet
grants management system. If your system is hosted
computers. While many web-based applications are
on the vendors servers, make sure the vendor guaran-
accessible via smartphone web browsers, their screen
tees specifically that you will be able to fully export all
size can make it impractical to use them unless the
grant data and all attached files on request. Systems
vendor either provides a view optimized for mobile
that allow you to do this yourself, without relying on
browsers or builds a compact smartphone application,
the vendor, are even better.
or app, to facilitate access. Using a web-based grants
Easy data access can also allow you to interact with management system from tablet computers can be
your data through other systemsfor example, to practical without a specialized app or mobile view
export grants data to a website as a text file, or to given their larger screen size relative to smartphones.
Excel for sorting, calculating, and formatting more Mobile device access is still new territory so it pays
sophisticated reports. The ability to import files is also to get detailed information from the vendor if this
helpfulfor example, to manually load information is something that interests you. We also asked about
from an external accounting system. ways in which vendors protect the security and
integrity of your data within the system.
If you want a system to integrate with other software
packages, such as QuickBooks or Crystal Reports, so

up custom reports to view it effectively. Grantmakers
who serve international or ethnically diverse popula-
Completely customized tions may also be interested in a systems ability to
support custom language sets for online forms, based
systems can be useful on program or geographic location.
for organizations with A few systems can be almost completely customized to

your needs, with custom fields, labels, interfaces, pro-
unique needs, but they cesses, and functionality, but they require the vendors
involvement in the customization. This can be useful
can be very expensive, for organizations with unique needs, but it can be
very expensive and more difficult to support down the
and more difficult to road. Before you pay to customize a system to your
existing process, revisit the processes to see if they can
support down the road. be streamlined or improved. Are they truly unique?
Or would you be better served by moving toward the
best processes used by a number of foundations, and
therefore easier and cheaper to support? If you choose
Overall Customization to have the vendor customize the system, make sure
they are experienced with this type of work. Does the
Most grants management systems are designed to vendor allow heavily customized systems to remain on
appeal to the broadest spectrum of users possible, the upgrade path?
taking into account that large foundations, for
example, will have different needs and processes than
small, private foundations. To this end, most systems Ease of Use
let you customize the programs and codes you use All grants management systems are fairly complex,
to categorize grants. Systems that support online so your staff is likely to require training. However,
applications, reviews, and progress reports also let functionality should be relatively easily to learn and to
you customize the fields collected within these online remember. Are fields and functions intuitively named
formsalthough some require a fee to the vendor to and easy to find? If staff need cheat sheets or guess-
update them. work to run basic processes, theyre more likely to opt
But the differences among the systems become more out of using the system, or to resort to workarounds.
apparent when you begin to consider their ability to Can users easily find the actions they need to take
add custom internal tracking fieldsfields used by without returning to a main menu? The system should
staff rather than the online data fields used to gather also effectively support power usersthose most
grantee information. A few systems dont let you add familiar with the system. Can your grant administra-
any new internal use fields. Others let you add fields, tor perform common tasks quickly and efficiently?
but only into a limited custom field area, which
can become disorganized and awkward if you add Support and Training
a number of fields. Check to see if you can remove
fields or change the names of existing ones, and if Whatever else you need in a grants management
custom fields have the same permissions as system- system, you can be sure youll need customer support.
generated ones. All the reviewed vendors offered solid, basic-level
support: phone support, system documentation, and
If you want to capture specific application or progress at least informal training upon request.
report information from grantees, check to see where
the system will store it. Some provide useful views In terms of phone support, the difference is likely
of this information. Others dump it into that same to be on price and quality. How much do you have
disorganized custom field area, forcing you to set to pay, either per incident or per year? Are existing

Stability in the Market
Its important to Finally, consider vendor stability. Choosing a grants
management software package and moving your data
know what hardware into it is a considerable effort. You dont want to be
forced to repeat this work in a year because a vendor
and software will be has gone out of business. Ask some background
questions. How long have they been in business? How
required to use the many clients do they have? Does the revenue earned
from the grantmaking system cover the personnel and
system you choose. operational expenses required to support it?
Because the grants management market supports
niche software solutions, 20 or so clients are often suf-
customers typically able to reach someone knowledge- ficient for a vendor to support operations. But if they
able when they call for support? Online support is also have fewer than 10 clients or so, or if their revenues
increasingly common, including videos, FAQs, chat dont cover their expenses, the vendor is likely not yet
support, and other web-based support for technical at a very stable point, and their long-term viability is
issues. more of a risk.
Good documentation, whether printed or online, is
also critical. Ideally, information is available in the Specialized Needs
form of hypertext within the systemfor example, This report focuses on the core grants management
to let you see what clicking a button will do before functions shared by most foundations, but some
you actually click it. If youre rolling out a system to a grants management systems provide a number of
number of people in your organization, can you tailor additional functions typically focused on the more
the documentation to your own processes? niche needs of particular types of foundations. As
Different vendors provide different types of training, weve discussed, this report doesnt cover functionality
from affordable over-the-phone and online options specifically intended for community foundations (like
to more formal training at your own offices. Do they fund development, full fund accounting, or donor
have training materials? How much will you pay for portals), but corporate foundations have their own set
each of these training options? of needs.
For instance, corporations often want matching gift
Installation and Maintenance functionality to track employees charitable donations
and the corporations possible grants. Matching gift
It is important to know what will be required to functionality tracks donations by employee, as most
use the system you choose. For most online hosted corporations will only match a finite per-employee
systems, a major web browser and enough internet amount. In addition, some corporate philanthropy
bandwith is likely all you need. For installed systems arms count employee volunteer hours as community
and for web-based systems you host yourself, there contributions. Many foundations use separate systems
can be many other requirements. You will want to to track this, but a few grants management systems
know what kind of server hardware you will need. Ad- offer integrated volunteer hour tracking.
ditionally, there will likely be software prerequisites,
like web server software and a core database like SQL
or Microsoft Access. Will the vendor help with setup
and maintenance? If not, then you might need to hire
a consultant to assist you.

WHAT DO THESE SYSTEMS COST?
Prices for grants management systems vary widely, but Yearly fees. As opposed to license or maintenance
follow three primary models: fees, some systemsincluding most hosted
systemscharge an annual fee. This fee is often
License and maintenance fees. Most installed scaled to usage, and is likely to be based on some
software packages charge a per-user up-front fee combination of number of system users, how many
for purchase and installation, anything from a few grants applications you accept, how many docu-
thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands. Many ments you store, and how many programs (with
offer an -la-carte menu of optional modules that separate system processes) you run. A few systems
can substantially affect the license cost. In addi- define this yearly fee based on the amount of assets
tion, theres typically an annual maintenance fee, you are administrating within the system, rather
generally 15 percent to 20 percent, which covers than your actual system use.
phone support and software updates. The mainte-
nance fee is often optional, but skip it at your own Setup and configuration costs. Most vendors charge
riskphone support is important, and without setup and configuration fees. Some vendors pricing
updates your software will become out-of-sync structures are simple, charging specific fees for
with the vendors latest version, making it difficult analyzing and documenting your system require-
(and likely expensive) to purchase add-on modules ment, customization, online application building,
in the future. report creation, and data migration. A few cover all
these services in the base pricing structure. Others
use complicated pricing schemes that let you
choose exactly what services you want. Remember,
In general, installed whether you pay the vendor, hire a consultant,
or choose to tackle setup or installation yourself,
software packages cost theres often a lot of work to do. Data migration in
particular is a time-consuming and often underesti-
more up front than mated task.
In general, installed software packages cost more up
similar hosted online front than similar Online hosted packages, but are less
expensive in terms of ongoing vendor fees.
packages, but are less The comparison charts in the next section include
expensive in terms of price estimates for each system, for both a minimal
implementation of the package typical for small
ongoing vendor fees. organizations and a complex installation for a larger
organization. The First Year cost represents any
license costs, setup costs, or fees for the first year of
service. The Yearly cost is the recurring maintenance
fee or annual fee you would expect to pay each year.

WHAT PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE?
So, grants management systems can provide a lot

of functionality. But what are the commonly used
software packages? MicroEdges GIFTS and Bro- It makes sense to think
melkamps First Pearl have been around for decades
and each has a large client base. A newer, lower-cost through what types
entry on the marketplace, Foundant Grant Lifecycle
Manager, now has more than 500 clients. While there of packages might
has long been a list of alternatives to these products,
you will see in this report strong new systems on the work for you before
market that promise to make the grants management
system space more competitive than ever. considering specific
The number of clients a vendor has can be a useful
indicator of the popularity of the package among your
systems.
peers. It can also give you an idea of the size of the
user community youll find. But its not necessarily a
good way to gauge either quality or vendor stability, as
a number of packages with small user bases also have
a strong and comparatively affordable set of features.
And while its always important to consider a vendors
background and financial stability when choosing
mission-critical software, a number of smaller vendors
have shown that a solid base of just 15 or 20 custom-
ers using a packaged system can allow a company to
serve clients effectively without financial difficulties.

THE STATE OF THE GRANTS MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM MARKETPLACE
How do the available packages compare? Below, youll net relies on Bromelkamps eGrant.net module for
find summaries and comparison charts. We also took online data collection and grants review. Dynamics
a careful look at 28 packagesyou can find those CRM makes for a solid grants management platform
detailed reviews in Appendix A. but its interface at times can obscure Akoya.nets
functionality. You are currently limited to exporting
data view-by-view, but the vendor plans an automated
Low Cost for Simple Needs backup button in a future release. Bromelkamp is
More functionality isnt necessarily better. If you have open to performing custom development at additional
only a small grants program, a straightforward system cost for clients who need it, and there are Dynamics
with a lower price tag could provide exactly the CRM and Akoya.net APIs available for those who
support you need. want to extend the system themselves. Organizations
that accept online applications connect eGrant.net
to Akoya.net. Those that need to build their own
GIFTS Online by MicroEdge online forms require Bromelkamps eGrant.net Builder
GIFTS Online is MicroEdges fully web-accessible, module at additional cost. A small foundation would
Online hosted entry into the grants management pay about $10,080 in the first year and about $6,180
arena. GIFTS Online offers many of the strengths of ongoing per year for Akoya.net, including the eGrant.
the installed systems GIFTS and GIFTS Alta, includ- net module. A large foundation could expect to pay
ing optional modules, grant information tracking, $36,422 in the first year, and then $14,922 ongoing
mail-merging, and application review. As with the per year, again including the eGrant.net module. This
new GIFTS Alta interface, the GIFTS Online plat- pricing includes eight hours of training.
form benefits from the considerable work MicroEdge
has done to refine the user experience. GIFTS Online Grant Lifecycle Manager by
can offer customized views per user and per role,
including customizable user dashboards. You can also
Foundant
customize your own online forms, which is new since Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager is a polished,
we last saw the system. An entry level client could friendly, and quickly growing low-cost grant manage-
acquire GIFTS Online for about $5,500 per year. A ment option with a strong focus on online data
very large client could pay $42,477 per year. gathering. Easy-to-update online forms allow you
to collect online grant applications, feedback from
external reviews, and online progress reports from
Akoya.net by Bromelkamp grantees. But the system still has only basic support
Akoya.net, Bromelkamps online grants management for payments and budgeting and doesnt support
system built on Microsofts Dynamics CRM platform, branching for applications or data collection. It does
provides solid mid-level functionality for a great price. not allow users to interact with data via an Application
Akoya.net leverages its Dynamics flexible constitu- Programming Interface. It does, however, allow you
ent tracking base to provide users great relationship to export most visible data from the system. Foundant
management capabilities, along with the ability to Grant Lifecycle Manager is very reasonably priced, at
track applicants and grants by virtually any character- $6,500 for a two-year license that includes support,
istics you choose. Like its sister product, Pearl, Akoya. and $1,500 for a one-time setup cost. The vendor also

offers notably strong customer support and training that make it easy for users to find their way around
options for a system of this price tier, and has an the system. WizeHives Grant Management System
active and growing user group community. scores well in grant tracking and online applications,
and easily configurable grant review workflows bolster
an already solid application review process. However,
Common Grant Application by WizeHives Grant Management System is less strong
Oceanpeak Inc. when it comes to creating letters or other print com-
An online hosted option, Common Grant Application munication, as there is no mail-merge functionality.
by Oceanpeak Inc. provides an affordable, easy-to-use An organization with five users, 10 grants per year,
system with some interesting featuresparticularly and only light online application and review function-
for applications. For example, applicants can easily ality could pay as little as $2,000 in the first year. An
attach video and other multimedia components to organization that receives more than 500 applications
their applications. The applications themselves are annually and requires more-robust donor manage-
limited in formatting and functionality, but online ment capabilities might pay closer to $7,000 per year.
applications include a helpful, well-thought-out
ability for applicants to reuse information. The vendor ZoomGrants
also reports being willing to customize the system
at no cost to the client and roll out those changes ZoomGrants is a well-laid out, hosted grants manage-
to all users if the new functionality is deemed useful ment solution centered on requests for proposals
to the user community. On the other hand, much (RFPs) and the grant applications submitted in
grantmaker functionality is notably absent, and response to RFPs. Grant applications support an
relationship management is all but nonexistent, as eligibility quiz in addition to the application itself,
is support for budgeting. Common Grant Applica- and can include fields for post-grant reporting.
tion does not handle mail-merge fields for print or The system has robust support for the application
email correspondence. There is some ability to track processapplicants can manage their proposals and
payments, but no functionality to make payments information for all funders using the system using one
contingent on a reporting requirement. The system account, and can carry over contact information and
now supports saving a list of favorite reports for easy other data from one application to another, or from
access, and all visible system fields can be queried and a Letter of Intent to a proposal. Only applicants, not
included in both standard and ad-hoc reportsfor foundation staff, can make changes to organizational
instance, reports can be configured to include just information. Search functionality is basic; Zoom-
text fields. Common Grant Application calculates its Grants outputs information to an onscreen report
pricing partially by taking into account the number and then requires foundation staff to rely on their
of applications received in a given year. For instance, browsers search functionality to hone in on what they
a small foundation that receives only 10 applications need. Merge fields are supported for emails, but not
annually could use Common Grant Application for for printed correspondence, which must be produced
around $1,270 per year, while a very large foundation by exporting system data to a CSV file to be merged
with 100 applications a year could expect an annual with Microsoft Word. A foundation with one RFP or
fee of about $5,500. grantmaking program could pay as little as $1,495 per
year for ZoomGrants. Each additional grantmaking
program adds $1,495 annually.
Grant Management System by
WizeHive PowerOFFICE
WizeHives Grant Management System offers a com- PowerOFFICE is a solid, well-rounded system with
bination of features and affordable pricing that will particularly strong features around relationship and
make this Online hosted system an attractive option contact management. Built on IBM Notes Domino,
for smaller grantmakers. It is approachable, with a the system can be installed on your organizations
polished layout and collapsible side navigation menus

server, or hosted on the vendors servers. PowerOF- GrantMaker by Closerware
FICE is fairly strong in both print and email com-
munication, although delivery statistics for broadcast Closerwares GrantMaker offers solid and affordable
email are only available through customization by the grant and application tracking features with reason-
vendor. The system provides relationship and contact able support for online forms. Online application
management through the PowerPEOPLE module, forms can be extensively formatted with a variety
which allows users to track all the communication of field types, and the resulting applications and
theyve had with individuals and associate multiple grants can be easily coded and searched. A variety
contacts to organizations and grants. The online of application-scoring options with the ability to
application process is straightforwardthe vendor summarize and report on numerical review scores add
will create application forms for you, but applicants to GrantMakers generally strong application review
cannot save incomplete applications to finish later functionality. Lack of any substantial payment track-
before submitting, and neither can they view or print ing functionality and budget support will disappoint
submitted applications without customization. A small some organizations, as will relatively weak email
foundation that receives only 10 applications annually capabilities. GrantMaker licenses start at $600 per
could expect to pay about $3,000 per year for a hosted user annually, with volume discounts for five licenses
version of the system, plus a one-time setup fee for and up. There is a one-time setup fee of $500.
online applications starting at around $4,000, or a
one-time cost of $6,000 to install the system on your
own server, plus annual fees of $1,600 and the setup Flexible Relationship
fee for online applications. For larger foundations
which receive around 100 applications annually, the
Management
system would be $6,600 per year hosted (plus setup If you are hoping to track not just the basic details
fee) or $12,000 for installed (with an annual fee of of a grant, but complex custom tracking information
$2,000). about applications and relationships, consider the
growing number of systems geared to support this
need with customizable options and strong support
DonationXchange for relationship management.
This online hosted system, specializing in corporate
and private foundations, provides well-rounded Good Done Greats Grant
functionality. DonationXchange has solid application
review features, and online application forms are Management System
flexible, with the option to embed the forms directly in Good Done Greats Grant Management System has
a webpage, but support for online applicants is not as undergone significant changes in the past couple of
strong as in other systems reviewed in this report. Bud- years, including a migration from Intuits QuickBase
geting in the system is mostly solid, and an integration platform to its own proprietary backend infrastruc-
with QuickBooks provides strong functionality for ture. It remains an affordable hosted solution with
tracking payments. While the system provides decent strong functionality. Online forms built in Grant
email capabilities, support for letters and other print Management System can be matched to the look
communication is rather basic. A smaller foundation and feel of an organizations website. Facilitated by
with five users dealing with only 10 grants a year could an intuitive navigation scheme, information col-
get up and running in the system for about $10,000; lected online can easily be managed, viewed, and
larger foundations dealing with 100 grants or more reported on by grants administrators. Letter and email
per year and 10 concurrent users could expect to pay templates can be custom-formatted to organizational
$40,000 or more in the first year. standards, and can contain mail-merge fields, which
helps with large mailings. Improvements include
support for multiple currencies and email delivery
statistics. A small foundation would pay about

$10,000 for implementation of the system, and about such as grants administrators and program officers
$11,800 each year, which includes basic training. who use the system more than 40 hours a month,
A larger foundation would pay around $28,500 for are billed at $1,176 per user per year (billed on a
implementation, and $42,870 each year, which would montly basis). Low usage staffers, who are logged
include custom, on-site training. into the system for less than 40 hours per month, are
billed at $180 per year (again on a monthly basis).
External users, like reviewers or board members, are
EasyMatch by JK Group billed annually at $2,400 total (on a monthly basis).
JK Groups EasyMatch provides outsourced foun- License fees are based on actual usage, and the system
dation-operation management services, specializing automatically audits the user type for fair billing.
in corporation foundations. Each system is custom
built, with online application forms, online progress
reports, workflow, and viewing screens all tailored to
FoundationConnect by NPower
the clients needs. The core system supports matching FoundationConnect is an online hosted solution
gifts and volunteer programs, and has solid budgeting built on top of the Salesforce platform. The vendor,
functionality. Relationship management features are NPower, is a grantseeking nonprofit. The system capi-
strong, as is support for producing mail-merged letters talizes on Salesforces strong relationship-management
and board dockets. A new self-service reporting tool features to provide robust tracking for organizations,
adds more functionality and flexibility for ad hoc contacts, and grants, including the ability to track
reporting and saving favorite reports. The vendor still and report on grantees with multiple related business
performs most customization for clients, including units. Strong support for dashboards, task lists, and
for online application and progress report forms, role-based views provides a feature-rich experience for
although a forthcoming release is designed to provide grants managers while allowing program officers and
users with more ability to do some of this work management to see only the information relevant to
themselves. JK Groups grants management solution them. Grantees and external reviewers log in through
typically costs between $8,000 and $17,500 to set up, a separate, but tightly integrated, portal application.
and from $10,000 to $20,000 annually, including Users will want to visit the Salesforce AppExchange to
support and maintenance. add Conga Composer or LOOP Document Services
for mail-merge and template capability. Email sent
from FoundationConnect is automatically logged
GMS360 by SmartSimple and routed through Salesforce email servers, which
SmartSimples GMS360 has undergone a major user shields organizations from the risk of being blacklisted
experience redesign which complements its power for mass mailing, but is limited to 500 emails per
and flexibility with greater ease of use. This system day. Many broadcast email programs, like Vertical
lets you create relatively complex online forms that Response and Team Approach, also integrate tightly
can contain a wide variety of field types, including with Salesforce. A free connector lets users log email
rich text fields with formatting toolbars and internal sent from Outlook and synchronizes their Outlook
tracking fields that can be made invisible to ap- contacts with the system. The initial license cost for
plicants. Uploaded files can be version-controlled and FoundationConnect ranges from $25,000 for small
indexed, making their contents available to queries foundations to $40,000 for larger foundations, with
and reports. The system provides useful support for maintenance and support ranging from $7,200 to
managing relationships, broadcast email, mail-merged $14,400 and up per year. The Salesforce license is free
letters, and reporting, as well as integrated task lists for nonprofits for up to 10 user licenses, and costs
and dashboards to manage each users work. Payment $360 per license per year on top of that.
functionality and budgeting are particularly strong,
with support for payment workflows and multiple
currencies. GMS360 implementation starts at about
Fluxx
$20,000. Annual support and maintenance are Fluxx has a unique interface that replaces traditional
included in monthly user fees. High usage staffers, menus and screens with cards arranged horizontally

on the screen. Users can save sets of cards as dash- foundation staffers to create unique views to support
boards containing frequently viewed information. their personal processes, and has a carousel view to
These cards are easily searchable and filterable to allow faciliate a more visual representation of data within
efficient access to information related to any entity in the system. A friendly new ad hoc reporting tool,
the system, and can also contain graphical views of custom workflow functionality, and customizable
data. Like the rest of the system, the reporting func- dashboard system also help make data more accessible
tionality is polished, and Fluxx has added support for throughout the system. A small foundation could
ad hoc reporting as well. Fluxx has also added some expect to pay about $37,000 in the first year and
new capabilities, such as batch update functionality, then $7,320 per year for GIFTS Alta plus IGAM. A
in-system support for Google Drive attachments, larger foundation might pay $84,000 in the first year,
integration with several accounting packages, and and then $16,800 per year for GIFTS Alta plus all
robust OFAC checking. Fluxx boasts flexible, power- pertinent modules.
ful automated workflow facility that supports grants
review and payment approval processes. In addition,
you can easily set up reminders for grantees and staff,
Versaic Grants by Versaic
and assign tasks to users based on schedules and The Versaic platform is used by a number of corporate
events. Though Fluxx began as an open source project, philanthropic departments to manage grantmaking,
the creators of the system have made the decision to product donations, and sponsorships. Versaic Grants
charge for licenses, hosting, and support in order to is a highly flexible platform built on Microsofts .NET
support its long-term sustainability. Those fees range business application framework. The vendor provides
from implementation fees of between $15,000 and consulting services for clients, including configuration
$30,000 and ongoing annual fees of between $7,000 of online forms, batch updates, and ongoing tech
and $12,000 for small foundations up to implenta- support for applicants and grantees. Reporting is very
tion fees over $100,000 and annual fees of between strong in the system, and it has powerful internal
$25,000 and $85,000 for large foundations. workflows that can help segment applications based
on programs and automatically rout them to the right
staffers. Theres no OFAC checking in the system at
GIFTS Alta by MicroEdge this point, and you cant see email delivery statistics.
Beginning in 2011, MicroEdge has debuted a new The Versaic Grants solution can be implemented for
user interface and set of functionality for the installed $10,000 and up, with subscription fees of $10,000
package called GIFTS Alta, which draws on the and up per year for small foundations. For larger
infrastructure of the very popular GIFTS but adds foundations, the vendor quoted a minimum imple-
more functionality in terms of system personalization, mentation cost of $20,000, with annual subscription
dashboards, and workflow management. The vendor fees starting at $15,000.
reports that GIFTS is and will continue to be sup-
Also consider Bromelkamps Akoya.net, listed above
ported, but that new clients looking to implement
under Low Cost for Simple Needs.
an installed system will purchase GIFTS Alta. (See
our review of GIFTS on p. 184. For a hosted option,
the vendor also offers GIFTS Online, reviewed on
p. 202.) GIFTS Alta still relies on some modules at
Complex Online Data
additional cost to extend its capabilities, like IGAM Collection
for online grant applications and reporting and
ReviewerConnect to collect and track reviewer data, If your core priority in a grants management system
but has incorporated some key processes into the is to collect complex application and grantee progress
base product, like Microsoft Office integration and report data online, a number of systems provide
batch updates. GIFTS Alta shares its predecessors both strong online support and useful general grants
strong internal tracking features, like the ability to management functionality.
create printed letters, categorize with codes, and track
payments. The new version of the product also allows

Altum proposalCENTRAL ful cabilities in the realm of grant evaluation and
contract-based budgeting. The system is used pre-
ProposalCENTRAL is an interesting mid-market dominantly by government agencies throughout the
software package focused on health and biomedical United States, and in 29 countries in the developing
research grantmakers. It is very strong in some areas world. The vendor provides consulting services and
for example, it offers support for sophisticated online highly customized implementations for its customers
applications and some of the most powerful support for to help connect grants and improved outcomes with
external review committees of any software package we an organizations grantees. The software has a unique
looked at. Lack of budgeting support and weak mail- means of personalizing the interface, and its easy to
merge facility for printed letters, however, may make it turn features and whole areas of the system on and
less appealing to some organizations. A technical feel off. Online application and progress report features
and suboptimal layout makes the system harder to learn are strong, although its not as streamlined as other
than many others. The system starts at about $18,000 systems in facilitating the viewing and printing of
per year for small foundations, and scales up through applications and attachments for reviewers. The
$100,000 per year or more for very large foundations system does not include a means of checking tax or
with complex processes. OFAC status, although the vendor is willing to add
such features during implementation. Theres some
CyberGrants facility to send messages within the system, but not to
support letters or email merges. However, most data is
CyberGrants offers a highly configurable online hosted exportable to Excel, and the systems powerful report-
solution with a particularly strong base of corporate ing capabilities are a plus. Support optionsboth
foundation clients.The system has an easy-to-navigate online and phoneare also quite extensive. The
interface and very solid online data gathering capabili- vendor reports that pricing is determined based on the
tiesfor example, online support for eligibility quizzes, specific size and needs of the organization in ques-
proposals and progress reportsand administrative tion. For a small foundation, the estimated cost for
tracking features, such as the ability to update applica- implementation plus the first year license and support
tion information at any time, to attach internal use and costs would be approximately $32,000, with a lower
coding fields to applications, and to create mail-merged ongoing annual cost for maintenance and support.
letters. Internal tax status and OFAC checking is quite For a larger foundation, the estimated cost for
robust, and the system benefits from a user-friendly ad implementation plus the first year license and support
hoc reporting engine. The system lacks an internal com- costs would be approximately $155,000, with a lower
munication log, though, and the fact that every reviewer ongoing annual cost for maintenance and support.
must have at least a limited license to access the system
means it may not be the best solution for foundations
who use many external reviewers. The system also has GrantRight by GrantStream
substantial ability to develop custom functionality to Aimed primarily at corporate foundations, Grant-
complement its standard features. CyberGrants has Right is an Online hosted option with a web-based
two licensing levels, both of which include all modules, interface. It has a particular strength in internal grant
support, and maintenance. Small foundations with 5 tracking, payments, and budgeting features. However,
users might pay in the range of $11, 000 per year, and its somewhat limited in online application and
larger foundations could pay closer to $82, 500 with 20 progress reporting. For instance, it can only support
named users and 15 reviewers. an eligibility quiz and one other application phase,
and does not offer any ability to track data from
GEMS from Mosaic grantee progress reports without additional customiza-
tion. Nearly anything is customizableincluding
Mosaics suite of softwarewhich includes GEMS, sophisticated application review workflows and
STARS, and other customized implementationsis formsbut almost all customization must be done by
designed to support many facets of the human services the vendor, potentially at additional cost, including
sector besides grants management, and provides power- customizing values in dropdown boxes and creating

letter and grant summary templates. Ad hoc reports are outside reviewers to weigh in, and even specialized
flexible and easy to format. Standard reports can be eas- functionality geared toward reviewing arts projects or
ily modified by those familiar with SAP Crystal Reports. medical research applications.
GrantStream has extensive experience with corporate
clients and is willing to heavily customize GrantRight,
which could make it attractive to corporate foundations
Altum EasyGrants
with specialized needs. Annual recurring costs for Easygrants combines sophisticated functionality
GrantRight can be between $19,200 and $25,000, with with the ability to customize in depth not only
first year setup fees generally starting around $30,000 to all online applications, review forms, and grantee
$34,000. reports, but all workflow and tasks required for each
programincluding who should do which task, and
when. Each user is presented with an easy-to-parse list
PhilanTrack by Philantech of upcoming tasks assigned to them in a portal-like
PhilanTrack is an Online hosted option that prioritizes format; they can also search the system or perform
the user experience for both grantseekers and grantmak- bulk processes like send emails, print letters, or create
ers. It provides solid support for tracking applications reports. The system does not, however, easily support
and grants, and for producing letters and board dockets. branching online forms. The system excels in its sup-
The online application interface allows grantseekers to port for complex, online review processes, and is also
use the system as their own grant language repository, good with mail-merged letters and automatic email
with the ability to search for and reuse language theyve reminders. The system can be hosted by Altum, but
used on past grants. Grantmakers will find PhilanTrack is often installed on grantmakers own web servers.
simple to navigate, though at the time of this review A mid-sized organization might expect to pay about
search functionality is tied to specific areas of the $75,000 to $100,000 in first-year licensing costs, plus
system, meaning you have to know the tab in which $50,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup and
the subject of your search is located in order to find configuration.
it. PhilanTracks relationship-management facility is
somewhat limited, with only basic support for tracking
communications with granteesyou can keep a call log
First Pearl by Bromelkamp
on a grantee record, but emails generated within the First Pearl is a traditional installed software package
system must be added manually. And while the system built in Microsoft Access, which is both a strength
can generate automatic emails based on a number of and a weakness. On one hand, Access includes a solid
action-triggers, theres no way to easily define parent/ report builder, is strong in data tracking, and provides
child relationships for organizations in the system. a flexible database platformwhich Bromelkamp
PhilanTracks pricing starts at $4,000 annually with leverages to tailor First Pearl to each clients needs,
another $4,000 in first-year setup costs. including adding fields or features to support unique
processes. Someone with Access development experi-
Also consider JK Groups EasyMatch, CyberGrants, ence can extend First Pearls functionality themselves
Good Done Greats Grants Management System, and with minimal or no vendor assistance. On the other
GMS360 by SmartSimple, listed above in Flexible hand, Access has limitations in user interface design
Relationship Management. options, which manifests in First Pearl through screens
that, while feature-rich, can feel crowded and hard
Complex Application to navigate. Access also lacks field-level security, but
for clients concerned about this, Bromelkamp is able
Review Needs to effectively resolve the issue through creative use of
custom secure database tables, and can leverage user
Some systems provide very little functionality to sup- permissions to protect or hide dynamically (by user
port complex review processes, while these provide or even by data condition). Also, an MSSQL version
complex scoring mechanisms, online forms to allow of First Pearl is available, and provides field-level

security. Organizations that accept online applications hoc reporting capabilities are strong, and the system
connect eGrant.net to First Pearl. Those that need to provides useful internal tracking functionality, but
build their own online forms require Bromelkamps administrators can only search on a limited number of
eGrant.net Builder module at additional cost. A small fields. Some standard reports are available, or data can
foundation could expect to pay around $17,430 for be analyzed with the included Jasper Reports engine.
the first year (including eGrant.net) and $1,800 in an- Letter templates can be set up with merged data
nual recurring costs. A large foundation could expect fields. The system is typically licensed as a one-time
to pay closer to $43,492 in the first year (including fee for unlimited use, and then installed on the users
eGrant.net), and $7,242 in annual recurring costs. internet servers. The license fee is typically between
$15,000 and $45,000, depending on what modules
are purchased.
GrantsOnline by WESTAF
Designed as the successor to CultureGrants Online,
WESTAFs GrantsOnline (GO for short) was built
Altum proposalCENTRAL
by grantmakers for use by the sector. In addition ProposalCENTRAL is an interesting mid-market
to traditional grants management functionality, software package focused on health and biomedical
GrantsOnline has some unusual features likely to research grantmakers. It is very strong in some areas
be of interest to arts funders, such as the ability for for example, it offers support for sophisticated online
applicants to submit videos in support of their appli- applications and some of the most powerful support
cations. Conveniently, the videos stream rather than for external review committees of any software pack-
download, although files are converted to the Flash age we looked at. Lack of budgeting support and
format, which isnt well supported on iOS devices like weak mail-merge facility for printed letters, however,
iPads. While generally strong in internal tracking, the may make it less appealing to some organizations. A
system has a comparatively limited ability to track technical feel and suboptimal layout make the system
grants easily by categories and codes. Dynamic fields harder to learn than many others. The system starts
allow you to build powerful online forms with more at about $10,000 per year for small foundations, and
intricate branching logic than youll find in most other scales up through $100,000 per year or more for very
systems. Application review and email capabilities large foundations with complex processes.
are similarly strong. During implementation, clients
Also consider Fluxx, Versaic Grants, CyberGrants, and
can select from a menu of options for grant-payment
MOSAIC GEMS.
functionality that can be includedpossibly, for an
additional implementation cost. While reporting
facilities are powerful and flexible, theres no ability to
see a list of favorite reports. Pricing for GrantsOnline
Substantial Functionality
has three tiers and starts at $4,450 in annual license for the Needs of Large
fees for five grant programs and up to 500 users with
a first-year setup fee of $7,550. Media storage per user Foundations
above 100MB is available at additional cost. If you need all of the aboveand are willing to pay
for itthese large enterprise systems provide strong
WebGrants by Dulles Technology functionality and customization for a larger price tag.
Many systems in other categories can also be custom-
WebGrants is a well-designed, mid-market online ized to fit the needs of large foundations.
package with support for the full grant lifecycle. Users
can define sophisticated online application forms,
review forms, and grantee report forms to collect Fusion Labs GE/Spectrum
extensive information. However, theres no support Fusion Labs GE/Spectrum is a standalone system
for forms that can branch based on form entries. The that includes several facets, including the GrantedGE
system also allows you to build your own custom ap- grants management system and either the PROFFER
plication review forms for internal or external use. Ad

4 online application management, which integrates
with Blackbauds NetCommunity, or the Spectrum
online web portal for those who choose not to use
NetCommunity. The system can integrate tightly with
other Blackbaud products, too, such as The Raisers
Edge and The Financial Edge. However, unlike the
earlier GrantedGE system, those external products
are not required for GE/Spectrum. The system can
handle event- and schedule-triggered emails, and
can provide an outbound server for broadcast email,
shielding users from the risk of blacklisting. Fusion
Labs online form modules support reasonably sophis-
ticated formatting of forms. The system now includes
application branching, more sophisticated eligibility
quizzes, and support for multiple logons for applicants
from a single organization. License costs range from
around $20,000 to $225,000, based on the size of the
foundation and complexity of the implementation.
Also consider Altum EasyGrants, GrantStreams
GrantRight, Fluxx, MicroEdges GIFTS, and Micro-
Edges GIFTS Alta.

COMPARING THE SYSTEMS
As part of this research, we reviewed 28 grants management software packages in

detail to determine how they compared in a number of critical areas. The following
charts compare these packages on a set of specific criteria. While every grant-
maker will base software decisions on a different set of factors, these charts help
by explaining the various packages strengths and weaknesses in areas important
to most foundations.
The detailed write-ups of the 28 systems begin on page 41. The framework used to
determine the ratings is included in Appendix B.
LOW COST FOR SIMPLE NEEDS
[with eGrants.
PowerOFFICE
GIFTS Online
Bromelkamp
Inc Common
ZoomGrants
net module]
GrantMaker
Application
Oceanpeak,
Closerware
Microedge
Akoya.net
Foundant
WizeHive
Donation
Lifecycle
Manager
Manager
Xchange
Grant
Grant
Grant
Small Grantmaker, basic functionality***
$5,500 $10,080 $4,750 $1,270 $2,000 $4,385 $7000- $10,000 $3,500
First year cost
10,000
$5,500 $6,180 $3,250 $1,270 $2,000 $3,990 $1600- $5,000 $3,000
Ongoing yearly cost
$2000
Large Grantmaker, basic functionality***
$42,500 $36,400 $4,750 $5,500 $7,000 $10,365 $10,000- $40000 $12,500
First year cost
$16,000 and up
$42,500 $14,900 $3,250 $5,500 $7,000 $9,970 $1,600- $20,000 $12,000
Ongoing yearly cost
$2,000 and up
Internal Tracking
Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers *
Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers *

Form Design and Flexibility
Applications Review
501(c)(3) and OFAC Status
Letters & Board Dockets
Emails
Relationship Management
Grant Requirements & Evaluation
Payments
Budgeting * *
System Querying & Reporting *
Permissions & Workflow

Data Access
Overall Customization
Ease of Use
Support & Training
Support Customer Experience
Training Customer Experience
Implementation Customer Experience
None Basic Solid Advanced < 5 responses Below Average Good Outstanding
*with module or app at additional cost *** Small foundation parameters: Five named users, five con- *** Large foundation parameters: Twenty named
current users, 50 external reviewers, $10,000,000 asset base, users, 10 concurrent users, 50 external reviewers,
**with customization 10 grants per year. Basic functionality to review applications, $1,000,000,000 asset base, 100 grants per year.
track and pay grants, and to accept applications online. With all functionality covered in this report.

FLEXIBLE RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT
Versaic Grants
[with eGrants.
Smart Simple
Great Grants
Management
Bromelkamp
net module]
Easymatch
Foundation
GIFTS Alta
Good Done
MicroEdge
Akoya.net
JK Group
GMS360
Connect
NPower
System
Fluxx
$21,800 $18000 $17,000 - $32,200 $15,000 - $10,080 $10,000 $36,600
First year cost and up $25,000 $30,000 and up
$11,800 $10000 $7,500 - $7,200 $7,000 - $6,180 $10,000 $7,320
Ongoing yearly cost and up $15,000 $12,000 and up
$71,370 $27,000 $25,000 - $61,600 $100,000 $36,400 $20,000 $84,000
First year cost
and up $100,000 and up and up
$42,870 $10,000 $12,000 - $21,600 $25,000 - $14,900 $15,000 $16,800
Ongoing yearly cost and up $20,000 $85,000 and up
Internal Tracking **
Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers *
Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers *

Applications Review * **

Letters & Board Dockets *
Emails * *
Relationship Management **
Grant Requirements & Evaluation *
Payments **
Budgeting * *
System Querying & Reporting

Permissions & Workflow * *
Data Access
Ease of Use
Support & Training

COMPLEX ONLINE DATA COLLECTION
Smart Simple
GrantStream
Great Grants
GrantRight
Management
CyberGrants
PhilanTrack
Easymatch
PhilanTech
Good Done
CENTRAL
JK Group
GMS360
proposal
MOSAIC
System
Altum
GEMS
- Full
$18,000 $32,000 $8,000 $11,000 $17,000 - $21,800 $57,200 $18,000
First year cost
and up $25,000 and up
varies varies $4,000 $11,000 $7,500 - $11,800 $23,200 $10,000
Ongoing yearly cost
$15,000 and up
$100,000 $155,000 $36,000 $82,500 $25,000 - $71,370 $71,500 $27,000
First year cost
and up and up $100,000 and up
varies varies $11,000 $82,500 $12,000 - $42,870 $30,500 $10,000
Ongoing yearly cost
$20,000 and up
Internal Tracking ** *
Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers **
Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers

Applications Review
Emails *
Grant Requirements & Evaluation *
Payments
Budgeting **

Permissions & Workflow ** *
Data Access
Ease of Use
Support & Training

COMPLEX APPLICATION REVIEW NEEDS
Bromelkamp
FluidReview
eGrants.net
EasyGrants
Technology
WebGrants
First Pearl
GrantsOn-
Partners
WESTAF
MOSAIC
module]
Versaic
Grants
Grants
Cyber-
Altum
Dulles
GEMS
Fluxx
line
[with
not recom- $17,430 $12, $10,000 $4,000 - $15,000 - $10,000 $11, 000 $32,000
First year cost mended for 000 $8,000 $30,000 and up and up
this size
not recom- $1,800 $4,450 $6,000 $4,000 - $7,000 - $10,000 $11, 000 varies
Ongoing yearly cost mended for $8,000 $12,000 and up
this size
$75,000 - $43,500 $33,850 $150,000 $12000- $100,000 $20,000 $82,500 $155,
First year cost $300,000 $30000 and up and up and up 000 and
up
$30,000 - $7,250 $12,550 $18,000 $12000- $25,000 - $15,000 $82,500 varies
Ongoing yearly cost
$50000 $30000 $85,000 and up
Internal Tracking ** **
Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers **
Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers

Applications Review **

Emails
Relationship Management **

Payments **
Budgeting ** **

Permissions & Workflow **
Data Access
Ease of Use
Support & Training
SUBSTANTIAL FUNCTIONALITY FOR THE
NEEDS OF LARGE FOUNDATIONS
GIFTS - Full
EasyGrants
FusionLabs
GIFTS Alta
MicroEdge
MicroEdge
GE/Spec-
Altum
Fluxx
trum
not recommended $20,000 $15,000 to $36,600 n/a
First year cost
for this size $30,000
not recommended varies $7,000 to $7,320 n/a
Ongoing yearly cost
for this size $12,000
$75,000 - $300,000 $225,000 $100,000 $84,000 n/a
First year cost
and up
$30,000 - $50000 varies $25,000 to $16,800 n/a
Ongoing yearly cost
$85,000
Internal Tracking
Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers * *
Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers * *

Applications Review
Emails *
Grant Requirements & Evaluation * *
Payments
Budgeting * *

Permissions & Workflow * *
Data Access
Ease of Use
Support & Training

HOW TO DECIDE
There are a number of options in grants management grants management systemtailoring a system to
software packages. Thats good, but it can make idiosyncratic processes is, at best, expensive, and
choosing difficult. What questions should you ask to may be impossible. Take care before deciding you
narrow down the choices to focus in on the packages have unique needs. Its quite common to think
likely to work best for you? your processes are unusual in an important way,
but in many cases these processes can be tweaked to
Do you need a particular type of software match best practices without sacrifice. However, if
package? If you want an online system that your you have truly unique needs, youll need to look for
staff can access from anywhere, youll likely want a system that can be substantially customizedof-
to prioritize Online hosted options. Organizations ten, by a vendor willing to update their software for
that value control of infrastructure should consider an additional fee.
systems that can be installed on in-house hardware.
Do you plan to take all your applications online?
More than any other criteria, the packages vary
in their ability to receive applications online, and Its important to try to
to deal gracefully with applications received in
paper form. If online applications are part of your align your processes
strategy, look carefully at the features offered in
this area to see if theyll meet your needs, and at with grantmaking
what price. If you plan to continue receiving at
least some applications in paper, though, make sure best practices before
the ability to easily get these applications into the
system is high on your list of requirements. choosing a new grants
How sophisticated are your needs? Read through
the description in this report of what grants management system.
management systems can do, and think through
how much of the more-advanced functionality
described is necessary for you. If the vast majority What types of software can your infrastructure
of functionality described doesnt really apply for support? Online hosted software is appealing
your processes, the less-expensive and less-complex to many organizations, as it doesnt require any
systems might work well for you. Dont assume hardware, software, or maintenance support. If you
that more functionality is better; an inexpensive choose a software package that needs to be installed
and streamlined system might be just what you on your own computers, however, youll need to
need. On the other hand, if youll need a number consider how well you can support that package.
of the functionalities described as more advanced, What software will fit within your current technical
you may need to look to the more-complex, environment? For instance, if your staff is using
expensive packages. Macs, you may have trouble finding a package that
How well do your processes match typical ones? can be easily installed. Will your existing hardware
Its important to try to align your processes with support the new software, or will you need to
grantmaking best practices before choosing a new purchase new equipment? Will you need to bring

on a staff member or consultant to maintain and giving them a script which walks through the tasks
upgrade the software? If youll need additional that youd like to see demoedfor example, I check
resources, make sure you account for that in the the grantees that have progress reports due, and create
price of the software. a letter to mail to each of them. This can be very
Hopefully, the information in this report will help useful to help compare different systems to each other.
you narrow down the options to a handful of choices. Use these demos to narrow down your choices to
Youll certainly want to take a careful look at those only a couple, and then ask those vendors for pricing
systems yourself before making a final decision. Think information. For some systems, pricing is straightfor-
through your needs carefullywhich of the features ward. For others, its quite complicated, and may take
some time for the vendor to estimate. Make sure you
know what is included in the price. Will the vendor
It doesnt matter how move any existing data into the system? Set up the
system for you? Do more complex customizations?
good a particular grants A grants management system is only useful if it fits
your organizations needs. It should make the jobs
management system your already busy staff does each day easier and more
efficient, allowing you to focus on your foundations
is if it doesnt fit your mission. Theres much to consider when choosing
such a system. Each of the available options has its
organizations needs. own strengths and feature mixes, and cost isnt a
guarantee of anythingespecially since every grant-
makers needs differ. But if you do your homework
described here are critical for you? Which are only and compare whats available with an honest evalua-
nice to have, or not useful for your organization? tion of what you need, youll find a system that will
What other features, which arent discussed here, help you manage your processes more efficiently and
might be useful? communicate better with grantees.
With that list of important features in hand, contact

the vendors and ask for demos. Ask them to show you
exactly the features you consider important. Consider

REVIEWS OF THE GRANTS
MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
ALTUM EASYGRANTS
Easygrants combines sophisticated functionality with the ability to customize in depth not only all online
applications, review forms, and grantee reports, but all workflow and tasks required for each programinclud-
ing who should do which task, and when. Each user is presented with an easy-to-parse list of upcoming tasks
assigned to them in a portal-like format; they can also search the system or perform bulk processes like send
emails, print letters, or create reports. The system does not, however, easily support branching online forms. The
system excels in its support for complex, online review processes, and is also good with mail-merged letters and
automatic email reminders. The system can be hosted by Altum, but is often installed on grantmakers own web
servers. A mid-sized organization might expect to pay about $75,000 to $100,000 in first-year licensing costs,
plus $50,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup and configuration.
Internal Tracking
Grant Cycle Linkages: All information for each grant project is linked together through its entire lifecycle.
Tracking by Grant Status: You can easily retrieve grant information and status.
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Can track by program cycle or board meeting date.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and see
the specific percent allocation of a grant across each.
Splitting Codes: Grants can be split by custom categorization codes.
Custom Categorization Codes: Lets you define custom categorization codes for tracking and reporting.
Updating Basic Grant Information: Lets you easily update basic grant information like project names or codes
throughout the process.
Attaching Files to Grant Record: Lets you easily attach files to grant records, including Word documents, Excel
spreadsheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are searchable by a number of criteria, including organizations legal name, EIN,
application ID, and program and grant cycle.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be entered into the system, but you must log
in as a grantee to do so. Alternatively, you could scan in a paper application and attach it to the grant record, but the
contents of the application would not be captured into fields that are searchable and reportable.
File Attachment Method: The system stores attached documents in the database as objects rather than links. Can
optionally save documents in Sharepoint if Sharepoint integration is chosen.
Batch Updates: Lets you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but the client can define the
keywords and categories to match the standard taxonomy they desire.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: Lets you easily see related records and data across records.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system allows both individuals and organizations
to apply for grants from the same grant program.
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications with, at a minimum, file uploads, dropdown
boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor. You can update or create these online

applications without additional charges from the vendor, but doing so requires familiarity with an XML data structure and
the ability to add new fields to a MS SQL database. Alternatively, you may hire the vendor to update application forms for
you.
Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create different online forms to support each grant program.
Eligibility Branching: Eligibility quizzes cannot branch to multiple applications.
Application Branching: Grant application forms can branchfor example, to show a different set of questions for fiscal-
sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but branching forms must be configured by the vendor at additional
cost.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports multiple application stages, including an automatically scored eligibility quiz, a
Letter Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed.
Online Application Integration: Data from online applications is automatically pulled into the core grants management
systemno download or upload of data files is required.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: Supports multiple logins for grantees on a single applicationfor example, allows separate
people to complete financial sections and proposal sections.
Transfer of Account and History: An applicant record represents an individual, separate from the organization. When a
new staff member creates an account, they can be connected to the organizations prior grant history.
Reuse of Application Data: Carries over contact information and other appropriate data for an organization or grant
from one years application form to another, or from a Letter Of Intent to a proposalfor example, a narrative entered in a
Letter Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the email address of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already exist in the
system.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants can view their status online.
Custom Confirmation Messages: Lets you customize a confirmation message to be sent upon submission of an applica-
tion.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can extensively format applicationsfor example, use rich text, create groups of
questions, and create multiple pages.
Spell Checking: Grantees cannot spell-check applications, unless they have web browser-based spell-checking separate
from the grant management system.
Saving Incomplete Applications: Applicants can save partially completed applications and return to them later.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but applicants can be
prompted to save their work at regular intervals.
User Registration: System registration follows standard best practicesapplicants enter email address and password and
are sent a confirmation email.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily reset lost credentials.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view or print applications at any stage in the process.
Preview Packet: The applicant can create a preview packet of their grant, which includes either copies of all uploaded
documents or links to them.
Security Scan: All documents and images are scanned for viruses before uploading to the system.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support the application process via mobile or tablet
devices. Most tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web
broswer.
Unified Accounts: Theres no means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all of their funders in
the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers to unsubmit a proposal with comments or request
additional information from the applicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

Look and Feel: Lets you customize online application forms to match the look and feel of your website, including colors,
fonts, and navigation.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character counts, but not word counts, for application questions.
Admin users have the ability to set maximum and minimum character limits for each field.
In system Help: The system provides a standard FAQ list for applicants. Clients have the ability to customize the text
around an application form to provide additional instructional text. The client provides technical support for applicants.
Application Review
Viewing Relationship History: Lets you see a history of a relationship with prospective granteesfor example, what
grants theyve applied for, been declined, or been granted in the past.
Requirements Checklist: Supports checklist functionality to define what information or documents you require from
prospective grantees.
Reopening Submitted Applications: Lets you reopen online applications once theyve been submitted if more information
is required from the applicant.
Printing Grant Summaries: Both internal and external reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant informa-
tion.
Reviewers Portal: Provides a simplified portal interface to allow reviewers to see and review grant applications more
easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily see what documents are associated with the request and stored in
the system, but must download the files in order to view their contents.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process.
Multiple Reviewer Support: Multiple reviewers can each rate an application on a number of different factors, and add
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which are customizable by
the client.
Online Application Review: Supports online viewing and reviewing of applications.
External Reviewer Profiles: Lets you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest and use those
criteria to assign applications for review.
Comment Sharing Among Reviewers: Lets you choose whether to allow reviewers to see each others comments and
grades.
Numeric Review Scores: Lets you view numeric review scores and report them as summary statisticsfor example, average
score.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner and grants management staff can be automatically notified via email when
reviews are completed.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: There is no in-system support for checking 501(c)(3) status, but for a minimal extra cost the
vendor could allow you to click on organizations to view their records and tax status in a standard registry of 501(c)(3)
nonprofits, such as GuideStar.
OFAC Status Checking: There is no in-system support for comparing organizations and individuals against standard
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, but this could be added at additional cost.
Letters and Board Dockets

Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for printing grant application summaries, choosing which fields to
include as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos.

Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you create letter templates in Microsoft Word or an equivalent web-based
word processor that include mail-merged information about grants and organizations, and lets you customize their fonts,
colors, and logos.
Printing Series of Summaries: Lets you print letters or summaries for a series of grants or grant applications in a single
step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: Lets you view and customize individual letters before printing them.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to the board docket.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not support electronic signatures.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for email, but not print, formats.
Emails
Emailing Individuals and Groups: Lets you easily send an email to a particular individual in the system, but not to a
group of people at once. Users must export a contact list to email a group of people at once.
Email Template Flexibility: Lets you create email to individuals and groups based on templates that include both standard
text and mail-merge type inserted data. Emails cannot be edited after merging.
Email Attachments: Lets you attach files to emails sent to individuals and groups.
Email Delivery Reporting: Does not let you see email delivery statistics.
Event-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send automatic emails based on certain events, such as online application
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees based on date,
but not other triggers.
Outbound Email Method: Emails are sent through the vendors email service to protect you from blacklisting, and the
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam, unless the client hosts the system themselves. In this
case, emails are sent through clients email servers, potentially exposing them to blacklisting.
Spell Checking: The system does not provide any specific spell-checking ability for emails generated in the system, but as a
browser-based solution, this is possible through the browser itself, if enabled.
Tracking Individual History: Its possible to capture multiple individuals on online forms. The system lets you track
individuals over time, and the history of the relationship of each individual associated with a grant, even if they leave the
organization. Departed staffers will not show up as active contacts for communications.
Tracking Organizational History: Tracks organizations separately from individual grants to allow you to see a history of
all grants to an organization.
Tracking Business Units: Can track individual business units under a larger organization, and see grants for both the
individual units and the larger organization.
Multiple Contacts Per Organization: Lets you associate multiple contacts with an organization and define their relation-
ships to you and to a specific grant.
Customized Communication: Lets you communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the grant or
organization.
Record of Correspondence: Stores a record of all system-generated emails for each grant, but not other communications.
Call and Email Logging: Lets you keep a log of outside communications, such as phone calls and emails, with a particular
contact at a grantee organization.
Email Capture: Does not let you capture emails from an external email system.
Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with CRM systems, but has not been
done with Outlook. Requires customization at additional cost.

Grant Requirements and Evaluation
Defining Grant Requirements: Lets you define a default set of grant requirements and customize them for individual
grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you branch data collection based on grantee responses. The vendor can also customize data
collection forms to meet requirements in terms of branching.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees can view grant requirement deadlines online.
Viewing Grant Requirements: Lets you easily see which requirements grantees have met, and which they have not.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines.
Progress Report Tracking: Can track both that progress reports have been received and that they have been approved by
staff.
Storing Progress Report Data:
Online Progress Report Submission: Lets you store progress report information submitted by grantees in multiple data
fields, which you can then summarize across grantees in reports.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Lets you create custom online progress report forms (for example, corresponding
to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees.
User Groups: The system has the ability to configure a template of metrics to collect data based on grant program.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Lets you define a default payment schedule that applies to all grants, and then adjust the
amounts and dates for each grant individually.
Viewing Payment Schedules: Lets you see what scheduled payments are upcoming and whether the grantee has met the
requirements linked with that conditional payment.
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting.
View Scheduled Payment Amount (Annual): Can view the amount scheduled to be paid out in a given year, including
payments for grants awarded in previous years.
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: Lets you see what payments are due based on a schedule, and whether the grantee has
met the associated prerequisite requirements.
Third-Party Payee Support: Supports payments to individuals or organizations other than the primary grantee (for example,
fiscal sponsors).
Electronic Payments: Supports ACH payments and wire transfers by storing required information and confirmation codes
for successful transactions.
Viewing Payments Made: Lets you see what payments have been made, including amount, date paid, and check/ACH
payment/wire transfer number.
Accounting Integration: The vendor has experience in integrating the system with external accounting packages, including
QuickBooks and Microsoft Dynamics, at additional cost.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Supports an automated payment approval process with configurable workflow steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Currently supports grants in a single currency, of the clients selection. The vendor reports that
currency conversion could be added to the system during the customization process.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Lets you report on grants made in other currencies.
Contingent/Conditional Payments: Allows for payments to be made contingent or conditional upon a specified grant or
payment requirement.
Payment Controls: Lets you configure audit/security controls to ensure that only certain staff can change payment informa-
tion.
Payment Notes: Lets you include notes on payments.
Payment Reporting: The system can be configured to send the coding attributes of associated requests, organizations, and
contacts to an accounting system.

Other Payment Issues: The system has the ability to void, refund, or hold payments. The system has the ability to update
payment details in batch using the import tool, and to create payments in batch using the scheduling tool. In-kind and
quid pro quo payments can be tracked separately from payments.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: You can decide whether the budgeting features track the amount paid out in a particular
year or the total amount awarded.
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount for each grants program and report on that information with
actuals (approved and pending).
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas.
Budget Basing: Does not let you base current years budget on the previous year.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Can split grants across more than one program for budgeting and payment-tracking
purposes.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you easily set up multi-year budgeting.
What-Ifs: Lets you set up what-if scenarios, but requires a module at additional cost.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: The system does not have the ability to create grant requests based on budgeted line items
in a proposal.
Program-Related Investments: The system does not support interest repayments on PRIs.
System Querying and Reporting

General Reporting Approach: Casual users can easily run queries and retrieve reports independently with minimal
training.
Searching and Filtering: Lets you search or filter to find a particular set of grants based on status, program, and cycle, and
view pre-packaged reports based on this customized set of grants.
Report Modification: Can make small updates to standard reportsfor example, to change the columns displayed, or the
groupingto meet slightly different needs.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports without navigating a much-larger set.
Saving Modified Reports: Lets you name and save reports that you create or modify.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Supports ad hoc reports within the system, which can include and filter by nearly any field displayed
to users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos, and headers.
Grant Summary Tracking: Can track summaries based on hierarchical codesfor example, to show grant money paid to
each Education sub-program as well as total Education grants.
Data Reportability: Virtually all system dataincluding data entered into online applications, review forms, and grantee
progress reportscan be included in reports.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down for more information on some or all reports, but requires customization at
additional cost.
Attachment Searching: Lets you search the contents of file attachments, but only through optional integration with
Microsoft SharePoint.
Standard Reports: The system does not by default contain report templates to easily align data with reporting standards
used by the sector, such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI,
but users can define these templates in the reporting tool.
Automating Reports: There is no ability for reports to run automatically and send the results of a report to reviewers or
users, without the use of third-party reporting tools.
Visual Reports: There is no ability in the system to create charts or graphs from report results.
Individual Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user.

Permissions Granularity: You can affiliate users with one of the pre-determined foundation staff roles, but theres no
out-of-the-box ability to customize these roles or what permissions they have.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis at additional cost.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides two different internal interfaces. One shows all system functionality. The other shows
only the tasks specifically assigned to the user.
Audit Logging: Records the majority of data updates, along with the data and the user who made the update, in an audit
log.
User Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user.
Users Task Lists: Provides users a task list when they sign onto the system.
Task Assignment: You can assign tasks, such as reviews, to other users.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for management and board members, but
requires add-on at additional cost.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Assigns tasks to users based on rules and roles.
Data Access
Data Export to other formats: Lets you export all data visible to users into another file format, such as .xls or .csv.
Custom Data Feeds: Provides a SOAP API to allow a programmer to create custom automated data flows to an external
system.
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices. Most
tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web browser.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Does not provide explicit functionality to let you see grant summary
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device. Most tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and
performing data entry via the devices web browser.
Data Integrity: The vendor provides robust documentation regarding their security, which highlights the redundancy of
the data stored on its servers.
Dropdown Fields: Lets you customize dropdown values for fields such as program or grant codes.
Custom Fields: The system allows for a limited number of custom fields, which can be placed nearly anywhere and have
the same permissions as system-generated fields. Existing system fields can be renamed.
Internal Tracking Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use, which are created by the vendor as
part of their initial setup process.
Online Information Customization: Lets you customize the information requested in online applications and review
forms at no additional cost.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, at additional cost.
System Extendibility: Vendor permits clients to extend system functionality via access to underlying database and code (as
allowed through the API).
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor permits extensively customized systems to remain on the upgrade path, but
possibly on a delayed schedule depending on degree of customization.
Support for Multiple Languages: Its possible for grantmakers to provide instructions to applicants and grantees in differ-
ent languages through online forms, but the system itself is in English.

Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking and neatly laid out.
Intuitive Labels: Navigation and action items are labeled intuitively, so that a userdoesnt have to understand language
specific to the system in order toeffectively use it.
Easily Taking Action: On the core interface pages, the user can easily find the actions he or she is most likely to take.
Optimization for Experts: The system pulls together the information and actions expert users are likely to need so as to
minimize the number of steps and clicks they need to take.
Support and Training

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support as part of the yearly maintenance fee. Phone support can be
provided to grantees and reviewers as well at additional cost.
Online Support: The vendor provides manuals and help documentation online.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and help documentation online, including online training
materials, recorded training webinars, and videos.
Training: The vendor provides training in person or via the internet, at additional cost. The vendor also holds regional
support meetings.
User Support Forums: There are user support forums or discussion groups available.
Installation and Maintenance

Installation and Maintenance Software: Clients need user licenses for underlying systems (SQL, Windows Server, IIS
Web server. Sharepoint). Hardware: Larger organizations will want to install redundant hardware (e.g., replicated database
server with automated failover) and web servers with load balancing. For mid-size organizations best performance is
provided by separating the functions onto separate servers: database server, web server for the application/users, document
processing server (for assembly, merge, PDF conversion). Virtualization can reduce hardware expenses. A separate copy of
the database on a reporting server is recommended to prevent ad hoc reporting from slowing the operational system.
Vendor Background
History: Easygrants has been in use by clients since 1999. Easygrants was purchased by Altum in October 2006.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 21 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is approximately 57
percent nonprofit, 19 percent international, and 24 percent government.
Sustainability: The revenue earned from the grantmaking system covers the personnel and operational expenses required to
support it.
Customer Experience Survey

Number of Survey Respondents Who Reported Using the System:: 1
Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: n/a

ALTUM PROPOSALCENTRAL
ProposalCENTRAL is an interesting mid-market software package focused on health and biomedical research
grantmakers. It is very strong in some areasfor example, it offers support for sophisticated online applications
and some of the most powerful support for external review committees of any software package we looked at. Lack
of budgeting support and weak mail-merge facility for printed letters, however, may make it less appealing to some
organizations. A technical feel and suboptimal layout make the system harder to learn than many others. The system
starts at about $10,000 per year for small foundations, and scales up through $100,000 per year or more for very
large foundations with complex processes.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Can track by program cycle or board meeting date. Categories and
codes can only be assigned post-award.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and see the
specific percent allocation of a grant across each. Applicants have the ability to define the categories or codes related to their
proposal, and select the percent allocation to each.
Updating Basic Grant Information: Only lets you update grant information like project names or codes once the grant is
approved, not during the application process. Prior to that, you must log in to the system as the grantee or request that the
grantee makes the changes to their own grant application.
Attaching Files to Grant Record: Lets you easily attach files to grant records, including Word documents, Excel spread-
sheets, and PDFs.
application ID, and program and grant cycle. Search functionality is spread among multiple places depending on what you
are searching for.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system, but you must log in
as a grantee to do so.
File Attachment Method: The system uploads attached documents to the server and stores a link to that uploaded file in
the database.
Batch Updates: Does not let you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system allows both individuals and organizations to
apply for grants from the same grant program.
Creating Online Applications: Lets you collect application information online with, at a minimum, file uploads, drop-
down boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, but the vendor must set up application forms for you.

Application Branching: The pre-defined application sections include some branching questionsfor example, to show a set
of additional questions if a project involves human subjectsbut in most cases branching questions must be configured at
additional cost.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports two application stages: Letter of Intent stage and one additional stage.
Transfer of Account and History: An applicant record represents an individual, separate from the organization. When a new
staff member creates an account, they can be connected to the organizations prior grant history. Grantseekers can change or
add their new organizational affiliation and contact information without contacting the grantmaker or vendor.
Reuse of Application Data: Carries over contact information and other appropriate data for an organization or grant from
one years application form to another, or from a Letter Of Intent to a proposalfor example, a narrative entered in a Letter
Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal.
system.
Custom Confirmation Messages: Lets you customize a confirmation message to be sent upon submission of an application.
Application Formatting: Applications are configured by the vendor, and can only include plain text.
Spell Checking: Grantees cannot spell-check applications, unless they have web browser-based spell-checking separate from
the grant management system.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but information is saved when
the applicant navigates between sections.
User Registration: System registration follows standard best practicesapplicants enter email address and password and are
sent a confirmation email.
Preview Packet: The applicant can create a preview packet of their grant, which includes either copies of all uploaded docu-
ments or links to them.
broswer.
Unified Accounts: Applicants can use the same account for all funders in the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers to unsubmit a proposal with comments or request ad-
ditional information from the applicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete. Reviewers can collaborate on
an application prior to submissions if the applicant adds them as a user on their application.

Look and Feel: Does not let you customize the colors, fonts, or navigation of your online application forms to match the
look and feel of your website. All forms are created by the vendor.
Character and Word Counts: The vendor can set character counts, but not word counts, for application questions, and can
set a maximum limit for each.
In system Help: The system provides a standard FAQ list for applicants. Clients have the ability to customize the text around
an application form to provide additional instructional text. The vendor provides technical support for applicants.

Application Review
Viewing Relationship History: Lets you see a history of a relationship with prospective granteesfor example, what grants
theyve applied for, been declined, or been granted in the past.
Requirements Checklist: Does not support checklist functionality to define what information or documents you require
from prospective grantees.
Reopening Submitted Applications: Lets you reopen online applications once theyve been submitted if more information is
required from the applicant.
Printing Grant Summaries: Both internal and external reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information.
Reviewers Portal: Provides a simplified portal interface to allow reviewers to see and review grant applications more easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily see what documents are associated with the request and stored in
the system, but must download the files in order to view their contents.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which can be set up and
customized by the client.
Comment Sharing Among Reviewers: Lets you choose whether to allow reviewers to see each others comments and grades.
score.
Review Status Notification: Does not allow for automatic email notifications when reviews are completed.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: There is no in-system support for checking 501(c)(3) status.
OFAC Status Checking: There is no in-system support for comparing organizations and individuals against standard OFAC
and other terrorist watch lists.

include as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos. Customization of fonts, colors, and logos is applied by the vendor in
the PDF output file the system produces.
Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you download mail-merge data into Microsoft Excel to manually create letters,
but does not support mail-merge within the system itself.
Printing Series of Summaries: Lets you print letters or summaries for a series of grants or grant applications in a single step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: You cannot view or customize individual letters before printing them.
Board Docket Attachments: Does not let you attach documents to the board docket.
Electronic Signatures:
Emails
Emailing Individuals and Groups: Lets you send email through the system to a single individual or group that meets
particular criteria.
text and mail-merge type inserted data.

submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees.
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam.
Tracking Individual History: Its possible to capture multiple individuals on online forms. The system does not let you
keep track of individuals and their associations with a record, even if they leave, for historical and audit purposes.
Customized Communication: Its not possible to set rules to communicate with a contact according to their relationship
with the grant or organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder
to report contact.
Record of Correspondence: Automatically stores a record of all system-generated emails for each grant. Letters or docu-
ments can be attached to the grant record by a staff user.
Contact Synchronization: Does not synchronize contacts with Outlook.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation:
Progress Report Tracking: Can track expenditure data, outcomes, and performance metrics within the system, but not
store progress report information submitted by grantees in multiple data fields, which you can then summarize across
grantees in reports. The vendor reports that most grantees send progress reports via attachment.
Storing Progress Report Data: Lets you store progress report information submitted by grantees in multiple data fields,
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports.
Online Progress Report Submission: Does not let you create online progress report forms. All forms are created by the
vendor. The vendor reports that most grantees send progress reports via attachment.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Does not let you create online progress report forms. All forms are created by
the vendor. The vendor reports that most grantees send progress reports via attachment.

Payments
Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests without exporting the information to Excel and manually mail-
merging in Word.
Third-Party Payee Support: Supports payments to individuals or organizations other than the primary grantee (for
example, fiscal sponsors).
Accounting Integration: The vendor has experience in integrating the system with external accounting software packages,
including Quickbooks and other major packages, at additional cost.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Does not let you set up payment controls to ensure that only certain staff can
change payment information.
Multi-Currency Support: Only supports grants in a single currency.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Does not let you report on grants made in other currencies.
payment requirement, but the system only flags contigencies rather than enforcing them.
Payment Controls: Does not let you set up payment controls to ensure that only certain staff can change payment infor-
mation.
Payment Reporting: Lets you pull reports on payments which carry the coding attributes of associated requests, organiza-
tions, and contacts.
Other Payment Issues: The system has the ability to void or refund payments or put payments on hold.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: Not applicable. The system supports grant budgets, but not program budgets.
Budget Amount Reporting: Not applicable. The system supports grant budgets, but not program budgets.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Not applicable. The system supports grant budgets, but not program budgets.
Budget Basing: Not applicable. The system supports grant budgets, but not program budgets.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Cannot split grants across more than one program for budgeting and payment-tracking
purposes.
Multiyear Budgeting: Not applicable. The system supports grant budgets, but not program budgets.
What-Ifs: Does not let you set up what-if scenarios.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items cannot be set up to automatically create grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: The system supports interest repayments on PRIs.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Users can save the reports they create or modify in either a private folder, or as
pulic reports, but otherwise there is no ability to quickly view favorite reports without navigating a much-larger set.
to users, but requires a separate module. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos,
and headers.
Report Drill-Down: Does not let you drill down on reports.
Attachment Searching: Does not let you search within attached documents.
Standard Reports: The system contains report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector,
including the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format.
Automating Reports: There is no way to automatically send the results of a report to reviewers or users.
Individual Dashboards: Users can save a particular view or query, but cannot create a true dashboard.

Permissions Granularity: You can affliate users with one of five pre-determined foundation staff roles, but theres no
ability to customize these roles or what permissions they have.
Field-Level Permissions: Its not possible to define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides five different internal interfacesfor example, an admin view, a board view, program staff
view, and a reviewer viewto provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex needs.
Audit Logging: Records a number of specific actionsfor example, grant approvals, status changes, and new grantee
recordsin a system audit log.
Task Assignment: Does not let you assign tasks to other users.
Board/Management View: Does not provide a focused, roles-based view for management and board members, though
board members could be assigned a view only role.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Assigns tasks to users based on rules and roles, but the set of tasks that can be assigned is
limited.
Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Provides an Application Programming Interface (API) to allow a programmer to create custom data
feeds to or from an external system, but on a client by client basis upon request.

Custom Fields: The system includes many pre-built fields which can be configured or renamed by the user and can be
reported or queried on, but the user-defined names do not carry over into the reporting tool.
Internal Tracking Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use. These are custom data fields that can
be defined and configured by the grantmaker for internal tracking.
Online Information Customization: The vendor will customize the information requested in online applications and
review forms.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will customize system to your needs at additional cost.
System Extendibility: Vendor does not allow clients access to database and code to extend system functionality.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor permits extensively customized systems to remain on the upgrade path.
Support for Multiple Languages: Vendor can offer custom languages in limited areas of the application.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is not as polished looking as some systems, andfields are sometimes crowded together,
making it more difficult to scan.
Easily Taking Action: On the core interface pages, the user can find the actions he or she is most likely to take, but they
must look through a considerable list of options to find them.
Optimization for Experts: An expert user will need more steps and clicks to take action than in some other systems.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email supportnot only to your organizational staff but to your
grant applicants and external reviewers as wellwithout additional cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited email support without additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and help documentation online, including online training
materials, recorded training webinars, and videos.
Training: The vendor provides initial training over the phone at no additional cost. The vendor does not offer any formal
training.
User Support Forums: There are user support forums or discussion groups available. There is a LinkedIn forum for
proposalCENTRAL.

Installation and Maintenance: Hosted system accessible via a web browser. All major web browsers are supported.
Vendor Background: Vendor Background
History: Altum incorporated in 1997. proposalCENTRAL began in 1999 with first production use in 2001.

Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 75 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is approximately 75
percent nonprofit, 5 percent international, and 20 percent government.
Sustainability: The revenue earned from the grantmaking system covers the personnel and operational expenses required to
support it.

Number of Survey Respondents Who Reported Using the System: 2

BROMELKAMP AKOYA.NET
Akoya.net, Bromelkamps online grants management system built on Microsofts Dynamics CRM platform, provides
solid mid-level functionality for a great price. Akoya.net leverages its Dynamics flexible constituent tracking base
to provide users great relationship management capabilities, along with the ability to track applicants and grants by
virtually any characteristics you choose. Like its sister product, Pearl, Akoya.net relies on Bromelkamps eGrant.net
module for online data collection and grants review. Dynamics CRM makes for a solid grants management platform
but its interface at times can obscure Akoya.nets functionality. You are currently limited to exporting data view-by-
view, but the vendor plans an automated backup button in a future release. Bromelkamp is open to performing
custom development at additional cost for clients who need it, and there are Dynamics CRM and Akoya.net APIs
available for those who want to extend the system themselves. Organizations that accept online applications connect
eGrant.net to Akoya.net. Those that need to build their own online forms require Bromelkamps eGrant.net Builder
module at additional cost. A small foundation would pay about $10,080 in the first year and about $6,180 ongoing
per year for Akoya.net, including the eGrant.net module. A large foundation could expect to pay $36,422 in the
first year, and then $14,922 ongoing per year, again including the eGrant.net module. This pricing includes eight
hours of training.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, but cannot
track the specific dollar or percent allocation to each.
Updating Basic Grant Information: Lets you easily update basic grant information like project names or codes through-
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by starting a new
request record from the system and choosing (or entering a new) applicant.
File Attachment Method: The system stores attached documents in the database as objects rather than links.
Batch Updates: The vendor recommends that clients use Microsoft Accesss Find and Replace tool for batch updates.
Taxonomy: There is no built-in compliance for an industry-standard taxonomy in the system. Users have the ability to
customize system menus and field labels to match a standard taxonomy.
Online Applications

boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, but requires eGrant.net module at ad-
ditional cost.
Eligibility Branching: Eligibility quizzes can branch to multiple applications.
sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations.
Letter Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed, with the eGrant.net module.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: Does not support multiple logins for grantees. Each organization shares a single account.
Transfer of Account and History: There is no ability for grantees to transfer their account or grant history to a new staff
contact. Each organization shares a single account.
Letter Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal, with the eGrant.net module.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the applicant ID of new registrants to make sure that they dont already exist in
the system. The system will prompt users with a list of possible duplicates to manually dedupe.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants can view their status online, with the eGrant.net module.
tion, with the eGrant.net module.
questions, and create multiple pages, with Builder module, at additional charge.
Spell Checking: Grantees cannot spell-check applications unless they have web browser-based spell-checking separate from
Saving Incomplete Applications: Applicants can save partially completed applications and return to them later, with the
eGrant.net module.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but the system warns you if
you do not save manually before leaving a page.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily reset lost credentials, with the eGrant.net module.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view or print applications at any stage in the process, with the eGrant.net
module.
broswer.
Unified Accounts: Theres no means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all funders in the system
from a unified account.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: Theres no means for an applicant and reviewer to work back and forth until a
proposal is complete. The system allows admin users to send comments or request additional information from the ap-
plicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation, with the eGrant.net module.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character counts, but not word counts, for application questions. Admin
users have the ability to set maximum and minimum character limits for each field.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Both internal and external reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information,
with the eGrant.net module.
easily, but requires the eGrant.net Reviewer module at additional cost.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily view selected documents associated with the request and stored in
the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process, with the
eGrant.net module.
comments, with the eGrant.net module.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or customizable scoring schemes for different programs.
Online Application Review: Supports online viewing and reviewing of applications with the eGrant.net module.
criteria to assign applications for review, with the eGrant.net module.
grades.
score, with the eGrant.net module. You can also use radio button choices or lists of text values. Additional calculations are
possible by exporting to Microsoft Excel.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner and grants management staff can be automatically notified when reviews are
completed, with the eGrant.net module.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against a standard 501(c) nonprofit
registry, and flags those not listed, but does not automatically fill in informaiton in associated fields.. This system checks
against Guidestar. Organizations are checked automatically by Akoya.net on a regular basis, and Akoya.net keeps a copy of
the verification PDF in the document manager. The system supports tax verification for all 501(c) types.
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations against standard OFAC and other terrorist watch lists within the
grants management system itself, but indivduals cannot be checked. The system uses GuideStar Charity Check.

Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you create letter templates in Microsoft Word or an equivalent web-based word
processor that include mail-merged information about grants and organizations, and lets you customize their fonts, colors,
and logos.
Electronic Signatures: The system typically uses individual user IDs for authorization. The system does not support third-
party electronic signature services.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for print and email formats.
Emails
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees. Emails can be
scheduled either by date or when a specific action occurs.
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam. Optionally, email can be sent through the clients email
servers.
Spell Checking: The system does not provide any specific spell-checking ability for emails generated in the system. Spell-
check may be available depending on the email client you use.
Tracking Individual History: Its possible to capture multiple individuals on online forms. Lets you keep a record of an
individuals association with a record, even if they leave, for historical and audit purposes, and they will not show up as an
active contact for communications.
Tracking Organizational History: Tracks organizations separately from individual grants to allow you to see a history of all
grants to an organization.
Customized Communication: Can you communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the grant or
organization (for example, to send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report contact)?
Record of Correspondence: Automatically stores a record of all system-generated letters and emails for each grant.

Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with Outlook with a free plug-in from
Microsoft.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Can branch data collection based on grant type.
staff, as configured by the user or vendor.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports, as configured by the user or vendor.
Online Progress Report Submission: No data available.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Lets you create custom online progress report forms (for example, correspond-
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees, but requires the Builder module at additional cost.
Payments
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with any accounting software packages.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Supports an automated payment approval process with configurable workflow
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Supports grants made in multiple currencies by storing currency and exchange rate information,
but only supports a static currency rate conversion. Vendor could configure more robust multiple currencies at additional
cost.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Lets you report on grants and payments made in any currency.
Payment Controls: Lets you configure audit/security controls to ensure that only certain staff can change payment infor-
mation.

Payment Reporting: Lets you pull reports on payments which carries coding attributes of associated requests, organiza-
Other Payment Issues: The system has the ability to void, refund, or hold payments. The system create payments in batch
using the scheduling tool. Payment details can be updated in batch through Find and Replace tool or update queries The
system can track the monetary value of in-kind and quid pro quo payments.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: Budgeting features are designed to track only the amount awarded in a particular year,
and not the total amount paid in a year.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas, but requires
customization at additional cost.
Budget Basing: Lets you use previous years budgets as a base and adjust them for current year.
purposes.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items are not linked to grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: Support for interest repayments on PRIs is available through a separate product, at ad-
ditional cost.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you save favorite reports, actions, and queries, referred to as on-demand
workflows within the system.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down for more information on some or all reports.
Attachment Searching: Lets you search the contents of file attachments, but only through SharePoint integration at
additional cost.
Standard Reports: The system contains the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, but not IATI Reporting Com-
mitment or hGrant format. Users can add these themselves or ask the vendor to do so at additional cost.
Automating Reports: Lets you set reports to automatically run and send to individuals.
Visual Reports: Lets you create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation such as charts and graphs.

Individual Dashboards: Provides dashboard views which summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user.
Lets you create your own multiple unique dashboards.

Permissions Granularity: You can grant individuals access to granularly view, edit, or delete data for a wide variety of
system functions.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis.
Role-Based Interfaces: Can provide a role-specific internal interface for each role in the systemsfor example, an admin
view, a board view, program staff view, and a reviewer viewto provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex
needs.
Users Task Lists: Provides users a task list when they sign onto the system, via ingegration with Outlook.
Task Assignment: You can assign tasks, such as reviews, to other users, via integration with Outlook.
Board/Management View: Provides a focused, roles-based view for management and board members which can be
customized to meet specific organizational needs, but requires a module at additional cost.
Data Access
Data Export to other formats: Lets you export all data visible to users into Excel format, but through an unautomated
entity-by-entity process. The vendor plans an automated backup button in a future release.
feeds to or from an external system. Clients can interact programmatically with Akoya through the Dynamics API.
Data Integrity: The vendor reports that the system protects data through SSL security with multiple firewall protections
and constant multiple-site backup
Custom Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use.
Internal Tracking Fields: There is no limit to the number of custom fields can be created. Lets users rename existing
system fields, except for about a dozen core fields. Information stored in custom fields included in searches and reports.
forms using the Builder module, at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets you define custom language sets for applicants and reviewers based on user, group,
or giving program.

Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking but fields are sometimes crowded together, making it more difficult to
scan.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support as part of annual support and maintenance package, and also
offers support by the hour.
Online Support: Does not offer online or chat-based support available for users of the system.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor offers in-system help text, training videos, newsletter, and periodic webinars to
users.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person at no additional cost, and additional training sessions can be
scheduled at additional cost.
User Support Forums: There are no support forums available for this system.

Installation and Maintenance: This online hosted system is accessible from Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Chrome or Safari
browsers. IE is required for the Administrator to reconfigure the structure of the database.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1978; Akoya.net has been in use since 2010.
Client Base: The vendor reports that Akoya.net has 12 clients. All are private or corporate foundations.
Sustainability: The revenue earned from the grantmaking system currently covers the personnel and operational expenses
required to support it.

Number of Survey Respondents Who Reported Using the System: 0.

BROMELKAMP FIRST PEARL
First Pearl is a traditional installed software package built in Microsoft Access, which is both a strength and a weak-
ness. On one hand, Access includes a solid report builder, is strong in data tracking, and provides a flexible database
platformwhich Bromelkamp leverages to tailor First Pearl to each clients needs, including adding fields or features
to support unique processes. Someone with Access development experience can extend First Pearls functionality
with minimal or no vendor assistance. On the other hand, Access has limitations in user interface design options,
which manifests in First Pearl through screens that, while feature-rich, can feel crowded and hard to navigate. Access
also lacks field-level security, but for clients concerned about this, Bromelkamp is able to effectively resolve the issue
through creative use of custom secure database tables, and can leverage user permissions to protect or hide dynami-
cally (by user or even by data condition). Also, an MSSQL version of First Pearl is available that provides field-level
security. Organizations that accept online applications connect eGrant.net to First Pearl. Those that need to build
their own online forms require Bromelkamps eGrant.net Builder module, at additional cost. A small foundation
could expect to pay around $17,430 for the first year (including eGrant.net) and $1,800 in annual recurring costs. A
large foundation could expect to pay closer to $43,492 in the first year (including eGrant.net), and $7,242 in annual
recurring costs.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system.
File Attachment Method: The vendor recommends that clients use Microsoft Accesss Find and Replace tool for batch
updates, and Microsoft Access queries for more complex updates.
Batch Updates: The vendor recommends that clients use Microsoft Accesss Find and Replace tool for batch updates, and
Microsoft Access queries for more complex updates.
Taxonomy: The system supports the industry-standard taxonomy defined by the Foundation Center.
Online Applications

boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, but requires eGrant.net module at ad-
ditional cost.
Letter Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed, with the eGrant.net module.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: Does not support multiple logins for grantees. Each organization shares a single account.
Transfer of Account and History: There is no ability for grantees to transfer their account or grant history to a new staff
contact. Each organization shares a single account.
Letter Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal, with the eGrant.net module.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the applicant ID of new registrants to make sure that they dont already exist in
the system. The system will prompt users with a list of possible duplicates to manually dedupe.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants can view their status online, with the eGrant.net module.
questions, and create multiple pages, with Builder module, at additional charge.
Saving Incomplete Applications: Applicants can save partially completed applications and return to them later, with the
eGrant.net module.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but the system warns you if
you do not save manually before leaving a page.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily reset lost credentials, with the eGrant.net module.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view or print applications at any stage in the process, with the eGrant.net
module.
broswer.
proposal is complete. The system allows admin users to send comments or request additional information from the ap-
plicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation, with the eGrant.net module.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character counts, but not word counts, for application questions.
Admin users have the ability to set maximum and minimum character limits for each field.
Application Review
easily, but requires the eGrant.net Reviewer module at additional cost.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily view selected documents associated with the request and stored
in the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process, with the
eGrant.net module.
comments, with the eGrant.net module.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or customizable scoring schemes for different programs.
Online Application Review: Supports online viewing and reviewing of applications with the eGrant.net module.
criteria to assign applications for review, with the eGrant.net module.
grades.
score, with the eGrant.net module. You can also use radio button choices or lists of text values. Additional calculations are
possible by exporting to Microsoft Excel.
completed, with the eGrant.net module.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against a standard 501(c)(3) non-
profit registry, and flags those not listed. This system checks against GuideStar. Organizations are checked automatically
by First Pearl on a regular basis, and First Pearl keeps a copy of the verification PDF in the document manager. The system
supports tax verification for all 501(c) types.
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations and individuals against standard OFAC and other terrorist watch
lists via an export to ChoicePoints Bridger Insight.

colors, and logos.
step.
Electronic Signatures: The system typically uses individual user IDs for authorization. The system does not support third-
party electronic signature services.
Emails
particular criteria. Emails are sent via the users default email client. The vendor recommends using a broadcast email client,
such as MailChimp or ConstantContact.
Event-Triggered Email: Does not let you set up event-triggered emails.
Outbound Email Method: Emails can be sent through third-party email services. The third-party email service you choose
may require an additional fee. Alternatively, emails can be sent through clients email servers, but this can potentially
expose them to risk of blacklisting.
Spell Checking: The system does not provide any specific spell-checking ability for emails generated in the system. Spell-
check may be available depending on the email client you use.
Customized Communication: Can send email to any contact recorded in an application form, and attach a descriptive
role to the contact.

Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically export system contacts to a Microsoft Exchange public
folder, but requires a module at additional cost.

grantees.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees can view grant requirement deadlines online, but through customization at
additional cost.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines. Email tem-
plates built using Microsoft Word can include merge fields in order to include information specific to the grant program in
question.
staff.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports through Bromelkamp eGrant.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Online progress report forms (for example, corresponding to different pro-
grams) can only be created by the vendor, often for an additional fee.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Doesnt let you define a default payment schedule that applies to all grants, but you can
define payment schedules by formula for different types of grants, then adjust the amounts and dates for each grant indi-
vidually.
Electronic Payments: Supports ACH payments and wire transfers by storing required information and confirmation
codes for successful transactions. Optionally integrates directly with bank or third-party payment processors to initiate the
payments.
including Quickbooks, Sage 50 (formerly Peachtree), and Intacct.
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: The core system only supports grants in a single currency, but the vendor can customize the
system to support grants made in multiple currencies by storing currency and exchange rate information, at additional cost.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Lets you report on grants and payments made in any currency, but requires multi-currency

mation.
Other Payment Issues: The system has the ability to void, refund, or hold payments. The system can create payments in
batch using the scheduling tool, but payment details can only be updated in batch through Microsoft Accesss Find and
Replace tool. The system can track the monetary value of in-kind and quid pro quo payments.
Budgeting
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter only a single budget amount for your whole organization.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Cannot track grants split across more than one program for budgeting purposes without
customization.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you set up budgets for multiple years, but there are no linkages among these; each years budget
is discreet.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: The system has the ability to create grant requests based on budgeted line items in a
proposal, using user-defined formulas.
Program-Related Investments: Support for interest repayments on PRIs is available through a separate product, at ad-
ditional cost.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Cannot quickly view favorite reports without navigating a much-larger set.

such as the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format.
Automating Reports: There is no easy way to set reports to run automatically and send the results of a report to reviewers
or users in the system.
Visual Reports: The system provides the ability to create pie charts as a separate report type. Additonal visualization is
possible by exporting the report to Excel.
Individual Dashboards: All users see the same view of information; no dashboard views are available.

system functions.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis, but for the Access-based
product, this requires vendor customization, possibly at additional cost. There is an MSSQL version of First Pearl that
requires no such customization.
needs. This is accomplished through First Pearls soft security, which can hide fields, tabs, or form sections on a per-user
basis.
log, but requires configuration at no additional cost.
User Dashboards: All users see the same view of information; no dashboard views are available.
Task Assignment: Lets you assign tasks to other users.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for management and board members, but
requires a module at additional cost.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Does not assign tasks to users based on rules and roles.
Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Provides a direct ODBC database connection to allow a programmer to create custom data feeds to
or from an external system.
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Does not let you see grant summary and grant details from a mobile
or tablet device.
Data Integrity: If installed on the clients server, the security of the data stored within the system is commensurate with
the clients own Windows login security and backup. If installed on the hosted server, the security is through a secure SSL
connection and appropriate Windows login security, RemoteApp, and backups.
Custom Fields: There is no limit to the number of custom fields can be created. Lets users rename existing system fields,
except for about a dozen core fields. Information stored in custom fields included in searches and reports.
Internal Tracking Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use.
forms using the Builder module, at additional cost.

System Extendibility: Vendor permits clients to extend system functionality via access to underlying database and code,
so long as existing modules and macros are not changed. While the vendor allows source code access, they retain that the
license to the code and the system is not open source.
Support for Multiple Languages: Theres no ability to define custom language sets for applicants and reviewers based on
user, group, or giving program.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is not as polished looking as some systems, andfields are sometimes crowded together,
making it more difficult to scan.
Intuitive Labels: The labels for navigation and action items are not always intuitive, meaning that many users will require
training specific to the system in order toeffectively understand them. However, a description appears on the status bar
when the cursor is in the field.
Easily Taking Action: Users must navigate through the main menu to take an action, regardless of the page they are on
making it slower to act on the record they are are viewing.

Phone Support: Vendor provides support for a fee by the quarter hour, or unlimited support as part of annual support and
maintenance package.
Online Support: Does not offer online or chat-based support available for users of the system.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor offers in-system help text, training videos, newsletter, and periodic webinars to
users.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person at the client site at no additional cost, and more training in person
or over the web can be scheduled at additional cost.
User Support Forums: There are no support forums available for this system. The vendor hosts an annual Pearl Academy
and periodic user group meetings.

Installation and Maintenance: Requires Microsoft Access (optionally with Microsoft SQL server) or can be hosted on the
vendors server for a monthly fee.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1978; First Pearl has been in use since 1997.
Client Base: The vendor reports about 240 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 25 percent private, 25 percent family,
25 percent corporate, and 25 percent government.

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 84 percent

CLOSERWARE GRANTMAKER
Closerwares GrantMaker offers solid and affordable grant and application tracking features with reasonable sup-
port for online forms. Online application forms can be extensively formatted with a variety of field types, and the
resulting applications and grants can be easily coded and searched. A variety of application-scoring options with the
ability to summarize and report on numerical review scores add to GrantMakers generally strong application review
functionality. Lack of any substantial payment tracking functionality and budget support will disappoint some
organizations, as will relatively weak email capabilities. GrantMaker licenses start at $600 per user annually, with
volume discounts for five licenses and up. There is a one-time setup fee of $500.
Internal Tracking
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by first scanning the
document into a file and attaching it as a file to the application record.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: You cannot easily see related records and data across records.
Online Applications
boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports multiple application stages, a Letter Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage,
and as many other stages as needed, but there is no support for automatically scored eligibility quizzes.

Multiple Logins for Grantees: Does not support multiple logins for grantees.
Transfer of Account and History: The system does not have the ability for an applicant to transfer their account and
history to a new staff contact without contacting the grantmaker.
Reuse of Application Data: Grantees must re-enter information that is asked for in both a Letter Of Intent and a proposal.
Duplicate Accounts: The system does not automatically check new registrants to make sure they dont already exist in the
system, but the user has the ability to manually consolidate applicant records by running a report.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants cannot view their status online.
Custom Confirmation Messages: A grantee automatically receives a confirmation message upon submission of an applica-
tion, but that message cant be customized.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can extensively format applicationsfor example, use rich text and create groups of
questions, but the system uses collapsible sections in place of multiple page functionality.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress. Applications must be saved
manually.
Preview Packet: The preview packet does not include uploaded documents.
Security Scan: The system itself does not scan files for viruses at upload.
devices.
from a unified account without customization by the vendor, possibly at additional cost.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not allow reviewers and applicants to work back and forth on a
proposal.

Look and Feel: Applications are configured by the vendor at implementation, but can be edited by the client afterwards.
The vendor can customize the form to match the look and feel of your website, at additional cost.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character and word counts for application questions. Admin users have
the ability to set maximum character limits for each field.
In system Help: The client provides technical support for applicants, and can contact the vendor to configure instructional
text around application questions.
Application Review

tion.
easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily view uploaded documents associated with the request and stored
in the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Does not let you define automatic steps and rules for the grants review process.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which can be customized by
the client.
grades.
score.
Review Status Notification: Does not allow for automatic notifications when reviews are completed.

OFAC and other terrorist watch lists.

colors, and logos.
step, but this must be configured by the vendor at additional cost.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not provide support for electronic signatures to provide independent secure
verification.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for print and electronic formats.
Emails
Email Template Flexibility: You cannot mail-merge fields into system email.

Event-Triggered Email: Does not let you set up event-triggered emails.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Does not let you set up scheduled email reminders to applicants and grantees.
Spell Checking: The system does not provide any specific spell-checking ability for emails generated in the system.
Tracking Individual History: Does not meet this criteria.
Tracking Organizational History: Organization information must be re-entered for each grant, and theres no easy way to
see a history of all grants to a particular organization.
individual units and the larger organization, but this requires customization at an additional cost.
to report contact.
Record of Correspondence: Stores a record of all system-generated email for each grant, but not other communications.
Call and Email Logging: Lets you note interactions with a grantee in a single comment field, but does not support a more
detailed communications log without custom fields.

Defining Grant Requirements: Lets you define a default set of grant requirements that applies to all grantees, but those
requirements cannot be customized for individual grantees.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees cannot view grant requirement deadlines online, except for what is availabe in
the application instructions.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Cannot automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines.
staff, but to do so requires you to configure custom fields.
Online Progress Report Submission:
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Does not let you define a default payment schedule.
Viewing Payment Schedules: The system does not support scheduled payments. You would have to use custom fields to
approximate this functionality.
Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests.

View Scheduled Payment Amount (Annual): Not applicable as the system includes no native support scheduled pay-
ments.
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: Not applicable as the system includes no native support scheduled payments.
Third-Party Payee Support: Does not easily support payments to individuals or organizations other than the primary
grantee (for example, fiscal sponsors). Requires custom fields.
Electronic Payments: Does not support ACH payments and wire transfers.
Viewing Payments Made: Lets you see what payments have been made, including amount, date paid, and check number,
via an ad hoc report.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Does not support an automated payment approval process.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Lets you report on grants and payments in whichever currency the system is configured to use.
Contingent/Conditional Payments: Does not allow you to set up payments contingent upon specified requirements.
mation.
Payment Reporting: The system provides the ability to pull reports on payments which carry the coding attributes of
associated requests, organizations, and contacts.
Other Payment Issues: The system provides the ability to void or refund payments through custom fields only. Its not
possible to create payments or update payment details in batch, and in-kind and quid pro quo payments can only be
tracked through custom fields.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: Budgeting is not supported.
Budget Amount Reporting: Budgeting is not supported.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgeting is not supported.
Budget Basing: Budgeting is not supported.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Budgeting is not supported.
Multiyear Budgeting: Budgeting is not supported.
What-Ifs: Budgeting is not supported.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeting is not supported.

training.

Standard Reports: The system does not, by default, contain report templates that align with sector-wide reporting stan-
dards. The vendor reports that they can build report templates upon client request.
Automating Reports: Reports cannot be set to automatically run and send to individuals or groups.

Permissions Granularity: You can affiliate users with one of the pre-determined foundation staff roles, i.e., evaluator,
report administrator, and grant administrator, but theres no ability to customize these roles or what permissions they have.
Field-Level Permissions: You cannot define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis.
Role-Based Interfaces: Does not provide a simpler interface for users with less-complex needs.
recordsin a system audit log, but the log is not client accessible. The vendor would need to assist in information audits.
Users Task Lists: Does not provide users a task list upon sign on, except for users with the evaluator role.
Board/Management View: Does not provide a focused, roles-based view for management and board members.
Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Does not allow a programmer to create custom data flows to an external system.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Does not let you see grant summary and grant details from a mobile
or tablet device.
Custom Fields: The system allows for unlimited custom fields, which can be placed nearly anywhere and have the same
permissions as system-generated fields. The vendor will create custom fields for the client.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will customize system to your needs at additional cost, but doesnt often do so.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor excludes extensively customized systems from the upgrade path.
Support for Multiple Languages: Does not let youdefine custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program.

Ease of Use
scan.

Phone Support: Vendor provides phone support on a subscription basis that is available 12 hours per day, Monday
through Friday.
Online Support: Vendor provides email support on a subscription basis that is available 12 hours per day, Monday through
Friday.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and help documentation for the system online, including
training videos and webinars.
Training: Vendor offers training via webinars.

Installation and Maintenance: The system can be used from any web browser.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2003. Grantmaker Closerware has been in general use since 2009.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have 30+ clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 65 percent private founda-
tions, 28 percent family foundations, 7 percent corporate/government.
Sustainability: The revenue earned from the grantmaking system currently does not cover the personnel and operational
expenses required to support it. The vendor states Closerwares revenue from other products more than support the future
growth of the GrantMaker product.


COMMON GRANT APPLICATION
An online hosted option, Common Grant Application by Oceanpeak Inc. provides an affordable, easy-to-use system
with some interesting featuresparticularly for applications. For example, applicants can easily attach video and
other multimedia components to their applications. The applications themselves are limited in formatting and
functionality, but online applications include a helpful, well-thought-out ability for applicants to reuse information.
The vendor also reports being willing to customize the system at no cost to the client and roll out those changes to
all users if the new functionality is deemed useful to the user community. On the other hand, much grantmaker
functionality is notably absent, and relationship management is all but nonexistent, as is support for budgeting.
Common Grant Application does not handle mail-merge fields for print or email correspondence. There is some
ability to track payments, but no functionality to make payments contingent on a reporting requirement. The
system now supports saving a list of favorite reports for easy access, and all visible system fields can be queried and
included in both standard and ad-hoc reportsfor instance, reports can be configured to include just text fields.
Common Grant Application calculates its pricing partially by taking into account the number of applications
received in a given year. For instance, a small foundation that receives only 10 applications annually could use Com-
mon Grant Application for around $1,270 per year, while a very large foundation with 100 applications a year could
expect an annual fee of about $5,500.
Internal Tracking
Grant Cycle Linkages: Grants and applications are split within the system.
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Can track by program cycle, but not by board meeting date.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, but not by
percentage or dollar allocations.
Splitting Codes: Lets you split grants across different codes.
Custom Categorization Codes: Does not let you define custom categorization codes, although the vendor suggested that
custom reports could help retrieve some information.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are searchable by legal name, application ID, and program and grant cycle. EIN search-
ing was added to the system after Idealware demoed it.
application.
Batch Updates: Lets you perform batch updates of some fields.
Taxonomy: The system has a taxonomy within the system that is partially based on the National Taxonomy of Exempt
Entities.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: To see related records and data across records, you need to
apply a filter to certain views.

Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system allows for both individuals and organizations
to apply for grants from the same grant program through conditional questions, although the application does not branch
based on whether someone is applying as an individual or organization.
Creating Online Applications: The system allows grantmakers to choose from a selection of standard questions, which can
be dropdown, text box, check box, or file upload fields. Grantees can configure additional questions, which may only be
answered by a text field.
Application Branching: Grant application forms cannot branchfor example, to show a different set of questions for
fiscal-sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports two application stages, including Letter Of Intent and a main application stage.
Transfer of Account and History: Theres no ability for the grantee, applicant, or grantmaker to transfer an account and
history to a new staff contact without having to share a staffers username and password. The vendor must perform this
transfer if the previous owners username and password is not accessible.
Duplicate Accounts: The system does not check the email address of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already
exist in the system.
tion.
Application Formatting: Does not allow applications to be formatted using rich text or multiple pages. The grantmaker
can select from a list of pre-built questions and can also make their own grouped supplemental questions, but no format-
ting is available for the application itself.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but information is saved as
each section of the application is completed.
Security Scan: Offers a basic virus scan feature to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the application.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support the application process via mobile or tablet,
although the application interface is fully functional on a mobile or tablet device.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees can manage all grant information for all of their funders in the system by using a
single logon, and see the history of all applications they have submitted in the system.

Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not have the ability to let a grantee work on a proposal, save it as a
draft, and allow a reviewer to comment or make suggestions. The application is private to the grantseeker until it is submit-
ted.

Look and Feel: Lets you customize online application forms with your logo.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character but not word counts for application questions, and displays
prominently how many characters remain. An administrator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help customized by the vendor for each client, including YouTube videos.
Rollover text on fields is standard, but there is a page help button that is configurable.
Application Review
from prospective grantees. The system does not allow incomplete applications to be submitted.
Reopening Submitted Applications: Once an online application has been submitted, you cannot reopen it to request
more information from the applicant.
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers (in this system, evaluators) can easily print grant summaries or full grant informa-
tion, and can filter by program or by date.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports three standard evaluation scales and two custom evaluation scales.
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests, geographic location, or potential conflicts
of interest.
grades.
scorebut not aggregate them.
completed with an in-system alert, but not via email.

profit registry, and flags those not listed. The system uses the IRS master business file. Auto-checks do not include a date
and time stampthey only show the last time the system checked. Fields are automatically populated with legal name,
EIN, and tax status. Checks and updates cannot be performed in batch.

Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for grant application summaries and choose which fields to
include, but you cannot customize the fonts, colors, or logo.
Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you download mail-merge data into Microsoft Excel to manually create
letters, but does not support mail-merge within the system itself.
step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: You cannot view or customize letters within the system.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures that can legally demonstrate non-repudiation, but does
not integrate with external providers like Verisign.
Printed and Electronic Templates: Includes templates for print and electronic formats. Formats can include QR codes to
help expedite the review process.
Emails
Emailing Individuals and Groups: Lets you easily send an email to a particular group of people at once, but not to
individuals. Group emails are not sent via blind copy.
Email Attachments: Does not let you attach files to emails.
Event-Triggered Email: Does not let you set up event-triggered emails. The system can send email notifications on a set
number of event conditions to grantmakes and applicants, who can individually choose whether or not to receive them.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Does not let you set up scheduled email reminders to applicants and grantees.
Tracking Individual History: You cannot keep a record of individuals who were once but are no longer associated with a
grant within the systemthey must be deleted from the organization.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization, although you can
track by different grantmaker programs.
Multiple Contacts Per Organization: Lets you provide primary and secondary fiscal agents and sponsor contacts for each
grant application. You can also specify allowable signatories.
Customized Communication: Its not possible to communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the
grant or organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report
contact.
These are posted to individual user message boards.
Call and Email Logging: Does not let you keep a log of outside communications, such as phone calls and email.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Does not have the ability to branch data collection based on type of grant.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, but you cannot
merge field information from requirements into reminder emails.
staff.
Storing Progress Report Data: You cannot store progress report information submitted by grantees in multiple data fields.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Lets you specify templates for online progress report forms (for example,
corresponding to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees.
User Groups: The system does not have the ability to support user groups in order to collect uniform data consistent with
other groups.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Lets you define a payment schedule individually for each grant, but not a default that
applies to all of them.
Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests or print checks directly from the system.
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: You can view payments due but the system does not record prerequisite requirements
associated with payments.
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with external accounting software packages, but vendor is willing to
integrate, possibly at additional cost.
Multi-Currency Support: Supports grants made in multiple currencies, but does not include foreign exchange informa-
tion.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Supports reporting on grants and payments in multiple currencies, but does not include
foreign exchange information.
Contingent/Conditional Payments: Does not allow you to set up payments contingent upon specified requirements.
mation. Users can be assigned to set roles, some of which have limited access to payment information, but these roles and
associated permissions are not configurable.
Payment Notes: There is no ability to include notes on payments, but you can include a reference number.

Payment Reporting: Reports on payments do not carry coding attributes of associated requests, organizations, and con-
tacts.
Other Payment Issues: Its not possible to void payments, make refunds, or place payments on hold. There is no ability to
update payment details (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch or create payments in batch. There is no ability to
ability to track quid pro quo and in-kind payments.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: Does not track any budget information.
Budget Amount Reporting: Does not track any budget information.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Does not let you track budgets by hierarchical categories or program areas.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Cannot track grants split across more than one program for budgeting purposes.
Multiyear Budgeting: Does not easily let you set up multi-year budgeting.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items do not connect to grant requests.

General Reporting Approach: The process of running reports is easy enough for casual users to run queries independently.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you save favorite reports on the Reports tab.
to users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, and headers, but not logos.
Grant Summary Tracking: You can define codes and see them in reports, but these codes cannot be rolled up hierarchi-
callyfor example, to show grant money paid to each Education sub-program as well as total Education grants.
Standard Reports: The system does not contain report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the
sector.
Automating Reports: Reports cannot be set to automatically run and send to individualsor groups.
Visual Reports: Theres no ability to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, e.g., charts and graphs,
although data is exportable to Excel for such transformation.
Individual Dashboards: The system does not provide dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to
each individual user, and the system does not have the ability for users to create multiple unique dashboards.


Role-Based Interfaces: Provides four different internal interfacesowner, admin, evaluator, and reviewerto provide a
simpler experience for users with less-complex needs.
log. Logs are viewable by the vendor but not by clients.
User Dashboards:
Data Access
Data Integrity: Common Grant Application uses the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) security mechanism to ensure the security
and privacy of some data transmitted in the system.
Dropdown Fields: Some dropdown values are customizable but not all.
Custom Fields: Does not let you add custom fields throughout the system. The vendor customizes the system for clients at
the time of implementation.
Internal Tracking Fields: Does not let you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use.
Online Information Customization: Lets you store custom information submitted by grantees, such as application narra-
tives or progress report metrics. Online progress report forms can be customized with the foundations logo.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, at no additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: There is no ability to define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving
program.
Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support to grantmakers and their grantseekers without additional cost,
during business hours.
Online Support: Vendor provides online help in the form of customized YouTube videos and in-system help.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides an online manual at the following URL: http://www.common-
grantapplication.com/manual/pub/pub_manual.php.
Training: The vendor provides initial training via phone and the internet at no additional cost, and additional training
sessions can be scheduled. In-person training can be scheduled for a nominal fee.

Installation and Maintenance: This Online hosted system is accessible from any major web browser.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2007; Common Grant Application has been in use since 2007.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have 22 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is approximately 40 percent
private and family, 20 percent public, 10 percent community, 10 percent government, 10 percent public, and 10 percent
corporate.
Sustainability: Operating and personnel expenses are not currently covered by the revenue the system generates.


CYBERGRANTS
CyberGrants offers a highly configurable online hosted solution with a particularly strong base of corporate founda-
tion clients. The system has an easy-to-navigate interface and very solid online data gathering capabilitiesfor
example, online support for eligibility quizzes, proposals, and progress reportsand administrative tracking features,
such as the ability to update application information at any time, to attach internal use and coding fields to ap-
plications, and to create mail-merged letters. Internal tax status and OFAC checking is quite robust, and the system
benefits from a user-friendly ad hoc reporting engine. The system lacks an internal communication log, though, and
the fact that every reviewer must have at least a limited license to access the system means it may not be the best
solution for foundations who use many external reviewers. The system also has substantial ability to develop custom
functionality to complement its standard features. CyberGrants has two licensing levels, both of which include all
modules, support, and maintenance. Small foundations with five users might pay in the range of $11,000 per year,
and larger foundations could pay closer to $82,500 with 20 named users and 15 reviewers.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Cycles are not a system feature; this would be accommodated
through configuration.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes through
custom fields, and track by specific percent and dollar allocations.
Splitting Codes: Lets you split grants across codes.
out the process.
sheets, PDFs, pictures, and videos.
application ID, program and grant cycle, and export search results.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by creating a new
request associated with an existing account.
the database.
Batch Updates: Batch updates to organizational records are possible but must be handled by the vendor.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but this could be configured.
Online Applications
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications in the Sandbox envirnoment, including file
uploads, dropdown boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor.

Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create unlimited online forms to support each grant program.
Eligibility Branching: Eligibility quizzes can branch to multiple applications through conditional fields.
sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations through conditional fields.
Transfer of Account and History: Grantees or applicants can transfer their account and history to a new staff contact
without intervention of the grantmaker or vendor.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the email address of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already exist in
the system
tion.
questions, and create multiple pages in the Sandbox environment. More sophisticated applications are configured by the
vendor.
Lost Credentials: Lost credentials can easily be reset by the applicant, but grantmakers must contact their administrator or
the vendor to reset theirs.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view applications at any stage in the process, but a formatted print view is
only available for completed applications.
Preview Packet: The preview packet does not include uploaded documents.
Security Scan: The system has a virus scan/security feature to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the applica-
tion and downloaded onto system.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support the application process via mobile or tablet.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees can manage all grant information for all their funders within the system with a
single username and password.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not let applicants work on a proposal, submit as a draft, then allow
reviewers to comment and make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete. You can send the
application back to the applicant after submission, however.

fonts, and navigation. Forms are highly configurable to match an organizations brand.

Character and Word Counts: The system includes character but not word counts for application questions, and does not
display how many characters remain. An administrator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help editable by the vendor. Grantees and applicants can contact the
vendor directly for technical assistance.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: External and internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries, but not full grant informa-
tion including attachments, or sort or filter by program or date.
Reviewers Portal: You can configure a simplified portal interface to allow reviewers to see and review grant applications
more easily, but every reviewer must have a license to use the product.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers must manually open documents one by one associated with the request
and stored in the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process. A
workflow interface allows users to manage the workflow steps themselves.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs.
External Reviewer Profiles: Lets you track reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest and use those criteria to
assign applications for review, including geography or any other criteria. Each external reviewer must have a license to use
the software.
grades.
Numeric Review Scores: You cannot report on numeric review scores as summary statisticsfor example, average score
but this can be configured.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner and grants management staff can be notified when reviews are completed,
either via email, via dashboard, or by searching by approval stage.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Checks Employee Identification Numbers against a standard 501(c)(3) nonprofit registry,
and flags those not listed at the point of an organizations registration. Checks other lists, including those from Australia,
NCES, Great Britain, and Canada. Includes date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration comple-
tion of due diligence step(s). You cannot perform checks and updates in batch.
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations and individuals against standard OFAC, SDN, and other terror-
ist and money laundering watch lists within the grants management system itself through Bridger, a LexisNexis. Includes
date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). You cannot
perform checks and updates in batch.

Default Print Format: Lets you print a view of each grant application, but it includes all fields in the application and you
cannot customize it.

Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you create letter templates that include mail-merged information about
grants and organizations, and lets you customize their fonts, colors, and logos, but you would need to code the HTML.
You can export into Word, PDF, or .rtf format.
Printing Series of Summaries: Does not let you print letters or summaries for a series of grants or grant applications in a
single step, but you can print each one individually.
Electronic Signatures: The system provides electronic signatures tied to a username and password and which are time
stamped, which are not externally verified.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are not sent through blind copies, and there is a designated reply-to address.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, and edit them after theyve been merged.
Email Attachments: Lets you attach files to emails sent to individuals and groups
Email Delivery Reporting: Does not let you see email delivery statistics, but you can see if an email is undeliverable.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, but these need
to be configured to a specific help.
Spell Checking: Theres no dedicated in-system spell-check for emails.
Tracking Individual History: You would need to delete an individual no longer associated with a grant to have them not
show up as an active contact for communication. The individual will still show up in the systems audit trail.
Tracking Business Units: Can be configured to track individual business units under a larger organization, and see grants
for both the individual units and the larger organization.
organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report contact.
detailed communications log.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you branch data collection based on type of grant through conditional fields.
Viewing Grant Requirements: There is no easy way to see which requirements grantees have met, and which they have
not; you must run a report to see this information.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, and pull merge
field information from requirements into reminder emails.
staff.
which you can then summarize across grantees through ad hoc reports.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees, but the vendor generally configures more complex forms.
User Groups: The system has the ability to support user groups in order to collect uniform data consistent with other
groups.
Payments
Viewing Payment Schedules: Lets you see what scheduled payments are upcoming, but you can only see whether the
grantee has met the requirements linked with that conditional payment by doing a search to see what the unpaid balance is
and then running a report.
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, and print checks directly from the system.
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: You must run a report to see what payments are due based on a schedule, and whether
the grantee has met the associated prerequisite requirements.
example, fiscal sponsors). Theres a standard field for in care of recipients.
Electronic Payments: Supports ACH payments and wire transfers through custom configuration.
Accounting Integration: The vendor has experience in integrating the system with external accounting software packages
by building a custom feed at additional cost.
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Supports grants made in multiple currencies by storing currency and exchange rate information.
payment requirement through customization.
mation.

tions, and contacts through ad hoc reporting.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void, make refunds, and place payments on hold. Lets you track quid pro quo and in-kind
payments. Lets you update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch.
Budgeting
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount only for each request.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas. In the demo
environment we saw, each line is associated with specific requests and tied to organizations.
Budget Basing: Lets you easily use previous years budgets as a base and adjust them for current year.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Can split grants across more than budget line.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you easily set up multi-year budgeting, and compare budgets across
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items are linked to grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: The system does basic support for PRIs.

General Reporting Approach: The process of running reports is designed to be easy enough for casual users to run queries
independently.
Report Modification: Cannot modify standard reports beyond choosing what set of data should be displayed. The system
has strong support for ad hoc reporting, however.
One-Click Reports saves a query. You can also tag reports.
each Education sub-program as well as total Education grantsthrough ad hoc reporting.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down for more information on ad hoc reports.
Attachment Searching: Does not currently let you search within attached documents, although the vendor reports this
feature is now available in beta.
Standard Reports: The system contains the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant
format, and IATI.
Automating Reports: Lets you set up reports to automatically run and send to individuals or groups.
Visual Reports: Its not possible to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, e.g., charts and graphs,
other than in the Dashboard section.
Users cannot create their own dashboards, but administrators have those permissions.

system functions.
needs.
log.
Board/Management View: Could provide a focused, roles-based view for management and board members via dashboards
and role definitions.
Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Does not allow a programmer to create custom data flows to an external system. CyberGrants does
this themselves.
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices. The
vendor is in the process of optimizing the user interface to be mobile and tablet responsive.
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device. The vendor is in the process of optimizing the user interface to be mobile
and tablet responsive.
Data Integrity: The vendor uses SSL and 128 bit encryption to protect data in the system.
Custom Fields: Lets you add unlimited custom fields of 18 different types throughout the system that for the most part
have the same permissions as system-generated fields. You can see when a field was published but not all the details about it
in the audit log.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, at additional cost. Implementation
includes some customization.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor permits extensively customized systems to remain on the upgrade path, and
makes sure that enhancements dont affect customizations through the maintenance fees.
Support for Multiple Languages: The vendor reports that custom language sets are forthcoming in the fall 2013 release.

Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides phone support at additional cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides FAQs configurable by the grantmaker for each of their giving programs and provides
email support to all clients grantseekers at no additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: Manuals and release notes are available online. Clients have access to webinars of new
features after a release.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person or via the internet at additional cost, and additional training
sessions can be scheduled.
User Support Forums: User support forums or discussion groups are available.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1999.The software was developed as a custom tool and has been in use
since 2001.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 300 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 13.3 percent private,
8.7 percent family, 76.5 percent corporate, and 1.4 percent government.

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 80 percent [Note that this represented 8 out of
the 10 people who answered this question.]

DULLES TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
WEBGRANTS
WebGrants is a well-designed, mid-market online package with support for the full grant lifecycle. Users can define
sophisticated online application forms, review forms, and grantee report forms to collect extensive information.
However, theres no support for forms that can branch based on form entries. The system also allows you to build
your own custom application review forms for internal or external use. Ad hoc reporting capabilities are strong, and
the system provides useful internal tracking functionality, but administrators can only search on a limited number of
fields. Some standard reports are available, or data can be analyzed with the included Jasper Reports engine. Letter
templates can be set up with merged data fields. The system is typically licensed as a one-time fee for unlimited use,
and then installed on the users internet servers. The license fee is typically between $15,000 and $45,000, depend-
ing on what modules are purchased.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, but not
specific percent or dollar allocations.
Splitting Codes: Its not possible to split grants across different codes by default, although this could be customized.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are by default searchable by organizations legal name, application ID, and program and
grant cycle, but not by EIN. Through customization by the vendor, its possible to search by any field.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system through the people
database. Application can be scanned to PDF and attached to the application record, or it can by typed in manually.
File Attachment Method: The system uploads attached documents to the vendors server and stores a link to that uploaded
file in the database.
Batch Updates: Does not let you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields, except to update grant status.
Taxonomy: Theres currently no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: Lets both individuals and organizations apply for grants
from the same grant program, but theres no branching logic applied when one applies as an individual versus an organiza-
tion.

fiscal-sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations. The system does support making fields required or optional
based on the answers to prior questions.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports two application stages, including a scorable eligibility quiz and a final application
stage.
Transfer of Account and History: Theres no ability for a grantee or applicant to transfer account and history to new staff
contact, but this can be done by a grantmaking staffer.
Reuse of Application Data: Applicants can easily see submitted applications, and make complete copies of previously
submitted applications in order to revise and resubmit them to the grantmaker.
Duplicate Accounts: There is a process for grantmakers to review applications to look for and merge duplicates.
tion.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily retrieve lost passwords, but lost user IDs can only
be retrieved by the grantmaker.
Preview Packet: The preview packet includes either copies of all uploaded documents or links to them.
Security Scan: Offers virus scan to prevent malicious files from being downloaded onto system.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support application process via mobile or tablet.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees are able to manage all grant information for all funders in the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not by default have the ability to allow grantees and reviewers to
both comment and collaborate on a proposal before submission, although this could theoretically be supported by multiple
application rounds.

fonts, navigation, and advanced online form design, like HTML, hyperlinks, and columns.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character but not word counts for application questions, and an
administrator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: Online help text for applicants is available within the system and can be easily customized through a
WYSIWIG editor for different application forms. The vendor asks the foundation to be the first line of defense for
applicant inquiries, but can take on technical inquiries as needed.

Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Its not possible for external reviewers to print grant summaries or full grant information
simultaneously.
easily.
in the system, but they must open each attachment one by one.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Each review form is a
custom form.
criteria to assign applications for review. The system also facilitates static panels of reviewers meeting a certain criteria of
expertise or geography.
grades.
score. Score aggregation is available only by running a report.
completed. The grantmaker can choose whether to have this happen via email or within the system.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: There is no in-system support for checking 501(c)(3) status, but this has been added through
customization at additional cost in implementations.
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, but this has been added through customization at additional cost in implementations.

Default Print Format: Lets you print a view of each grant application, but it includes all fields in the application and you
cannot customize it.
colors, and logos.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures with a user ID and a time stamp.
Printed and Electronic Templates: There are no default templates for electronic or tablet view.

Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are sent as blind copies.
text and mail-merge type inserted data. Its not possible to edit one-off emails from a batch sent out based on a template.
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see the send state of email, i.e., pending, sent, or failed, but not rates of open, click-
through, and unsubscription.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, as defining
in-system alerts to trigger emails.
Outbound Email Method: Emails are sent through clients email servers, potentially exposing them to blacklisting.
Tracking Individual History: The system lets you track individuals over time, and the history of the relationship of each
individual associated with a grant, even if they leave the organization. Departed staffers will not show up as active contacts
for communications.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization.
Customized Communication: Its not possible to automatically communicate with a contact according to their relation-
ship with the grant or organization (for example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting
reminder to report contact). However, the system synchronizes contacts from an organization and gives access to form
completion online so the appropriate contact is completing the form.
Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with Outlook.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Theres currently no ability to branch evaluation data collection based on type of grant.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, and lets you
merge field information from grant requirements into reminder emails for grantees.
staff.

Online Progress Report Submission: Lets grantees submit progress report information through online data fields, which
you can then summarize across grantees in reports.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees, but doesnt include any suggested formats.
User Groups: Does not support user groups to collect uniform data consistent with other groups.
Payments
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, but not print checks directly from the system.
integrate at additional cost.
steps.
mation.
Payment Notes: Lets you include notes on payments through Claims Annotations.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, make refunds, and place payments on hold, but these are simply statuses
that dont synch with accounting. Lets you update payment details (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch and
create payments in batch. There is no ability to track in-kind and quid pro quo payments.
Budgeting

Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can automatically create grant requests.

Report Modification: Cannot modify standard reports beyond choosing what set of data should be displayed.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Cannot quickly view favorite reports, queries, or actions without navigating a
much-larger set.
to users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos, and headers. The system has
the ability to use calculated fields in ad hoc reports, i.e., use searches or filters on individual columns, and the ability to
create ad hoc top N (ranking) and summary (roll up) reports.
Standard Reports: The system does not include report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the
sector, such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI.
Automating Reports: The system doesnt have the ability for reports to automatically run and be sent to individuals or
groups.
Visual Reports: The system does not let you create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, e.g., charts
and graphs.
Individual Dashboards: The system does not contain report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used
by the sector, such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI.

system functions.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis, but only for a few fields.
needs. Read-only or dashboard views can now be set up for certain users.
log.
Task Assignment: You can assign tasks, such as reviews, to other users within a certain grant.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for management and board members.

Data Access
feeds to or from an external system.
Data Integrity: No data available.
Custom Fields: Theres no limit to custom fields, and they are indistinguishable from system-standard fields. Lets you track
creation and change of custom fields. Lets you customize field names.
forms.
System Extendibility: Vendor permits clients to extend system functionality via access to underlying database and/or code
(as allowed through the API).
Support for Multiple Languages: Theres no ability define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program.
The system supports all UNICODE characters.
Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. ET, Monday through Friday.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited email support without additional cost. The online help consists of custom
system documentation that each customer receives.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides customer specific and updated documentation at the end of the
project.
Training: The vendor provides in-person or remote training at the clients request.


Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1999; WebGrants has been in general use by clients since 2001.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have more than 50 clients, with 50 percent government, 20 percent charity, 10
percent university, 10 percent art, and 10 percent other.


DONATIONXCHANGE
This online hosted system, specializing in corporate and private foundations, provides well-rounded functionality.
DonationXchange has solid application review features, and online application forms are flexible, with the option
to embed the forms directly in a webpage, but support for online applicants is not as strong as in other systems
reviewed in this report. Budgeting in the system is mostly solid, and an integration with QuickBooks provides strong
functionality for tracking payments. While the system provides decent email capabilities, support for letters and
other print communication is rather basic. A smaller foundation with five users dealing with under 100 grants a year
could get up and running in the system for about $10,000; larger foundations dealing with 100 grants or more per
year and 10 concurrent users could expect to pay $40,000 or more in the first year.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, through
custom fields only.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are searchable by a number of criteria, including organizations legal name, grant type,
and program and grant cycle.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system through the quick
request add interface.
File Attachment Method: At this time, the system saves only the link (i.e., file system path) for attached documents.
Batch Updates: Does not easily let you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields.
Online Applications

Multiple Logins for Grantees: Does not support multiple logins for grantees for individual applications, but does support
multiple logins within grantseeking organizations.
Transfer of Account and History: The system does not have the ability for applicants to transfer their account and history
to a new staff contact without contacting the grantmaker.
system.
tion.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can format applications using groups of questions and rich text, but not multiple
pages.
broswer.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not allow reviewers and applicants to work back and forth on a
proposal.

fonts, and navigation, or embed them on your website.
Character and Word Counts: The vendor can set character counts, but not word counts, for application questions, and
can set a maximum limit for each.
In system Help: Clients have the ability to customize the text around an application form to provide additional instruc-
tional text. The vendor provides technical support for applicants.
Application Review

Printing Grant Summaries: External reviewers are able to independently print the summary and full details of the grant
application.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which can be set up and
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest.
grades.
score.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against a standard 501(c)(3)
nonprofit registry, and flags those not listed. Tax verification is not only for 501(c)(3) but for all 501(c) types. Tax status
automatic check includes auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status.
lists within the grants management system itself.

colors, and logos.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: You cannot view or customize individual letters before printing them, unless
performing the mail-merge in Microsoft Word.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not support electronic signatures with an external approval process.
Emails

text and mail-merge type inserted data. Merged emails can be reviewed or edited prior to sending.
Email Attachments: Does not let you attach files to emails. Lets you include a link to files uploaded to the system in emails
sent to individuals and groups.
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see the click-through rate, but not the open rate for each email.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees at a specific date
and time.
Tracking Business Units: Can track individual business units under a larger organization, and see grants for both the indi-
vidual units and the larger organization.
Multiple Contacts Per Organization: Lets you associate multiple contacts with an organization and define their relationships
to you and to a specific grant.
Customized Communication: Can send email to any contact recorded in an application form.
Call and Email Logging: Lets you note interactions with a grantee through multiple internal notes, but currently does not
support a more detailed communications log.

grantees.
Progress Report Tracking: Can track that a progress report has been received, but not whether staff has approved it.

Payments
View Scheduled Payment Amount (Annual): Can view the amount scheduled to be paid out in a given year.
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: Lets you see what payments are due based on individual grantees, and whether the
grantee has met the associated prerequisite requirements.
Accounting Integration: Includes a robust, integrated accounting package, or integrates tightly with an external account-
ing package.
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Supports grants made in multiple currencies by storing currency and exchange rate information
at time of submission.
payment requirement through notes.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: Scheduled and pending payments can be voided, refunded, or put on hold, but not after the
payment has been released. Batch updates to payment details are only possible by manually importing the data as a spread-
sheet.
Budgeting
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount for each grants program and report on that information
with actuals (approved and pending). You cannot easily track additional categories as well, thoughfor example, to track
budgets for both programs and geographic areas.
purposes.
is discreet.

Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can create grant requests and feed directly to payments.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports, searches, and notes without navigating a
much-larger set.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Supports ad hoc reports, which can include nearly any field displayed to users, by exporting data to
Excel for formatting.
Standard Reports: The system does not, by default, contain report templates that align with sector-wide reporting
standards, such as the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, or IATI. The
vendor reports that they can build report templates for the client at implementation.
Individual Dashboards: Provides dashboard views to summarize the information relevant to the user within the system,
depending on role.

system functions.
needs.
log.
User Dashboards: Lets you see different dashboards based on your role within the system.
Users Task Lists: Does not provide users a task list upon sign on, at the time of this review.

Data Access
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices at this
time. Most tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web
browser. The vendor reports that a mobile app should be available in early 2014.
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device at this time. Most tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing
data and performing data entry via the devices web browser. The vendor reports that a mobile app should be available in
early 2014.
the data stored on its server.
Custom Fields: Lets you create unlimited custom fields within the system which have the same permissions as system-
standard fields. You can track the creation and change of custom fields for historical documentation in an audit log.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets youdefine custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is not as polished looking as some systems, but the interface is clean and fields are neatly
laid out.

Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited online or chat support without additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and help documentation online.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person or via the internet at no additional cost, and additional training
User Support Forums: Currently, there are no user support forums or discussion groups available.


Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business for 14 years; the system has been in use by clients for four years.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 230 clients. The vendor does not provide a client breakdown by
foundation type.


FLUIDWARE FLUIDREVIEW
FluidReview (by the makers of FluidSurvey) is a configurable and polished online system with an emphasis on forms.
The form builder is very flexible and easy to use, allowing users to drag and drop fields to add, remove, or rearrange
application questions. Workflow is strong and rather straightforward to set up, as is application review. However,
support for payments and budgeting is minimal, and while email is fairly strong, users must create mail merges for
letters or other print communication outside of the system. A smaller foundation that awards about 10 grants per year
may be able to get started with FluidReview for as little as $4,000, while a client with more advanced needs and larger
grant programs may see annual costs up to $30,000.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes. Its possible to
build reports to show the specific percent or dollar allocations across these codes.
Updating Basic Grant Information: Lets you easily update basic grant information like project names or codes throughout
the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are searchable by a number of criteria, including organizations legal name, EIN, applica-
tion ID, and program and grant cycle.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system.
Taxonomy: The system supports an industry-standard taxonomy. Users have the ability to customize system menus and field
labels to match a standard taxonomy.
Online Applications
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications with, at a minimum, file uploads, dropdown boxes,
checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor.

Transfer of Account and History: The applicant has the ability to change their account information, user ID, and password,
in order to transfer their account and history to a new staff contact.
system.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but information is saved when the
applicant navigates between sections.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view applications at any stage in the process, but applications can only be
printed by applicants after submission.
Preview Packet: The system does not allow applicants to create a preview packet of their grant which includes uploaded
documents. Applications can only be printed by applicants after submission.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system explicitly supports the application process via mobile or tablet, using respon-
sive design.
Unified Accounts: Applicants can use the same account for all funders in the system; they will have to log in from each
funders portal separately, however.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers to unsubmit a proposal with comments or request ad-
ditional information from the applicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes word counts for application questions. Admin users have the ability to set
maximum and minimum word limits for each field.
In system Help: The system provides a standard FAQ list for applicants, as well as a help desk and support ticketing system.
The vendor provides technical support for applicants.
Application Review

Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
grades.
score.

profit registry, and flags those not listed.

Default Print Format: Does not support printed summaries of grant applications.
Printing Series of Summaries: Does not let you print letters in a single step, but you can print each one individually. It
is possible to print summaries for a series of grants or grant applications in a single step, but only by generating a custom
report.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to the board docket if sent as an email only.
Electronic Signatures: A signature line on forms allows applicants to sign with their mouse cursor, but the system does
not support electronic signatures with an external approval process.
Emails
text and mail-merge type inserted data. Individual emails can be edited after the batch is merged, prior to sending.

submission.
Tracking Business Units: Can track individual business units under a larger organization only as members on an applica-
tion or proposal.
Email Capture: Does not let you capture emails from an external email system without customization.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Data collection can branch based on the type of grant.
staff.
User Groups: Lets you configure a template of metrics to collect data based on grant program.
Payments

Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests without the use of custom fields.
Viewing Payments Made: Lets you see what payments have been made, including amount and date paid.
steps.
payment requirement. This functionality is handled through the workflow functionality, however.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: The system provides the ability to void or refund payments and make negative transactions. Its
not possible to create payments or update payment details in batch, and in-kind and quid pro quo payments can only be
tracked through custom fields.
Budgeting
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount for each grants program and report on that information
with actuals (approved and pending). You cannot easily track additional categories as well, thoughfor example, to track
budgets for both programs and geographic areas.
in a proposal.

Program-Related Investments: The system does not currently support interest repayment on PRIs.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports and searches without navigating a much-
larger set.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down for more information on some or all reports, if you include the correct filters
when designing the report.
dards.
Automating Reports: Reports can be set to automatically run and send the results to reviewers or users.

system functions.
view and a reviewer viewto provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex needs.
log.
Board/Management View: Provides a focused, roles-based view for management and board members which can be
customized to meet specific organizational needs.
Data Access

permissions as system-generated fields.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, possibly at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: Its possible for clients to define custom language sets for system navigation and menus,
or create application forms in multiple languages.
Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support to the primary grants management contact without additional
cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited online or chat support to the primary grants management contact without
additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides help documentation online, including video tutorials and FAQs, as
well as in-application help text.
Training: The vendor provides initial training via the internet at no additional cost, and additional training sessions can be
scheduled.


Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business for six years; the system has been in use by clients for five years.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 350 clients. The vendor does not keep records of breakdown by
foundation type.
Customer Experience Survey:

JK GROUP EASYMATCH
JK Groups EasyMatch provides outsourced foundation-operation management services, specializing in corporation

foundations. Each system is custom built, with online application forms, online progress reports, workflow, and
viewing screens all tailored to the clients needs. The core system supports matching gifts and volunteer programs,
and has solid budgeting functionality. Relationship management features are strong, as is support for producing
mail-merged letters and board dockets. A new self-service reporting tool adds more functionality and flexibility for
ad hoc reporting and saving favorite reports. The vendor still performs most customization for clients, including for
online application and progress report forms, although a forthcoming release is designed to provide users with more
ability to do some of this work themselves. JK Groups grants management solution typically costs between $8,000
and $17,500 to set up, and from $10,000 to $20,000 annually, including support and maintenance.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, as well as by
percentage. You can track by dollar amount with configuration.
Custom Categorization Codes: Lets you define custom categorization codes for tracking and reporting. The vendor will
create custom categorization codes for online hosted customers at additional cost.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
application ID, program and grant cycle, and classification.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by entering it as a
new request.
the database.
Batch Updates: Does not easily let you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields, though the vendor can
perform this task for you.
Taxonomy: Theres currently no support for an an industry-standard taxonomy within the system.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system can be configured to allow both individuals and
organizations to apply for grants from the same grant program.
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications with file uploads, dropdown boxes, checkboxes,
and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, though the vendor typically configures these forms for clients.
Training is available to help you customize the system yourself, and the vendor reports that the 2014 release will add some
more functionality around self-configuration.

Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create different online forms to support each grant program, though the
vendor typically configures these forms for clients. Training is available to help you customize the system yourself, and the
vendor reports that the 2014 release will add some more functionality around self-configuration.
Transfer of Account and History: Authorized representatives from grantseeking organizations can update staff account
information to transfer a departing staffers history to a new user, as well as create a new user. The foundation can also
perform this transfer from the back end.
system, and prompts the registrant with the existing credentials at the time of registration.
tion, but that message can only be customized by the vendor. The message template itself is customizable.
questions, and create multiple pages, though the vendor typically does this for clients.
Spell Checking: Grantees can easily spell-check applications.
Security Scan: Offers a full virus scan feature to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the application.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support application process via mobile or tablet,
although the administrative interface is fully functional on a tablet device.
Unified Accounts: Theres no means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all funders in the
system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not have the ability to let a grantee work on a proposal, submit it,
allow a reviewer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation. More advanced online client configuration tools will be forthcoming in 2014.

In system Help: The system includes guidelines and FAQs that are editable by the foundation staff. Grantseekers can
contact JK Group directly for any assistance regarding the grantmakers program.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can print grant summaries or full grant information by clicking a print icon
within the application itself. Uploaded files will show as links within the system.
easily.
in the system.
Grant Review Workflows: The vendor can define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process.
The vendor can also make changes to workflow, often at no additional cost, depending on the complexity of the change.
The vendor reports that a new release in 2014 will allow for the ability for users to manage and alter their own workflows.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. This is currently customiz-
able only by the vendor, although a new release in 2014 will allow for the ability for users to customize their own scoring
schemes.
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest, or track
reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria defined by grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
score. You can assign different weights to the scores and then aggregate them.
completed, but only on the home page, not via email.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Lets you click on organizations to view their records and tax status in a standard registry of
501(c)(3) nonprofits via the IRS database. The vendor also provides (optional) comprehensive organization vetting and
compliance services. Tax verification includes all 501(c) types. Fields are auto-populated with related information. All such
checks performed by client include date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due
diligence step(s).
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations and individuals against standard OFAC, SDN, and other
terrorist watch lists within the grants management system itself. JK Groups systems are tied to Thomson Reuters Accelus
Worldcheck. Fields are auto-populated with related information. All such checks performed by client include date and time
stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s).

Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for printing grant application summaries, choosing which fields
to include as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos.
Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: The vendor can create letter templates in Microsoft Word or an equivalent
web-based word processor that include mail-merged information about grants and organizations, and lets you customize
their fonts, colors, and logos.
step.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures with an external approval process.
Printed and Electronic Templates: Includes templates for print and electronic formats.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are sent as blind copies.
Email Template Flexibility: Lets you create email to individuals and groups based on templates that include both
standard text and mail-merge type inserted data. You can edit emails from a batch sent out based on a template, but only
within an hour and a half after sending.
Email Attachments: Lets you attach files to emails sent to individuals, but not groups.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees based on
calendar dates.
Spell Checking: The system does not provide any specific spell-checking ability for emails generated in the system, but as
a browser-based solution, this is possible through the browser itself, if enabled.
for communications.
Customized Communication: Lets you communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the grant
or organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report
contactthrough role-based communication.
Call and Email Logging: Lets you keep a log of outside communications, such as phone calls and emails, with a particu-
lar contact at a grantee organization.

Email Capture: Does not let you automatically capture emails from an external email system.

Defining Grant Requirements: You can set up default requirements that apply to all grants, but only the vendor can alter
requirements for each grantee individually.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you branch evaluation data collection based on type of grant.
staff.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees, but doesnt include suggested formats.
User Groups: Does not support user groups to collect uniform data consistent with other groups.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Lets you define a default payment schedule that automatically applies to all grants, but
cannot be updated for each grant individually.
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting. Lets you print checks directly from the system, but
only one at a time. The vendor offers check printing as a service.
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with any accounting software packages, but can export payment
information to a csv file that can be imported into an accounting package.
steps.

mation.
Payment Notes: Does not let you include a note on a payment.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void or place a hold on payments, but only if your organization (and not the vendor)
is handling payment processing. The system has robust support for quid pro quo and in-kind payments. The vendor can
create and update payments in batch for you.
Budgeting
purposes.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Its possible for budgeted line items to create grant requests through a one-click process.

General Reporting Approach: A new self-service reporting tool is designed to make reporting accessible to casual users.
view pre-packaged reports based on this customized set of grants. A new self-service reporting tool is designed to facilitate
ease of access to the data warehouse.
Report Modification: Lets you modify standard reports.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets a user view reports they have modified without navigating a much-larger set.
Standard Reports: The system does not include report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the
Individual Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user,
and lets users create multiple unique dashboards.

system functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Does not provide a dedicated simplified interface for users with less-complex needs, although you
can hide areas of the system based on user roles or permissions.
log.
Board/Management View: Does not provide a focused, roles-based view for management and board members, although
you can tailor this view through system Permissions and Workflow.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Does not assign tasks to users based on rules and roles, although the system can provide
automatic notifications and grant assignments.
Data Access
tablets and mobile devices, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices
web browser.
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device. Most tablets and mobile devices, however, have a screen size sufficient for
viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web browser.
Data Integrity: JKGroupundertakes a SSAE 16 Audit each year, and reports that their systems must adhere to some of
the most stringent IT, security, and operational protocols in the world. More information is available upon request from the
vendor.
Custom Fields: The vendor can create unlimited custom fields for the grantmakers use.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, at no additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: There is the ability todefine custom language sets based on user, group, or giving
program, but only on the front end of the system.

Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support as part of annual fee, and provides access to an in-house
Contact Center, which consists of nearly 60 representatives to provide assistance to participating organizations.
Online Support: Vendor provides help links throughout the system.The Client Success Manager assigned to each com-
pany acts as the single point of contact for all back- and front-end users.
Manuals and Documentation: Documentation is provided online via a link from the administrative tool. A Users Manual
is provided for program administrators.
Training: The vendor offers a full day of on-site training at no additional fee (client is responsible for travel-related costs)
and provides all reasonable and required online training for program administrators.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1989; this package has been in use by clients since 2003.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have 60 clients using the grants management solution. All clients are corporate
clients.


FLUXX
Fluxx has a unique interface that replaces traditional menus and screens with cards arranged horizontally on the
screen. Users can save sets of cards as dashboards containing frequently viewed information. These cards are
easily searchable and filterable to allow efficient access to information related to any entity in the system, and can
also contain graphical views of data. Like the rest of the system, the reporting functionality is polished, and Fluxx
has added support for ad hoc reporting as well. Fluxx has also added some new capabilities, such as batch update
functionality, in-system support for Google Drive attachments, integration with several accounting packages, and
robust OFAC checking. Fluxx boasts flexible, powerful automated workflow facility that supports grants review and
payment approval processes. In addition, you can easily set up reminders for grantees and staff, and assign tasks to
users based on schedules and events. Though Fluxx began as an open source project, the creators of the system have
made the decision to charge for licenses, hosting, and support in order to support its long-term sustainability. Those
fees range from implementation fees of between $15,000 and $30,000 and ongoing annual fees of between $7,000
and $12,000 for small foundations up to implentation fees over $100,000 and annual fees of between $25,000 and
$85,000 for large foundations.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and by
percentage or dollar allocations.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs. The system is also tightly integrated with Google Drive, and supports editing Google Doc attachments
within the system. All files can be previewed directly within the system.
application ID, and program and grant cycle. The system has the capability to perform a universal search.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system without the need to
log in as the applicant.
the database. Optionally, files could be stored on a SharePoint server or on the clients file server with a link to it stored in
the database. You can also attach Google Docs within the system.
Taxonomy: There is currently support for an hGrant feed within the system, and the vendor is working with partners
including GuideStar and the Foundation Center to implement a universal taxonomy within the system.

Online Applications
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports multiple application stages, including eligibility quizzes, a Letter Of Intent stage, a
more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed.
Transfer of Account and History: Theres no ability for the grantee or applicant to transfer their account and history to a
new staff contact, although a foundation staffer could do so in bulk from the back end.
system and prompts the registrant if there is a match.
tion.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but there is a manual save
option.
are sent a confirmation email. Clients can opt for manual approval of registration requests or to allow applicants to register
themselves.
Viewing Applications: Applications can be viewed by applicants at any stage, and can toggle into a print view at any stage
in the workflow.
Mobile Device Application Access: Grantee portal views are responsively designed to be compatible with mobile browsers.
Unified Accounts: Theres no current means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all of their
funders in the system, but the architecture of the software could support this, and the vendor reports that this is on the
product roadmap.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system can let a grantee work on a proposal, save it as a draft, and allow a
reviewer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete, on a field-by-field basis.

fonts, and navigation. You can also fully match the style sheet of your foundations website.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help editable by the foundation staff. Theres also a help ticketing feature
for applicants to flag issues for grantmakers.
Application Review
is required from the applicant. Any approvals processes required by the workflow would need to be repeated for reopened
applications, but only if the request was declined and reopened, or manually moved back multiple steps in the workflow.
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information as a PDF. Audio and
video attachments can be viewed within the system.
easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Lets reviewers easily view selected documents associated with the request and stored
in the system. Audio and video files are playable within the browser. Google Drive files can be edited within the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process and
configure a workflow without the assistance of the vendor. Workflows can branch based on various factors, such as request
amount.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Scoring schemes are cus-
tomizable, and can be number-based or narrative.
criteria to assign applications for review. Lets you track reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria defined by
grantmaker for making assignments. You can also create and save review panels to assign to requests.
grades. You can also choose to keep all comments and grades anonymous, but still make them public to other reviewers.
scoreand aggregate them.
completed, either by alert within the system or via email based on configuration.

profit registry, and flags those not listed. The system uses GuideStar Charity Check. Provides updates based on the revoca-
tion list. The tax status automatic check includes auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status, and
includes date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you
perform checks and updates in batch.

OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations and individuals against standard OFAC , SDN, and other terror-
ist watch lists within the grants management system itself. The OFAC check includes date and time stamp, which can serve
as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you perform checks and updates in batch.

Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for grant application summaries, choose which fields to include,
and customize the logo.
colors, and logos.
step.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures with an external approval process. The system also has an
integration with Verisign.
Printed and Electronic Templates: Includes templates for print and electronic formats. Tablets can be supported through
PDFs.
Emails
particular criteria. MailChimp integration is available for bulk emails. MailChimp service requires an additional fee. Group
emails are not sent via blind copy.
text and mail-merge type inserted data. In order to edit an email after its been merged, you would need to send it to
Outlook first.
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see the open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate for each email, the
number of people who clicked on each link, and bounce reports, but only for emails sent through MailChimp integration.
MailChimp service requires an additional fee.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, as well as
schedule email reminders based on a variety of criteria.
Spell Checking: Lets you spell-check emails with a built-in, dedicated spell-checker.
Tracking Individual History: Lets you keep a record of individuals no longer associated with a grant by archiving them
for historical and audit purposes, and they will not show up as active contacts for communication.

organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report con-
tactthrough role-based communication.
Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with Microsoft Exchange.

grantees.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Lets you automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, and pull
staff.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Lets grantees submit progress report information through online data fields,
User Groups: You could configure the system to track user groups to collect uniform evaluation data through segmenting
those groups and then tracking them ad hoc reporting or a filtered card.
Payments
requirements linked with that conditional payment. This is done by allowing you to filter on whether a payment is actually
due (due with no unmet requirements) or tentatively due (due but with unmet requirements).
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, and send requests to print checks to the accounting
software packages with which the software integrates.

Accounting Integration: Integrates tightly with the following accounting software packages: QuickBooks, Microsoft Great
Plans, Intacct, and NetSuite.
steps.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments and place payments on hold by creating statuses with workflows associated
with them. Theres no default ability to track quid pro quo and in-kind payments, although this could be tracked in custom
fields. Lets you update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch.
Budgeting
purposes.
What-Ifs: Lets you set up what-if scenarios.
Program-Related Investments: The vendor has customized the system to track interest repayment on PRIs for several
clients.

view pre-packaged reports based on this customized set of grants. Also, data from filtered cards can be exported to Excel
with one click.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports, actions, and queries without navigating a
much-larger set.
Saving Modified Reports: Lets you name, save, and share ad hoc reports that you create or modify.
Excel for formatting. Users can define what fields are pulled into reports, and columns can be grouped and summed. Data
within a filtered card can be exported to Excel, and Fluxx users can define which fields are populated on that spreadsheet
(and in which order).

Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down on some reports, depending on the type.
Attachment Searching: Lets you search within attached documents.
Standard Reports: Contains report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector, such as
Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI. The system also has the
ability to pull in data feeds from external sources, such as the World Bank or U.S. Census.
Users can create their own dashboards. Any data point within the system can be aggregated across the system and made
into a report or dashboard, and users can monitor indicators personalized to them.

system functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides five different internal interfacesfor example, an admin view, a board view, program staff
view, and a reviewer viewto provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex needs. Unlimited roles and views
can be configured.
Audit Logging: Records all data updates, along with the data and the user who made the update, in an audit log.
Data Access
Mobile Device Application Review: There is a dedicated iOS app to support application review.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: There is a dedicated iOS app to support grant information review.
Data Integrity: The vendor protects the security and integrity of data stored within the system through a variety of meth-
ods, including a firewall, TLS/SSL encryption, and two-factor authentication. The hosting of the system is provided within
the Amazon Web Services cloud, and uses that providers robust security protocols and backup procedures.

forms, including visual design aspects.
Ease of Use
Intuitive Labels: On the core interface pages, the user can easily find the actions he or she is most likely to take. The User
Interface is configured to meet the specific needs of the client.
Easily Taking Action: On the core interface pages, the user can easily find the actions he or she is most likely to take,
though the navigation scheme is unique. Users who are familiar with other grants management systems may require
substantial training.

Phone Support: Fluxx provides phone support to end users, included in support and maintenance fees.
Online Support: Fluxxs support team is available via email and there is a support portal using Zendesk.
Manuals and Documentation: Detailed help documentation is available through the system.
Training: Fluxx provides initial training, which is covered by the implementation fee.
User Support Forums: There is a Project Fluxx support forum on Google Groups, but it tends toward developers rather
than users.

Installation and Maintenance: The system can be hosted by FluxxLabsFluxx (io), or can be installed on clients servers.
For clients who wish to host their own Fluxx installation, Fluxx runs on Mac, Windows, or Linux servers (Linux is recom-
mended) and is built in Ruby on Rails on a MySQL database.
Vendor Background
History: The Fluxx project has been in existence since 2005. FluxxLabs (the organization that provides Fluxx support and
training) has been in operation since 2010. Fluxx has been in use by clients since 2010.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have 53 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 80 percent private, 5 percent
corporate, and 15 percent government.


FOUNDANT GRANT LIFECYLE MANAGER
Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager is a polished, friendly, and quickly growing low-cost grant management option
with a strong focus on online data gathering. Easy-to-update online forms allow you to collect online grant applica-
tions, feedback from external reviews, and online progress reports from grantees. But the system still has only basic
support for payments and budgeting and doesnt support branching for applications or data collection. It does not
allow users to interact with data via an Application Programming Interface. It does, however, allow you to export
most visible data from the system. Foundant is very reasonably priced, at $6,500 for a two-year license that includes
support, and $1,500 for a one-time setup cost. The vendor also offers notably strong customer support and training
options for a system of this price tier, and has an active and growing user group community.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes.Its not possible
to assign specific percent or dollar allocations.
Splitting Codes: Its not possible to split grants across specific codes.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs. Images can be converted to PDFs, but audio and video attachments must be downloaded seperately.
application ID, workflow stage, date, and program and grant cycle.
new request.
the database.
Taxonomy: The vendor is working with partners including GuideStar and the Foundation Center to implement a universal
taxonomy within the system.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system does not allow both individuals and organiza-
tions to apply for grants from the same grant program.
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications with file uploads, dropdown boxes, checkboxes,
and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor.
Eligibility Branching: Theres no eligibility quiz available in the system.

Support for Multiple Stages: Supports up to three application stages, including a qualification stage, Letter Of Intent stage,
and proposal stage.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: A new organization view supports multiple logins for grantees.
Transfer of Account and History: Its not possible for a grantseeker to transfer their account and history to another person
within that organization. The Foundation Administrator can make the transfer on the back end.
Custom Confirmation Messages: Lets you send an automatic confirmation to a grantee upon submission of an application.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can format applications using groups of questions and rich text, but not multiple
pages.
Application Auto-Saving: Applications in progress are automatically saved at regular intervals.
Security Scan: The system does not allow files with any executable-related file extension (.exe, .bat, etc.) to be uploaded for
security purposes. The system also offers security scan at the point of download.
Unified Accounts: Theres no means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all of their funders in the
system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system can let a grantee work on a proposal, save it as a draft, and allow a grant-
making staffer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete on a field-by-field
basis.

fonts, and navigation, but requires in-depth knowledge of HTML and style sheets. Look and feel customization is typically
performed by the vendor during intial setup.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help configured by the vendor to be personalized to the foundations particu-
lar needs.

Application Review
prospective grantees, but requires you to set up custom fields to create the checklist.
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summariesthese summaries, stored in PDF format, include
every field in the application and all document or image file attachments. The system can be customized to print only
certain information in a summary.
easily.
in the system. Audio and video files must be downloaded separately.
comments.
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests, demographics, or potential conflicts of
interest, as the system does not store reviewer profiles.
Comment Sharing Among Reviewers: Lets you choose whether to let reviewers see each others comments and grades
while reviews are in progress. These can be anonymous or names can be attached to scores.
score.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner is alerted through the system but not via email when all reviews have been
completed.

profit registry, and flags those not listed. This system includes a fully integrated version of GuideStar Charity Check and
verifications are stored in the database for future audit purposes. Its not possible to perform checks and updates in batch.
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations, but not individuals, against standard OFAC and other terrorist
watch lists within the grants management system itself, via GuideStar integration. Its not possible to perform checks and
updates in batch.

Default Print Format: Lets you print a view of each grant application with the fields that you want by creating an external
merge.
colors, and logos.
step .

Electronic Signatures: The system supports simple, checkbox-only electronic signature forms.
PDFs.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are not sent via blind copies, but rather individually to minimize the risk of being flagged
as spam.
Email Template Flexibility: Lets you create an unlimited number of email templates, but you cannot mail-merge fields
into system email.
Event-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send automatic emails based on a limited number of certain events, such as
online application submission.
for communications.
Tracking Organizational History: Organization information is saved within the system, and you can view and report on
the history of all grants to a particular organization.
Tracking Business Units: Lets you track individual business units under a larger organization with some modifications.
ships to you or to a specific grant.
Record of Correspondence: Automatically stores a record of all system-generated emails for each grant, but not mail-
merge documents. You can manually upload mail-merged documents.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Its not possible to branch evaluation data collection based on type of grant.

Deadline Reminder Emails: Lets you automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines. Its not
possible to pull merge field information from requirements into reminder emails.
staff.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports, through the use of custom fields.
User Groups: The system does not support user groups to collect uniform data.
Payments
amounts and dates for each grant individually. The payment schedule workflow has been updated.
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, but not print checks directly from the system.
grantee (for example, fiscal sponsors).
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with external accounting software packages, but vendor reports that
this feature is forthcoming.
Multi-Currency Support: Only supports grants in U.S. dollars.
mation.
Payment Notes: Its possible to add a comment on a note.
Other Payment Issues: To void payments or put them on hold, you would need to create a custom status. To refund
payments, you would need to create a negative payment amount. Its not possible to create or update payments in batch or
track quid pro quo or in-kind payments.
Budgeting

Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter only a single budget amount for your whole organization. You can see a
programs budget, but not report on it.
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Cannot track grants split across more than one program for budgeting purposes, although
this could potentially be managed through a custom report.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items are not automatically tied into grant requests.
clients.

Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports and queries without navigating a much-
larger set.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Supports ad hoc reports, which can include nearly any field displayed to users.
Grant Summary Tracking: You can define codes and see them in reports, and these codes can be rolled up hierarchically
for example, to show grant money paid to each Education sub-program as well as total Education grantsby creating
hierarchies within groups.
Standard Reports: The system contains a standard report template to easily align data with the Foundation Center eRe-
porting format.
Automating Reports: Lets you set up reports to automatically run, but not be sent out to individuals or groups.
each individual user, and the system does not have the ability for users to create multiple unique dashboards.

Field-Level Permissions: It is not possible to define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides a different internal interface to provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex
needs.
User Dashboards: Dashboard views are available but are not customized to the individual logon.

Users Task Lists: Does not provide users a task list upon sign on.
Task Assignment: Lets you assign reviews to users within the system, but no other tasks.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for board evaluators, but not for management.
Data Access
Data Export to other formats: Lets you export most data visible to users into another file format, such as .xls or .csv.
tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web broswer.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet
browser.
Data Integrity: The vendors security protocols include vulnerability testing, a redundant server replicated in real time,
daily backup, strict firewalls, and a hosting provider that is SSAE 16 compliant.
Custom Fields: The system lets you create an unlimited number of custom fields with the same permissions as system-
standard fields, but there isnt an audit log of changes.
forms at no additional cost, including visual design aspects.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor does not provide extensively customized solutions.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets youdefine custom language sets for applicants and reviewers based on user, group,
or giving program.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface has been streamlined to be more visually appealling, and remains clean with fields that are
neatly laid out.
Optimization for Experts: An expert user will need more steps and clicks to take action than in some other systems,
though batch functionality has streamlined some repetitive tasks.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support without additional cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides email support without additional cost, as well as an online knowedgebase and customer
community that is searchable.
Manuals and Documentation: Vendor provides online documentation, contextual help, and tutorials for board, appli-
cants, and staff reviewers.

Training: The vendor provides initial training via the phone and web demos included in the one-time setup fee. Through
a series of online meetings, they teach a system administrator how to set up online data collection forms. In-person sessions
can be scheduled for an additional fee.
User Support Forums: User support forums and discussion groups are available, including the Idea Lab, where clients can
post product suggestions. The vendor offers a national users conference and has active local users groups in 14 regions.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since January 2006. Grant Lifecycle Manager has been in use since February
2007.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 514 clients. Client breakdown by foundation type is 50 percent
private, 15 percent community, 10 percent arts and humanities, 10 percent government, 5 percent corporate, 5 percent
medical research, and 5 percent other.


FUSION LABS GE/SPECTRUM
Fusion Labs GE/Spectrum is a standalone system that includes several facets, including the GrantedGE grants
management system and either the PROFFER 4 online application management, which integrates with Blackbauds
NetCommunity, or the Spectrum online web portal for those who choose not to use NetCommunity. The system
can integrate tightly with other Blackbaud products, too, such as The Raisers Edge and The Financial Edge. How-
ever, unlike the earlier GrantedGE system, those external products are not required for GE/Spectrum. The system
can handle event- and schedule-triggered emails, and can provide an outbound server for broadcast email, shielding
users from the risk of blacklisting. Fusion Labs online form modules support reasonably sophisticated formatting
of forms. The system now includes application branching, more sophisticated eligibility quizzes, and support for
multiple logons for applicants from a single organization. License costs range from around $20,000 to $225,000,
based on the size of the foundation and complexity of the implementation.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories (in this system, known as characteristics), such as geographic
or population-based codes, and track across specific dollar allocations.
Splitting Codes: No data available.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs, as well as audio and video files.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be manually entered into the system or imported via
Excel.
File Attachment Method: The system saves only the link (i.e., file system path) for attached documents. Files that are
uploaded as part of the online application submission are embedded in the database.
Batch Updates: Except for application status field, does not let you perform batch updates of defined coding and other
fields.
Taxonomy: The vendor maintains a commitment to implementing an industry-standard taxonomy within the system
should one become widely used.
Online Applications
apply for grants from the same grant program through the use of conditional forms on an online application.
boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor and that are fully configurable to the look
and feel of the foundations website.

Support for Multiple Stages: Supports five application stages, which can be of virtually any kind, and supports a multiple-
choice eligibility quiz.
Transfer of Account and History: Grantees and applicants cannot transfer account and history to a new staff contact, but
could contact the grantmaker to make that transfer.
tion.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can format applications using groups of questions, conditional fields, and multiple
pages, but not rich text.
the applicant navigates between sections, and the system prompts applicants to save the application at intervals.
User Registration: System registration can follow standard best practicesapplicants enter email address and password
and are sent a confirmation email (though the process is largely client-defined). You can set access for applicants to access
different parts of the system at the point of registration.
Security Scan: The system does not include a virus scan for files uploaded to the system. The administrator can specify
what file extensions you will allow to be uploaded, and their maximum limit.
but PROFFER online functions, which include the Blackbaud NetCommunity product, can be configured for mobile or
tablet devices.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees can manage all grant information for all of their funders in the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: A grantmaker can see an application in progress once it is saved within the system,
but a grantmaker cannot provide comments or collaborate with the applicant before it is submitted.

Look and Feel: Lets you customize online application forms to match the look and feel of your website and offers a basic
form building wizard.

Character and Word Counts: The system includes character but not word counts for application questions. Grantmakers
can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: A grantmaker can customize hover-over help text for any field in an online application.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information, but not filter or sort by
program or date.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports customizable scoring schemes for different programs and for each application.
criteria to assign applications for review. You can track reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria defined by
grantmaker for making assignments, and save set panels of reviewers to assign them.
grades.
Numeric Review Scores: Lets you view numeric review scores and report them as summary and aggregated statisticsfor
example, average score.
completed, but only within the system, not via email.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against the GuideStar database and
flags those not listed. The system automatically fills in related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status, but does not
include date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s), and you
cannot perform checks or updates in batch.
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, but the system provides a link out to the SDN list.

include as well as customizing fonts, colors and logos.
colors, and logos.

step.
stamped, which may be used to show legal nonrepudiation. These are not externally verified.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are not sent as blind copies but as one-to-one.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, and edit individual emails from a batch sent out based on a template.
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see the open rate, click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate for each email, the number
of people who clicked on each link, and bounce reports, but through third-party integration at additional cost.
submission, but through third-party integration with NetCommunity at additional cost.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, but through
third-party integration with NetCommunity at additional cost.
Outbound Email Method: Emails can be sent through third-party email services, but at additional cost. Otherwise, emails
are sent through clients email servers, potentially exposing them to blacklisting.
Spell Checking: The system does not include spell-check for emails, however templates on which emails are based can be
spell-checked, and merge fields can be spell-checked.
Tracking Individual History: You must delete former grantseeker contacts from organizational records.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization, although you could
do so via reports.
organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report contact.
Email Capture: Lets you automatically capture emails from external email systems into grantee or organization records
for example, by including a special grants management system email address in the bcc field, but requires integration with
NetCommunity at additional cost.
Contact Synchronization: System does not automatically synchronize Outlook contacts, but vendor can provide a utility
to update email addresses. Integration with NetCommunity provides more Outlook functionality, at additional cost.

Defining Grant Requirements: You can manually define grant requirements for each grantee individually, and can set up
default requirements based on grant types.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, but its a
system-generated email and you cannot merge requirements information into it.
staff.
Online Progress Report Submission: Grantees can submit progress report information through online data fields.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. The vendor works with clients to configure a suggested
format during implementation.
User Groups: The system does not currently support user groups to collect uniform evaluation data consistent with other
groups, although the vendor would support such a strategy if clients asked for it.
Payments
Check Requests: Allows users to design and develop a custom check, which can be printed from within the system, but
requires a real-time interface with a financial system to ensure that there is a financial audit trail.
Accounting Integration: GE/Spectrum can be integrated with The Financial Edge and Quickbooks in real time. The
vendor has experience in integrating the system with other accounting systems.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Limited support for payment approval workflows.
Multi-Currency Support: Only supports grants in U.S. dollars, although the vendor reports support for multiple curren-
cies is forthcoming.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Does not let you report on grants made in other currencies, although the vendor reports
support for multiple currencies is forthcoming.
mation.

Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, make refunds, and place payments on hold. Has the ability to update
payment details (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) and ability to create payments in batch as an encumbrance batch.
Theres no current ability to track quid pro quo or in-kind payments, although you can track program-related expenses.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: Budgeting features are designed to track only the amount paid out in a particular year,
and not the total amount awarded in a year.
purposes.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items do not automatically create grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: The system supports grant-related loans, but not interest repayments on PRIs.

General Reporting Approach: Can make process of running reports easy enough for casual users to run queries indepen-
dently.
to users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos and headers.
Standard Reports: Does not contain report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector.
Automating Reports: Reports are run in Microsoft Reporting Services, which allows reports to be run automatically
according to a pre-defined schedule.
Visual Reports: Reports are run in Microsoft Reporting Services, which allows reports to include charts, graphs, etc.
Specific standard reports are set up to display graphs and charts.
System administrators can create multiple unique dashboards for users.

system functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Does not provide a simpler interface for users with less-complex needs.
User Dashboards:
Users Task Lists: Provides users with different to-do lists when they sign on to the system. You can configure these lists
for different tasks (assigned, incomplete, overdue, etc.).
Board/Management View: Provides a focused, roles-based view for management and board members, through the Proffer
online component.
Data Access
Data Integrity: Security is handled by a secure login/password environment, with specific data within the database en-
crypted to provide added security. An audit trail for key data modifications allows tracking of changes to the database.
Custom Fields: Lets you create custom fields that have similar permissions to system-standard fields, and tracks their
creation and history in the audit trail.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will provide custom plug-ins, at an additional cost, to meet a clients specific needs, but
most customizations are built directly into the base system.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor permits extensively customized systems to remain on the upgrade path, unless
existing tables are modified.
Support for Multiple Languages: There is no ability todefine custom language sets based on user, group, or giving
program.

Ease of Use
scan.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support as part of the yearly maintenance fee.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited email support as part of the yearly maintenance fee, but no other online
support options.
Manuals and Documentation: Vendor provides a PDF manual.
Training: Vendor offers monthly classes. Also performs annual regional training at no charge.
User Support Forums: Vendor provides an online forum where users can communicate with each other.

Installation and Maintenance: To use the system, the clients need MS SQL server software, Windows Server, and
Windows Terminal Services (for remote access). The system can be hosted by various third-party services (including Fusion
Labs and Blackbaud). While GrantedGE requires The Raisers Edge, The Financial Edge, and NetCommunity for certain
functionality, the GE/Spectrum product is self-supporting on these functions.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business for over 20 years. The GrantedGE product has been in use since 2005 and the
new version of GE/Spectrum has been in general use since 2012.
Client Base: Fusion Labs currently has approximately 120 clients for GE/Spectrum. The breakdown by nonprofit organiza-
tions is 5 percent to 10 percent private foundations, 70 percent to 80 percent community foundations, 10 percent to 15
percent religious foundations, 5 percent to 10 percent other foundations (family, research, etc.).

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 42.9 percent [Note that this represented 3 out of

MOSAIC GEMS
Mosaics suite of softwarewhich includes GEMS, STARS, and other customized implementationsis designed to
support many facets of the human services sector besides grants management, and provides powerful cabilities in the
realm of grant evaluation and contract-based budgeting. The system is used predominantly by government agencies
throughout the United States, and in 29 countries in the developing world. The vendor provides consulting services
and highly customized implementations for its customers to help connect grants and improved outcomes with an
organizations grantees. The software has a unique means of personalizing the interface, and its easy to turn features
and whole areas of the system on and off. Online application and progress report features are strong, although its
not as streamlined as other systems in facilitating the viewing and printing of applications and attachments for
reviewers. The system does not include a means of checking tax or OFAC status, although the vendor is willing
to add such features during implementation. Theres some facility to send messages within the system, but not to
support letters or email merges. However, most data is exportable to Excel, and the systems powerful reporting
capabilities are a plus. Support optionsboth online and phoneare also quite extensive. The vendor reports that
pricing is determined based on the specific size and needs of the organization in question. For a small foundation,
the estimated cost for implementation plus the first year license and support costs would be approximately $32,000,
with a lower ongoing annual cost for maintenance and support. For a larger foundation, the estimated cost for
implementation plus the first year license and support costs would be approximately $155,000, with a lower ongo-
ing annual cost for maintenance and support.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Grant information cannot be tracked by program cycle or board
meeting date, but information about either could be tracked by creating dates within the system calendar.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: You can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, with
specific percent or dollar allocations, but the system would require some customization to do so.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be entered into the system by scanning the application
and uploading the PDF as a document-upload data field, which would still enable the review workflow, or else by having a
grantmaker log in as a grantee to do so.
File Attachment Method: The system stores attached documents in the database as either objects or links.
Batch Updates: Lets you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields through an import mechanism.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but the vendor would be willing to
build one upon request.

Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system does not allow for both individuals and organi-
zations to apply for grants from the same grant program.
Eligibility Branching: Eligibility quizzes can use skip logic to branch.
Application Branching: Grant application forms can use skip logic to branchfor example, to show a different set of
questions for fiscal-sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations.
could contact the vendor or grantmaker to make that transfer.
exist in the system, but a grantmaker can review applicants to look for duplicates on the back end of the system.
tion, but the message must be customized by the vendor. There can be a message center module.
Lost Credentials: The vendor must reset lost credentials.
Preview Packet: The applicant can create a preview packet of their grant only by running a report. The preview packet
does not include uploaded documents.
Security Scan: The system does not have a virus scan or security feature to prevent malicious files from being uploaded
onto an application or downloaded on to the system, but this could be facilitated by adding a virus scanner to the docu-
ment management system through the API.
funders in the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not currently have the ability to let applicants work on a proposal,
submit, and allow reviewers to comment/make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete, after
which the proposal is locked, but the vendor reports that this could be customized.

Look and Feel: Lets you customize online application forms with your logo.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character but not word counts for application questions, and does not
display how many characters remain. An administrator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: External or internal reviewers cannot easily print grant summaries or full grant information by
program or by date without running a report.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different, customizable information or scoring schemes for different programs.
External Reviewer Profiles: Lets you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest, but does not
provide any specific functionality to help you assign applications for review based on these criteria. The system lets you
capture geographic as well as other criteria defined by the grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
completed, either via email or within the system.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: There is no in-system support for checking 501(c)(3) status, though the vendor is willing to
build integrations to do so.
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, though the vendor is willing to build integrations to do so.

Default Print Format: Does not support printed summaries of grant applications.

Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: You cannot view or customize individual letters within the system before printing
them.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not currently support electronic signatures.
Printed and Electronic Templates: Does not include templates for print and electronic formats.
Emails
particular criteria through an internal communications log for users of the system.
submission.
Outbound Email Method: Theres no in-system email, but there is a Message Center module that can be used to track
triggered system email notifications, allow users to compose messages, customize signatures, attach documents to com-
munications, and select from a predetermined list of contacts.
Spell Checking: Lets you spell-check for all system messages in the Message Center module.
Tracking Individual History: Lets you track the relationship of an individual associated with a grant even if they leave,
by enabling a feature which identifies active and inactive users of the system.
organization.
Record of Correspondence: Stores a record of all system-generated internal messages for each grant, but not other com-
munications.
Call and Email Logging: Does not let you note interactions with a grantee without exporting a report.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you branch data collection based on type of grant.

Viewing Grant Requirements: Lets you easily see which requirements grantees have met, and which they have not, and
compare them to logic models.
staff.
User Groups: Lets you maintain user groups within the system in order to collect uniform data consistent with other
groups.
Payments
Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests or print checks direcly from the system.
Viewing Payments Made: Lets you manually note what payments have been made, including amount, date paid, and
check/ACH payment/wire transfer number.
including GreatPlains, at additional cost.
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Can be configured to support grants made in multiple currencies.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Can be configured to report on grants and payments made in any currency.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: Allows for payments to be made contingent or conditional upon a specified grant or payment
requirement.
Budgeting
and not the total amount awarded in a year. Budgets are tied to contracts.

Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas, as well as for
contractors and subcontractors.
purposes.
is discrete.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can be connected to grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: The system does not have support for interest repayments on PRIs, although this could be
configured.

General Reporting Approach: The system is designed to make running reports easy enough for casual users to run queries
independently. Mosaic has its own reporting engine.
Searching and Filtering: Lets you search or filter to find a particular set of grants based on status, date, or program, and
to users.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down on standard reports through the advanced filter capabilities.
Attachment Searching: Does not let you search within attached documents, but does provide a robust document manage-
ment system to help manage attachments.
sector, such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, or IATI.
Automating Reports: Its not possible for reports to be set to automatically run and send to individuals or groups.
Visual Reports: Lets you create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation such as charts, graphs, and maps.
Individual Dashboards: The system provides dashboard views which summarize the grants currently relevant to each
individual user, and offers the ability for users to create multiple unique dashboards.

system functions. You can also assign users to specific programs.
needs.

log.
Board/Management View: Does not provide a focused, roles-based view for management and board members, although
one could be configured.
Data Access
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices, but the
system interface is mobile responsive.
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device, but the system interface is mobile responsive.
Data Integrity: The vendors security protocols include a redundant network of servers, replicated in real time; daily
backup; substantial activity logs and audit trails; firewalls for both application and database servers; encryption for sensitive
data; and isolated session containers.
Custom Fields: Lets you create unlimited custom fields, which can be placed in most places throughout the system, with
the same permissions as other fields. Creation of the fields is tracked in the audit log of the whole system.
Support for Multiple Languages: Its possible to define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program.
Ease of Use
scan.
Intuitive Labels: Navigation and action items are labeled intuitively, so that a user doesnt have to understand language
specific to the system in order to effectively use it.

Phone Support: Vendor provides user support and data coaching to all users via a toll-free helpline (in addition to online

support options detailed below). Support is available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST on regular business days. For emer-
gencies, all systems are also supported by a 24-hour emergency support line.
Online Support: Vendor provides user support and data coaching to all users via email, online chat, and remote desktop
technology. Support is available between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. PST on regular business days. Each system has a help section
dedicated to providing support, which provides an email address for specific questions, an online form to submit inquiries,
and, in addition, the vendor provides live, remote assistance through an instant chat function, which is accessible to users
directly through the system.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor typically provides manuals designed for each user type, including easy-to-
understand text and images. These manuals are available online through a wiki-style online manual platform and are
integrated in the system. Video trainings designed for each user type, similar to manuals, are available online using a
professional video hosting site and are integrated in the system. The vendor also provides cheat sheets and quick guides.
Training: The vendor provides initial in-person live training sessions during the release of the system for all user types
across agencies. When major updates are introduced in the system, additional in-person trainings are scheduled. Ad-
ditionally, they offer remote training via webinar, specifically designed for a specific user type, function, or task, and when
updates and new features are added, additional remote trainings are offered, tailored to their clients needs.
User Support Forums: There are currently no user support forums or discussion groups.

Vendor Background
History: Mosaic has been in business for 13 years, beginning in 2000. GEMS has been in use by clients for 13 years.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 32 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 72 percent government,
23 percent private, and 5 percent family.
required to support it. The vendor also reports that they invest a significant amount of resources in research and develop-
ment both for technology and for domain expertise.


GOOD DONE GREAT GRANT MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
Good Done Greats Grant Management System has undergone significant changes in the past couple of years,
including a migration from Intuits QuickBase platform to its own proprietary backend infrastructure. It remains an
affordable hosted solution with strong functionality. Online forms built in Grant Management System can be matched
to the look and feel of an organizations website. Facilitated by an intuitive navigation scheme, information collected
online can easily be managed, viewed, and reported on by grants administrators. Letter and email templates can be
custom-formatted to organizational standards, and can contain mail-merge fields, which helps with large mailings.
Improvements include support for multiple currencies and email delivery statistics. A small foundation would pay
about $10,000 for implementation of the system, and about $11,800 each year, which includes basic training. A larger
foundation would pay around $28,500 for implementation, and $42,870 each year, which would include custom,
on-site training.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and track by
the process.
sheets, PDFs, photos, and audio and video files.
tion ID, and program and grant cycle. The system also includes a global full text search of the database.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by entering application
information into the grant record. The system also includes the ability to import information from PDFs into the database.
File Attachment Method: The system uploads files to the the vendors own servers and retrieves them from there. The
vendor also offers additional cloud storage.
Batch Updates: Lets you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields, as well as set them to run at intervals and
send out to other systems.
Taxonomy: The vendor has supported industry-standard taxonomies such as that of the National Center for Education
Evaluation.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system allows for individuals and organizations to apply
for grants from the same grant program.
checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor. The system offers a formatted portal page, and you
can control its look and feel.

Support for Multiple Stages: Supports multiple application stages, including an automatically scored eligibility quiz, a Letter
Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed.
Transfer of Account and History: There is no ability for grantees or applicants to transfer their account and history to a new
staff contact, although a foundation staffer could do so from the back end.
the applicant navigates between sections. Additionally, the system warn applicants if they do not save manually before
navigating away from the page.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system explicitly supports the application process via mobile or tablet with a
different interface.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees cannot manage all grant information for all of their funders in the system with a
single logon, although the vendor reports this is on the product roadmap.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system can let a grantee work on a proposal, save it as a draft, and allow a reviewer
to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

Character and Word Counts: The system includes character and word counts for application questions, and displays promi-
nently how many characters remain. An administrator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help editable by the foundation staff.

Application Review
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Scoring schemes are cus-
tomizable, and can be number-based or narrative.
criteria to assign applications for review. Lets you track reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria defined by
grantmaker for making assignments. You can also create and save review committees to assign to requests.
grades.

profit registry, and flags those not listed. The system checks against GrantR (a proprietary registry), and can also import
PDFs directly from that service. Provides updates based on the revocation list. The tax status automatic check includes
auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status, and includes date and time stamp, which can serve as
an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you perform checks and updates in batch.
OFAC Status Checking: Lets you compare organizations and individuals against standard OFAC, SDN, and other terror-

include, as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos.
Mail-Merge Fields in Letter Templates: Lets you create letter templates in Microsoft Word that include mail-merged
information about grants and organizations, and lets you customize their fonts, colors, and logos.
step.

Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for print and electronic formats, including a mobile-
enabled interface.
Emails
particular criteria. You can choose to have a no-reply email address or reply to the sender. Group emails are not sent as
blind copies but as one-to-one.
text and mail-merge type inserted data. Its not possible to edit individual emails after they have been merged.
of people who clicked on each link, and bounce reports through a third-party application, Mandrill.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees. Lets you
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam. You can set the emails to display a reply-to address
from the foundation, rather than the vendor.
Spell Checking: Theres no dedicated spell-check for emails generated within the system. You can use your browsers
spell-check.
Tracking Individual History: Lets you keep a record of an individual no longer associated with a grant within the systems
audit trail, and the individual will not show up as an active contact for communication. However, the individual no longer
appears on the organizational record of the grant.
Customized Communication: Its possible to communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the grant
or organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report
contactthrough segmentation.
Contact Synchronization: Its not possible to automatically synchronize contacts with Outlook.

grantees.
staff.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. The vendor works with clients at the time of implementa-
tion to include suggested formats.
User Groups: The system has some ability to support user groups within the system to help collect uniform evaluation data
across groups.
Payments
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, and lets you print checks directly from the system
using templates or by integrating with the accounting system.
for successful transactions, and the vendor can handle payment disbursements for you at additional cost.
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with any accounting software packages, but the vendor could build
integration with accounting packages for additional cost, so long as there is an API available for the accounting system
chosen. The vendor also suggests batch uploads for data transfer.
steps.
mation.

Payment Notes: At the time of the demo, you needed to add a custom field to track payment notes, although the vendor
reports that this feature has now been added to the system.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, refund payments, and place payments on hold through statuses with
workflows associated with them. Lets you track quid pro quo and in-kind payments, through configuration. Its not
possible to update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: You can choose whether the budgeting features track the amount paid out in a particular
purposes.
What-Ifs: Lets you set up what-if scenarios by setting up a grant in a pre-committed status and reporting on it.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can be connected to grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: Theres no current support for interest repayments on PRIs, but the vendor is willing to
configure this for clients if needed.

General Reporting Approach: The process of running reports is designed to be easy enough for casual users to run queries
independently.
much-larger set.
Attachment Searching: Lets you search the contents of file attachments.
Standard Reports: Contains report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector, such as
Foundation Center eReporting Excel format and Reporting Commitment hGrant format. Also contains the Cultural Data
Project data set.
Automating Reports: Reports can be set to automatically run and send to individuals and groups.

Users can create their own dashboards and tabs within the system.

system functions.
needs.
log.
Board/Management View: Provides a focused, roles-based view for management and board members, which can be
customized to meet specific organizational needs.
Data Access
feeds to or from an external system. ODBC functionality can be set up for additional cost. The vendor also reports built-in
secure RSS feeds for all data.
Mobile Device Application Review: Provides an interface specifically designed to see, code, approve, and add review
comments from a mobile or tablet web browser.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Provides an interface specifically designed to let you see grant sum-
maries and details from a mobile or tablet device.
Data Integrity: The vendor reports that they have been certified by TRUSTe, and that they use ACLs, two-factor authen-
tication, and external security auditing tools on a daily basis to ensure that resources are properly secured. The system is
hosted within the Amazon cloud services, and the system leverages both encryption and SSL sessions for sensitive data
exchanges.
Custom Fields: Lets you create unlimited custom fields with the same permissions as custom fields. The creation and
change is tracked within the audit log for the entire system.
forms at no additional cost, including visual design aspects.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets you define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program. The
vendor reports that they have already worked in 10 different languages.

Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking and neatly laid out, and has recently undergone some design improve-
ments.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email support as part of the yearly maintenance fee for foundation
administrators only. Support packages for other foundation staff, applicants, and reviewers are available for an additional
fee.
Online Support: Vendor offers an online support system accessable from within the software using a Feedback tab, which
is available for foundation staff. Online support for grantees is available at additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: Vendor provides online knowledgebase articles.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person or online for a fee outlined in the proposal. Training for adminis-
trators and end users is available at additional cost.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2008. Good Done Great has been in use by clients since 2008.
Client Base: Thereare 141 grantmakers currently using the Good Done Great system. The breakdown of foundation type
is 44 percent community foundations, 32 percentprivate/family, 20 percent corporate, and 4 percentgovernment.

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 30.8 percent [Note that this represented 4 out of

GRANTSTREAM GRANTRIGHT
Aimed primarily at corporate foundations, GrantRight is an Online hosted option with a web-based interface. It has
a particular strength in internal grant tracking, payments, and budgeting features. However, its somewhat limited in
online application and progress reporting. For instance, it can only support an eligibility quiz and one other applica-
tion phase, and does not offer any ability to track data from grantee progress reports without additional customiza-
tion. Nearly anything is customizableincluding sophisticated application review workflows and formsbut
almost all customization must be done by the vendor, potentially at additional cost, including customizing values
in dropdown boxes and creating letter and grant summary templates. Ad hoc reports are flexible and easy to format.
Standard reports can be easily modified by those familiar with SAP Crystal Reports. GrantStream has extensive
experience with corporate clients and is willing to heavily customize GrantRight, which could make it attractive to
corporate foundations with specialized needs. Annual recurring costs for GrantRight can be between $23,000 and
$30,000, $19,200 to $25,000 with first year setup fees generally starting around 30,000 to $34,000.
Internal Tracking
specific percent or dollar allocations without customization.
Custom Categorization Codes: Lets you define custom categorization codes for tracking and reporting, but requires
customization, possibly for a fee.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
new request.
the database.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but the vendor can configure the
system, possibly for a fee.
Online Applications
down boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, but the vendor must set up application forms for you at no additional cost.

Eligibility Branching: The vendor will configure eligibility quizzes to branch to multiple applications based on the
applicants responses.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports two application stages: an eligibilty quiz and one other stage. Support for ad-
ditional stages is possible via customization at additional cost.
Transfer of Account and History: A grantee must contact the grantmaker to change their contact information.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the name, address, and EIN of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already
exist in the system, and duplicates can also be identified on the back end.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants cannot view their status online.
tion, but that message cant be customized.
questions, and create multiple pages, but the vendor must perform this formatting. Basic applications are included in the
implementation fee, but more complicated forms may be created at additional cost.
the applicant navigates between sections or logs out of the system.
User Registration: A system-assigned user ID and password is assigned to each applicant user upon starting an application,
these credentials are not self-selected by the applicant.
Lost Credentials: Lost credentials can easily be reset by the grantmaker, but not by applicants.
Viewing Applications: Applicants can easily view or print applications at any stage in the process. The grantmaker,
however, must opt to allow post submission viewing and printing.
documents or links to them, but not after submission.
proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation, but the vendor must perform this customization, possibly at additional cost.
Character and Word Counts: The system does not allow users to set and adjust character or word limits for application
questions. The vendor could set and adjust character limits if requested, possibly for an additional fee.
In system Help: Applicants can contact the vendor directly for tech support from a link on the application form.

Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information, but external
reviewers would need to request that information from the foundation staff. The vendor can configure the system at
implementation to allow users to print grant summaries by program or date.
easily.
in the system.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process, but
requires customization at additional cost. There is no ability for admin users to build in overrides to the workflow based on
permissions.
comments, but this requires customization, possibly at additional cost.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Scoring schemes are defined
by the vendor at implementation.
criteria to assign applications for review, but requires customization, at additional cost.
grades.
score, if configured to do so by the vendor at implementation.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner and grants management staff can be automatically notified by email when

profit registry, and flags those not listed. Checks against U.S. IRS database as well as Canadian Revenue database, and a
British registry. The system can auto-populate related fields on the organization record based on information from the IRS
database. The system can be configured to check other 501(c) types, in addition to 501(c)(3) nonprofits.

Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for printing grant application summaries, choosing which fields
to include as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos, but the vendor has to perform these customizations, possibly at
additional cost.
colors, and logos, but the vendor has to perform these customizations at implementation.

step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: Lets you view and customize individual letters before printing them. To do this,
you have to export the letters from Crystal Reports to Word and then make any changes.
Electronic Signatures: There is no support for electronic signatures in the system.
Emails
Emailing Individuals and Groups: Lets you easily send an email to a particular individual, but not to a group of people at
once.
Email Attachments: Lets you attach files to emails sent to individuals, but not groups.
submission.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization.
organization if configured to associate multiple contacts with an organization.
detailed communications log. A more detailed logging of calls and external emails can be configured by the vendor, possibly
at additional cost.

Defining Grant Requirements: You can manually define grant requirements for each grantee individually, but cannot set
up any default set of requirements that applies to all grants without customization, possibly at additional cost. The vendor
reports that they are moving away from heavily customized single-client implementations of the system.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees cannot view grant requirement deadlines online.

Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines. Reminder emails
can include merge field information about the organization, but not from the specific requirement.
staff, but at the time of review, requires customization, possibly at additional cost.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports, but at the time of review, this requires customization, possibly at
additional cost.
User Groups: The system does not currently have the ability to support user groups in order to collect uniform data consis-
tent with other groups.
Payments
fiscal sponsors), but requires customization, possibly at additional cost.
possibly at additional cost.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Supports an automated payment approval process, but without a configurable
workflow. The vendor must set up workflows, possibly at additional cost.
tion.
Payment Reporting: The system provides the ability to pull reports on payments which carry the coding attributes of associ-
ated requests, organizations, and contacts.
Other Payment Issues: The system provides the ability to void or place holds on payments in the system, create payments
or update payment details in batch, and track in-kind and quid prop quo payments. Users cannot refund payments in the
system, but can post corrective negative payments to reflect refunds.

Budgeting
purposes.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items cannot be set up to automatically create grant requests.

training.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down for more information on some, but not all, reports.
Automating Reports: Program reports cannot be set to automatically run and send to individuals or groups.
Visual Reports: The system provides the ability to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation such as
charts and graphs.
Individual Dashboards: The system cannot provide dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to
each individual user, or let users create multiple unique dashboards.

system functions.
needs, but this requires customization, possibly at additional cost.

Data Access
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device: Does not provide explicit functionality to let you see grant summary
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device.
Dropdown Fields: Lets you customize dropdown values for fields such as program or grant codes, but this customization
must be performed by the vendor during implementation.
permissions as system-generated fields. Custom fields are set up by the vendor at implementation.
Internal Tracking Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use, but this customization must be
performed by the vendor, possibly at additional cost.
forms.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking but some screens are broken into multiple smaller frames that while
adjustable, can each require signficant vertical scrolling to see the information you need.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email support from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, Monday through Friday,
as part of the yearly support and maintenance fee.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited email support as part of the yearly maintenance fee. No online or chat
support is available for the system.

Manuals and Documentation: Documentation is available via the help pages of the application. Application forms include
guidance for applicants. No PDF or hardcopy manuals are available.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person or via the internet at no additional cost, and additional training
User Support Forums: User support forums or discussion groups are not available.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2000; GrantRight has been in use since 2000.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 70 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 90 percent corporate
and the rest other types of grantmakers.


MICROEDGE GIFTS ALTA
Beginning in 2011, MicroEdge has debuted a new user interface and set of functionality for the installed package
called GIFTS Alta, which draws on the infrastructure of the very popular GIFTS but adds more functionality in
terms of system personalization, dashboards, and workflow management. The vendor reports that GIFTS is and
will continue to be supported, but that new clients looking to implement an installed system will purchase GIFTS
Alta. (See our review of GIFTS on p. 186. For a hosted option, the vendor also offers GIFTS Online, reviewed on
p. 195.) GIFTS Alta still relies on some modules at additional cost to extend its capabilities, like IGAM for online
grant applications and reporting and ReviewerConnect to collect and track reviewer data, but has incorporated
some key processes into the base product, like Microsoft Office integration and batch updates. GIFTS Alta shares
its predecessors strong internal tracking features, like the ability to create printed letters, categorize with codes, and
track payments. The new version of the product also allows foundation staffers to create unique views to support
their personal processes, and has a carousel view to faciliate a more visual representation of data within the system.
A friendly new ad hoc reporting tool, custom workflow functionality, and customizable dashboard system also help
make data more accessible throughout the system. A small foundation could expect to pay about $37,000 in the first
year and then $7,320 per year for GIFTS Alta plus IGAM. A larger foundation might pay $84,000 in the first year,
and then $16,800 per year for GIFTS Alta plus all pertinent modules.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and track the
specific percent or dollar allocations for each.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs, as well as video and audio files. Large files may require SharePoint.
new request.
the database.
Taxonomy: The system can be implemented with an industry-standard taxonomy. The vendor reports that they are work-
ing with the Foundation Center to define a standard taxonomy.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: Lets you see easily see related records and data across records.
Online Applications

boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, but requires IGAM module at additional
cost.
Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create different online forms to support each grant program, but requires
IGAM module at additional cost.
Eligibility Branching: The system allows for eligibility quizzes which can branch to multiple applications, but requires
sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but this requires IGAM module at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports a three-stage application with an eligibility quiz, Letter of Intent stage, and pro-
posal stage. Grantmakers can also create as many status report stages as theyd like.
systemno download or upload of data files is required. The data is brought automatically into a staging area in the core
system, where it can be reviewed by an administrator and either promoted into the database or declined.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: IGAM supports only one grantee login per grant application, but the original applicant can
share the application with anyone they choose via email to view the application, transfer ownership of the application, and
make edits to the application or reporting requirements.
Transfer of Account and History: A grantee or applicant could transfer their account and history to another staff contact
from the front end one by one. A foundation staffer can transfer the entire historical account to a new user.
exist in the system, but there is a process for grantmakers to review applicants to look for duplicates. The system checks the
name, address, and EIN of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already exist in the system. Possible duplicates are
flagged for the grantmaker to choose whether to create a new account, merge with an existing account, or reject.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants can view their status online, as well as other pertinent information like reporting
requirements and payments.
Custom Confirmation Messages: When an application is submitted, the applicant is emailed a confirmation. Grantmak-
ers can easily edit this email through the web interface.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can format using HTML. Users can upload images to brand the header, footer, and
side panel content. You cannot embed a video in an application form, though it supports the ability to link to a video using
HTML. Applicants can upload any type of files during the application requirements process.
Security Scan: The system performs a virus scan to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the application at the
point of upload. The vendor also enlists a third party to perform periodic vulnerability tests.
Mobile Device Application Access: While the system does not explicitly support the application process via mobile
devicesthrough responsive design, for exampleapplication forms can be accessed via mobile browsers.

Unified Accounts: Grantees have separate accounts for each grantmaker using the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system can allow foundation staffers and applicants to collaborate and comment
on an application before submission, but an applicant would need to transfer ownership to a foundation staffer in order to
let the staffer make edits.

fonts, and navigation. The system includes the ability to do advanced online form design, such as HTML, columns, and
vanity URLs.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes word counts for application questions, which can be set and adjusted
by a staff user for any field, but does not include character counts.
In system Help: In-system help is available and customizable throughout the online application system. The vendor asks
that the client be the first line of defense for technical questions from applicants, but will take on questions when they are
escalated.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries, but attachments must be printed out one
by one. An additional cost module, ReviewerConnect, is required to extend this functionality to external reviewers.
easily, but requires the ReviewerConnect module at additional cost.
Grant Review Workflows: Lets you define automatic steps and rules, or workflow, for the grants review process. The
vendor has updated the workflow ability of the system substantially, and allows each user to customize workflows specific to
their account.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which can be customized.
criteria to assign applications for review, along with tracking reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria
defined by grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
score. But aggregation is possible only through custom fields or external spreadsheets.
reviews are completed. External reviewers can be notified when an application is accepted.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks EINs against IRS Master Business File, flags those not listed as 501(c)
(3) nonprofits, and provides updates based on the revocation list. You can perform this check in batch. The system checks
for secondary tax status and works for both individuals and organizations, and includes an audit trail with time and date
stamp.
lists, including the SDN list, within the grants management system itself. The system checks both individuals and organiza-
tions and includes an audit trail with time and date stamp.

include as well as customizing fonts, colors, and logos. The system has an improved interface to facilitate this process.
colors, and logos. The system has an improved interface to facilitate this process.
step. The system has an improved interface to facilitate this process.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to the board docket. The system has an improved interface to
facilitate this process.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures through a basic checkbox. The vendor reports that some
clients use third-party solutions to collect and verify electronic signatures.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system does not include templates designed specifically for electronic or tablet
view, although it does include support for PDFs readable on tablet devices.
Emails
particular criteria. You can define whether to send group emails as blind copies or individually.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, and lets you edit emails from a batch sent out based on a template.
Email Delivery Reporting: Only lets you see read receipts for each email.
submission.
Tracking Individual History: Lets you define that individuals are no longer with an organization by adding end dates to
their affiliation with the organizaiton. You can also deactivate the master contact record. The former contact still appears on
the record, but will not be sent communications. A minimal audit trail of these changes appears.

organization by associating them with affiliation records.
Email Capture: Lets you automatically capture emails from Outlook and automatically attach them to contact, organization,
request, or activity records.

grantees, but in order to publish them online requires the IGAM module at additional cost.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you create a variety of reporting templates, which can branch to foster data collection, but
requires the IGAM module at additional cost.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees can view grant requirement deadlines online, but this requires the IGAM module
at additional cost.
merge information from requirements into reminder emails. You can schedule these emails.
staff.
you can then summarize across grantees in reports, but this requires a module at additional cost.
to different programs), but this requires a module at additional cost. During implementation, the vendor works with clients
to include suggested formats.
Payments: Grant Requirements and Evaluation
through a Checkwriter functionality, or if integrated with an accounting system.
fiscal sponsors).

Accounting Integration: Integrates tightly with several external accounting packages. Many major packages are supported
and the vendor could build integration for other packages at additional cost.
steps.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, make refunds, place payments on hold, update payment details, and
create payments in batch, and track quid pro quo and in-kind payments.
Budgeting
and not the total amount awarded in a year, but this requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
actuals (approved and pending), but requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas, but requires a
module at additional cost.
Budget Basing: Lets you use previous years budgets as a base and adjust them for current year, but requires add-on
functionality at additional cost.
purposes, requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you easily set up multi-year budgeting, but requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Lets you automatically create a pending request for a budgeted line item.
Program-Related Investments: There is no defined functionality to support PRIs, but the vendor reports that this could
be accommodated by changing the grant amount when the interest repayment is returned, as well as through custom fields,
among other strategies.

General Reporting Approach: The process of running reports is easy enough for casual users to run queries independently
through the new ad hoc reporting tool.
Report Modification: Cannot modify standard reports beyond choosing what set of data should be displayed. You can add
new reports using Crystal Reports Writer or SQL, or MicroEdge will create new reports at additional cost.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports, actions, layouts, and queries without
navigating a much-larger set.

Saving Modified Reports: Lets you save reports or datasets that you create or modify. You can also export them to Excel,
Word, Crystal Reports, HTML, or PDF files.
Ad Hoc Reporting: A new ad hoc reporting tool allows for more streamlined processes, but the original GIFTS interface
is also available for users who prefer that layout or want to work with Crystal Reports. You can define the dataset, data
columns, sort order, and formulas to be included on each of these screens. You can export the data into a custom report
template that can include logos and headers.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down on reports.
Attachment Searching: Its not possible to search the contents of file attachments.
Standard Reports: Includes the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format.
Visual Reports: Lets you create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, like charts and graphs, but not
maps.
Individual Dashboards: Provides dashboard views which summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user.
Users can create their own multiple unique dashboards.

system functions, but only through a separate web interface provided by a module at additional cost.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis, but only through a separate
web interface provided by a module at additional cost.
needs.
User Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user, and
allows users to create multiple unique dashboards.
Data Access
Data Integrity: The vendor reports both native file system and database tools external to the system that provide backup
and redundancy capability, and that the vendor works to ensure that their clients are following best practices for their use.

Custom Fields: The system includes unlimited custom fields, and you can rename system-standard fields. Custom fields
have the same functionality as system standard fields. The creation and change date/user of any element in the database is
recorded.
forms, including visual aspects.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, at additional cost. The new interface
allows for better ease of personalization.
Support for Multiple Languages: Within GIFTS Alta, you can choose to have the system display any language based on a
Latin character set. IGAM supports custom language settings for programs in French, Portuguese, and Spanish.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking and neatly laid out, and has been extensively updated and modernized.

Phone Support: The vendor provides unlimited phone support as part of the yearly maintenance fee.
Online Support: The vendor provides unlimited email support as part of the yearly maintenance fee, and offers a client
portal, which includes training articles and video-based training on specific tasks and topics. Monthly online webinars are
also offered.
Manuals and Documentation: Documentation is provided via manuals and a CD-ROM, in addition to online resources.
Training: The vendor provides initial training in person at the clients site or at MicroEdges New York office, at additional
cost, and additional training sessions can be scheduled in person or online. Online training courses are offered for the core
system and all of its modules. Online training classes offer targeted learning tracks designed to train users how to best work
in GIFTS Alta based on their specific role, such as program staff, financial officers, grants management and executives, or
other light users. MicroEdge offers a premium services program called, Client Care, which provides bundled services and
training at a discount.
User Support Forums: User support forums are available through the PowerME client portal, as well as an annual user
conference and virtual and in-person peer group meetings.

Installation and Maintenance: The system is installed on clients computers and servers. Requires Windows server and a
database platform, which can be Microsoft SQL Server or SQL Server Express, MS Access, or Oracle.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1985; GIFTS Alta package has been in use by clients since 2011.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 275 clients using GIFTS Alta. The vendor does not provide a client
breakdown by foundation type.


MICROEDGE GIFTS
MicroEdge now offers a new user interface called GIFTS Alta as well as GIFTS Online in addition to the older
version of GIFTS, but the latter system is still widely used in the sector. MicroEdge reports that GIFTS is and will
continue to be supported and enhanced, including support for Office 2013 Professional and security improvements.
However, new MicroEdge clients will purchase either GIFTS Alta or GIFTS Online. To supplement the desktop-
based package, GIFTS functionality can be extended through a large selection of modules, making it easier to tailor
the system to your needsbut harder to understand features and pricing. The core GIFTS functionality starts at
about $19,000 in first-year costs, but a typical entry level configurationwhich includes the ability to track custom
fields and attach documentsis about $25,000. At this level, GIFTS offers strong internal tracking features, like the
ability to create printed letters, categorize with codes, and track payments, but there is no support in the base product
to collect and track reviewer data. In this core system, its not possible to create unique views for different internal
users of the system, requiring even casual users to navigate the complex interface. Adding additional modules can
plug these gaps, creating a solution thats quite strong in most areas, but at a cost, running to $75,000 or more in the
first year.
Internal Tracking
the process.
sheets, and PDFs, as well as video and audio files. Large files may require SharePoint.
tion ID, and program and grant cycle.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by entering it as a new
request.
the database.
Taxonomy: The system can be implemented with an industry-standard taxonomy. The vendor reports that they are working
with the Foundation Center to define a standard taxonomy.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: Lets you see related records and data across records, but may
require some navigating between tables.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: No data available.

checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, but requires IGAM module at additional cost.
Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create different online forms to support each grant program, but
requires IGAM module at additional cost.
Eligibility Branching: The system allows for eligibility quizzes which can branch to multiple applications, but requires
Application Branching: Grant application forms can branchfor example, to show a different set of questions for
fiscal-sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but this requires IGAM module at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports a three-stage application with an eligibility quiz, Letter of Intent stage, and
proposal stage. Grantmakers can also create as many status report stages as theyd like.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: IGAM supports only one grantee login per grant application, but the original applicant
can share the application with anyone they choose via email to view the application, transfer ownership of the applica-
tion, and make edits to the application or reporting requirements.
Transfer of Account and History: A grantee or applicant could transfer their account and history to another staff
contact from the front end one by one. A foundation staffer must create a new primary contact in order to perform the
transfer of the entire historical account.
from one years application form to another, or from a Letter Of Intent to a proposalfor example, a narrative entered in
a Letter Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal.
exist in the system, but there is a process for grantmakers to review applicants to look for duplicates. The system checks
the name, address, and EIN of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already exist in the system. Possible duplicates
are flagged for the grantmaker to choose whether to create a new account, merge with an existing account, or reject.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants can view their status online, as well as other pertinent information like reporting
requirements and payments.
Custom Confirmation Messages: When an application is submitted, the applicant is emailed a confirmation. Grant-
makers can easily edit this email through the web interface.
Application Formatting: Grantmakers can format using HTML. Users can upload images to brand the header, footer,
and side panel content. You cannot embed a video in an application form, though it supports the ability to link to a
video using HTML. Applicants can upload any type of files during the application requirements process.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but information is saved
when the applicant navigates between sections.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily retrieve lost passwords, but lost user IDs can
only be retrieved by the grantmaker.
Security Scan: The system performs a virus scan to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the application at
the point of upload. The vendor also enlists a third party to perform periodic vulnerability tests.


vanity URLs.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes word counts for application questions, which can be set and adjusted by
a staff user for any field, but does not include character counts.
In system Help: In-system help is available and customizable throughout the online application system. The vendor asks
that the client be the first line of defense for technical questions from applicants, but will take on questions when they are
escalated.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries, but attachments must be printed out one
by one. An additional cost module, ReviewerConnect, is required to extend this functionality to external reviewers.
easily, but requires the ReviewerConnect module at additional cost.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can easily view selected documents associated with the request and stored in
the system, but they must open each attachment one by one.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which can be customized.
defined by grantmaker for making assignments through an additional module, ReviewerConnect.
grades.
score. But aggregation is possible only through custom fields or external spreadsheets.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks EINs against IRS Master Business File, flags those not listed as 501(c)(3)
nonprofits, and provides updates based on the revocation list. You can perform this check in batch. The system checks for
secondary tax status and works for both individuals and organizations, and includes an audit trail with time and date stamp.


colors, and logos. The system has an improved interface to facilitate this process.
step.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to the board docket. The system has an improved interface to
facilitate this process.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system does not include templates designed specifically for electronic or tablet
view, although it does include support for PDFs readable on tablet devices.
Emails
particular criteria. You can define whether to send group emails as blind copies or not.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, and lets you edit emails from a batch sent out based on a template.
submission.
Tracking Individual History: In order to define that an individual is no longer with an organization, you would need
to create a new contact first, and add a date to the relationship of the former contact to represent when he or she left the
organization. The former contact still appears on the record, but will not be sent communications. A minimal audit trail of
these changes appears.
Customized Communication: Its not possible to automatically communicate with a contact according to their relation-
ship with the grant or organization.

Email Capture: Lets you automatically capture emails from Outlook and automatically attach them to contact, organiza-
tion, request, or activity records.Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with
Outlook.

grantees, but in order to publish them online requires the IGAM module at additional cost.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you create a variety of reporting templates, which can branch to foster data collection,
but requires the IGAM module at additional cost.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees can view grant requirement deadlines online, but this requires the IGAM
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, but requires a
staff.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports, but this requires a module at additional cost.
you can then summarize across grantees in reports, but this requires a module at additional cost.
ing to different programs), but this requires a module at additional cost. During implementation, the vendor works with
clients to include suggested formats.
Payments

steps.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, make refunds, place payments on hold, update payment details, and
create payments in batch, and track quid pro quo and in-kind payments.
Budgeting
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined categories or program areas, but this
purposes, but this requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Lets you automatically create a pending request for a budgeted line item.
be accommodated by changing the grant amount when the interest repayment is returned, or through custom fields,

General Reporting Approach: The process of running reports is not designed for casual users, but could be performed
with training.
new reports using Crystal Reports Writer, or MicroEdge will create new pre-packed reports at additional cost.
Ad Hoc Reporting: The data displays throughout the system are flexible enough to support ad hoc reporting. You can
define the dataset, data columns, sort order, and formulas to be included on each of these screens. You can export the data
into a custom report template that can include logos and headers.

Attachment Searching: Lets you search the contents of file attachments, but requires integration with a third-party docu-
ment management tool, like SharePoint, at additional cost.
Standard Reports: Includes the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format.
Visual Reports: Lets you create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, like charts and graphs, but not
maps.
Individual Dashboards: No data available.

system functions, but only through a separate interface provided by a module at additional cost.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on a field-by-field basis, but only through a separate
interface provided by a module at additional cost.
needs, but only through a separate interface provided by a module at additional cost.
User Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user, and
allows users to create multiple unique dashboards.
Users Task Lists: Provides users a task list when they sign onto the system, but requires a module at additional cost.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for management and board members, but only
through a separate interface provided by a module at additional cost.
Data Access
Data Integrity: The vendor reports both native file system and database tools external to the system that provide backup
and redundancy capability, and that the vendor works to ensure that their clients are following best practices for their use.
recorded.

forms, but requires a module at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: IGAM supports custom language settings for programs in French, Portuguese, and
Spanish.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking and neatly laid out, but appears somewhat dated. An extensively
modernized new layout is available in GIFTS Alta.

also offered.

Installation and Maintenance: The system is installed on clients computers and servers. Requires Windows server and a
database platform, which can be Microsoft SQL Server or SQL Server Express, MS Access, or Oracle.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1985; GIFTS package has been in use by clients since 1995.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 2,000 clients using this version of GIFTS. The vendor does not
provide a client breakdown by foundation type.


MICROEDGE GIFTS ONLINE
GIFTS Online is MicroEdges fully web-accessible, Online hosted entry into the grants management arena. GIFTS
Online offers many of the strengths of the installed systems GIFTS and GIFTS Alta, including optional modules,
grant information tracking, mail-merging, and application review. As with the new GIFTS Alta interface, the
GIFTS Online platform benefits from the considerable work MicroEdge has done to refine the user experience.
GIFTS Online can offer customized views per user and per role, including customizable user dashboards. You can
also customize your own online forms, which is new since we last saw the system. An entry level client could acquire
GIFTS Online for about $5,500 per year. A very large client could pay $42,477 per year.
Internal Tracking
Splitting Codes: Its possible to split grants by custom categorization codes if you configure the system to allow multiple
codes per grant.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
new request.
the database.
Taxonomy: The system can be implemented with an industry-standard taxonomy. The vendor reports that they are work-
ing with industry partners to define a standard taxonomy.
Online Applications
boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, without additional charges from the vendor, but requires a subscription cost.
Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create different online forms to support each grant program, but requires
a subscription cost.
Eligibility Branching: The system allows for eligibility quizzes which can branch to multiple applications, but requires a
subscription cost.

sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but this requires a subscription cost.
posal stage. Grantmakers can also create as many status report stages as theyd like.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: Supports only one grantee login per grant application, but the original applicant can share
the application with anyone they choose via email to view the application, transfer ownership of the application, and make
edits to the application or reporting requirements.
Transfer of Account and History: The grantee or applicant can transfer their account and history to a new staff contact.
exist in the system. Possible duplicates are flagged for the grantmaker to choose whether to create a new account, merge
with an existing account, or reject.
Custom Confirmation Messages: When an application is submitted, the applicant is emailed a confirmation. Grantmak-
ers can easily edit this email through the web interface.
questions, and create multiple pages. The system also accommodates video and formatting in HTML and XML.
Security Scan: The system performs a virus scan to prevent malicious files from being uploaded onto the application at the
point of upload. The vendor also enlists a third party to perform periodic vulnerability tests.

vanity URLs.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes word counts for application questions, which can be set and adjusted
by a staff user for any field, but does not include character counts.

WYSIWIG editor for different application forms.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries but attachments must be printed out one
by one. An additional cost module is required to extend this functionality to external reviewers.
easily.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which is customizable by
foundation staffers.
defined by grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
score.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks EINs against IRS Master Business File, flags those not listed as 501(c)
(3) nonprofits, and provides updates based on the revocation list. You can perform this check in batch. The system checks
for secondary tax status and works for both individuals and organizations, and includes an audit trail with time and date
stamp.

colors, and logos.

PDFs.
Emails
submission.
Customized Communication: Can set send criteria to communicate with a contact according to their relationship with the
grant or organizationfor example, send the payment letter to the payment contact, or email reporting reminder to report
contact.

grantees.

Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines. Reminder
email templates can include merge field information from the requirements.
staff.
Payments
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Only supports grants in U.S. dollars.
mation, but these permissions are configured by the vendor during implementation.
Other Payment Issues: The system has the ability to void, refund, or hold payments. The system has the ability to track
in-kind and quid pro quo payments tracked separately on the payment record.

Budgeting
purposes, but this requires add-on functionality at additional cost.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: The system allows users to earmark funds for individual line items for particular appli-
cants, but does not have the ability for budgeted line items to automatically create grant requests.
be accommodated by changing the grant amount when the interest repayment is returned, as well as through custom fields,

training.
new reports using Crystal Reports Writer, or MicroEdge will create new pre-packed reports at additional cost.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports and queries without navigating a much-
larger set.
Report Drill-Down: Lets you drill down on dashboards and in report preview screens.
including the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format and Reporting Commitment hGrant format.
Users can create their own multiple unique dashboards.

system functions.
needs.
Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Does not allow a programmer to create custom data flows to an external system. The vendor will
consider requests for custom import needs at additional cost.
Mobile Device Application Review: Offers a third-party mobile app, RDP iTAP mobile, to facilitate application review.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Offers a third-party mobile app, RDP iTAP mobile, to let you see
grant summary and grant details from a mobile or tablet device.
recorded.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will customize system to your needs at additional cost, but doesnt often do so. Customiza-
tion is considered on an individual basis, and there is the possibility that these customizations will be added to the core
code base and made available for all clients. The system allows for personalization of the system done by the end user.
Ease of Use


also offered.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1985; GIFTS Online has been in use since 2009.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 300 organizations currently using GIFTS Online. The vendor does
not provide a client breakdown by foundation type.


NPOWER FOUNDATIONCONNECT
FoundationConnect is an Online hosted solution built on top of the Salesforce platform. The vendor, NPower, is a
grantseeking nonprofit. The system capitalizes on Salesforces strong relationship-management features to provide
robust tracking for organizations, contacts, and grants, including the ability to track and report on grantees with
multiple related business units. Strong support for dashboards, task lists, and role-based views provides a feature-
rich experience for grants managers while allowing program officers and management to see only the information
relevant to them. Grantees and external reviewers log in through a separate, but tightly integrated, portal applica-
tion. Users will want to visit the Salesforce AppExchange to add Conga Composer or LOOP Document Services
for mail-merge and template capability. Email sent from FoundationConnect is automatically logged and routed
through Salesforce email servers, which shields organizations from the risk of being blacklisted for mass mailing,
but is limited to 500 emails per day. Many broadcast email programs, like Vertical Response and Team Approach,
also integrate tightly with Salesforce. A free connector lets users log email sent from Outlook and synchronizes their
Outlook contacts with the system. The initial license cost for FoundationConnect ranges from $25,000 for small
foundations to $40,000 for larger foundations, with maintenance and support ranging from $7,200 to $14,400 and
up per year. The Salesforce license is free for nonprofits for up to 10 user licenses, and costs $360 per license per year
on top of that.
Internal Tracking
percentage or dollar allocations if you adjust these in the payment schedule.
Custom Categorization Codes: No data available.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
new application.
File Attachment Method: The system stores attached documents in the database as objects rather than links. The system
can also be customized to store attachments as links. The system has added the ability to index and version attachments.
Taxonomy: The vendor is working with partners including the Foundation Center to implement a universal taxonomy
within the system.

Online Applications
Application Branching: Grant application forms can branchfor example, to show a different set of questions for
fiscal-sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but only by clicking a link or by spitting the application into
multiple tabs. The system does not currently support branching based on values entered in a field.
Transfer of Account and History: No data available.
tion.
Application Auto-Saving: Applications in progress are automatically saved, but immediately prior to session timeout
rather than at regular intervals.
Unified Accounts: The system does not support the ability for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for
all funders in the system using a single logon.
reviewer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete, on a field-by-field basis.

fonts, and navigation. You can also fully match the style sheet of your foundations website, and collect custom objects in
Salesforce and link to them.
Character and Word Counts: The system includes character, but not word counts for application questions, and displays
In system Help: The system includes in-system hover-text help editable by the foundation staff, as well as instructional text
within the application forms.
Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: External and internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries and attachments with the
configuration of add-on components such as Conga Composer, LOOP Document Services, or another Salesforce app at
additional cost. You can sort and filter by program and date.
easily. Reviewers can upload attachments.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers must manually open documents associated with the request and stored in
the system.
system uses the Salesforce workflow functionality.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different and customizable information or scoring schemes for different programs.
criteria to assign applications for review. Lets you track reviewers and applications by geography or other criteria defined
by grantmaker for making assignments. You cant save review panels in the system, but you can batch assign reviewers to
requests.
grades.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against the current version of the
IRS Master Business File and Publication 78 Database, and flags those not listed. The tax status automatic check includes
auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status, and includes date and time stamp, which can serve as
an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you perform checks and updates in batch.


word processor that includes mail-merged information about grants and organizations, and lets you customize their fonts,
colors, and logos. But some more complicated merges require Conga Composer, LOOP Document Services, or another
Salesforce app at additional cost.
step.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to board dockets, but requires Conga Composer, LOOP Docu-
ment Services, or another Salesforce app at additional cost.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures with an external approval process, but requires an external
app for the Salesforce process.
Printed and Electronic Templates: Includes templates for print and electronic formats. Sophisticated templates may
require Conga Composer, LOOP Document Services, or another Salesforce app at additional cost.
Emails
particular criteria. You can send up to 500 emails per day within the system. Higher volumes can be supported via add-on
modules such as VerticalResponse or Team Approach, possibly at additional cost.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, but you must set up the template beforehand rather than inserting merge fields
into an ad hoc email message. You cant edit emails on an individual basis after they have been merged.
of people who clicked on each link, and bounce reports, but requires a module at no additional cost for up to 10,000
emails per month. Additional fees apply after the monthly limit is reached. Higher volumes can be supported via add-on
modules such as VerticalResponse or Team Approach, possibly at additional cost.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, as well as
schedule email reminders based on a variety of other criteria.
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam. Salesforce caps outbound at 500 emails per day. Higher
volumes can be supported via add-on modules that integrate tightly with Salesforce, such as Vertical Response, iContact,
and MailChimp, possibly at additional cost.
Spell Checking: Lets you spell-check emails within the system.
Tracking Individual History: Lets you keep a record of individuals no longer associated with a grant by keeping them as
former contacts, and they will not show up as active contacts for communication.

tactthrough contact roles.
contact at a grantee organization. Call and email logs are available throughout the system, not just on contact records.
for example, by including a special grants management system email address in the bcc field.
Contact Synchronization: System allows you to automatically synchronize contacts with Outlook. Requires an Outlook
connector at no additional cost.

up a default set of requirements that applies to all grants.
staff.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. The system includes some basic standard formats.
User Groups: Lets you track evaluation metrics by collecting uniform evaulation data across program as well as individual
grant-specific evaluation criteria.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Lets you define a payment schedule, including multiple payments, for each individual
grant, but does not easily allow you to create a default payment schedule for all grants.
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting. Its not possible to print checks directly from the
system.

Electronic Payments: Supports the tracking of information about ACH payments and wire transfers, but to process
payments, you would need to integrate the system with your accounting system or a payment gateway.
payment/wire transfer number, either by integrating with your accounting system or through manual entry.
Accounting Integration: The vendor has integrated multiple accounting systems, at additional cost, by leveraging a
Salesforce API that provides easy linkage to financial systems.
steps.
Multi-Currency Support: Supports grants made in multiple currencies by storing currency and exchange rate information,
but requires some system configuration at no additional cost.
Multi-Currency Reporting: Lets you report on grants and payments made in any currency, but requires some system
configuration at no additional cost.
mation.
Payment Notes: Lets you include notes on payments, which can be private to certain users or usable for all.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments and place payments on hold by creating statuses with workflows associated
with them. Theres no default ability to track quid pro quo and in-kind payments, although this could be tracked in custom
fields. Lets you update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch.
Budgeting
year or the total amount awarded. The system has new features for budget tracking that can automate some of this work.
actuals (approved and pending). The system has new features for budget tracking that can automate some of this work.
purposes.
What-Ifs: Lets you set up what-if scenarios by cloning a request. The cloned requests status changes to projected and
from here you can see budget projections.
clients.

much-larger set.

Standard Reports: Includes guide for producing reports that easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector
and includes substantial ability to pull in data feeds from external sources through the comparative grants API.
Users can create their own dashboards. Any data point within the system can be aggregated across the system and made
into a report or dashboard, and users can monitor indicators personalized to them.

system functions.
needs.
log. Any field can be configured to be tracked and audited.
Data Access
Mobile Device Application Review: Provides an interface specifically designed to see, code, approve, and add review
comments from a mobile or tablet device.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Provides an interface specifically designed to let you see grant sum-
maries and details from a mobile or tablet device.
Data Integrity: All data is hosted by Salesforce.com, which provides robust, multi-layered protections to ensure data
confidentiality and integrity (more detail available here:http://trust.salesforce.com/trust/security/).

Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs, potentially at additional cost.
Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides phone and web-based support from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST as part of standard support
and maintenance. Additionally, Salesforce provides 24/7 support that can be helpful in some cases.
Online Support: The vendor includes a suite of online support tools via The FoundationConnect Customer Portal,
including a Chatter-based user forum, articles, a wiki with legacy documentation, Q&A, Cases, and Ideas for product
suggestions.
Manuals and Documentation: The system provides significant documentation through its customer portal, described
above.
Training: The vendor provides initial training online as part of implementation services. On-site training is available at
additional cost.
User Support Forums: The vendor provides The FoundationConnect Customer Portal for user support forums.

Vendor Background
History: NPower NY was founded in 2000 and has been providing database solutions to the nonprofit sector since 2005.
The Foundation Grant Manager product was formally launched in June 2009.
Client Base: The vendor reports 63 clients. Approximate breakdown is 75 percent private foundations, 10 percent family
foundations, 10 percent community foundations, and 5 percent government and other.


PHILANTECH PHILANTRACK
PhilanTrack is an Online hosted option that prioritizes the user experience for both grantseekers and grantmakers.
It provides solid support for tracking applications and grants, and for producing letters and board dockets. The
online application interface allows grantseekers to use the system as their own grant language repository, with the
ability to search for and reuse language theyve used on past grants. Grantmakers will find PhilanTrack simple to
navigate, though at the time of this review search functionality is tied to specific areas of the system, meaning you
have to know the tab in which the subject of your search is located in order to find it. PhilanTracks relationship-
management facility is somewhat limited, with only basic support for tracking communications with granteesyou
can keep a call log on a grantee record, but emails generated within the system must be added manually. And while
the system can generate automatic emails based on a number of action-triggers, theres no way to easily define par-
ent/child relationships for organizations in the system. PhilanTracks pricing starts at $4,000 annually with another
$4,000 in first-year setup costs.
Internal Tracking
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
application ID, and program and grant cycle. Search functionality is currently spread across multiple areas and you have to
know where data lives in order to search for it. For example, if a fields home is in the grants tab, you couldnt search for it
from another tab.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be entered into the system, but you must log in as a
grantee to do so. The system also allows you to scan and upload paper applications for attachment to the applicants record.
Batch Updates: Lets you perform batch updates of defined coding and other fields as long as they are associated with a
grant.
Taxonomy: The system supports the industry-standard taxonomy defined by the Foundation Center.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The vendor can configure the system at implementation to
allow both individuals and organizations to apply for grants from the same grant program.
Creating Online Applications: Grantmakers can construct application forms by choosing questions from a large existing
set and adding them to the application in any order they wish. This interface is easy to use. The vendor typically works

with the grantmaker to add any funder-specific questions in the initial implementation phase, and will continue to add
additional questions to the pool over time on request, without charge.
Eligibility Branching: The vendor can configure eligibility quizzes to branch to multiple applications based on the ap-
plicants responses.
Application Branching: Branch logic can be used in eligibility quizzes, but not in LOIs, proposals, and status reports.
Eligibility quizzes can direct certain applicants to an entirely different LOI or proposal form based on their quiz responses,
however.
posal stage. Grantmakers can also create as many status report stages as theyd like. A proposal can only automatically pull
the title of the grant, amount requested, and applicant contact information from the Letter of Intent.
people to complete financial sections and proposal sections. Each user can also be assigned a different level of permissions
so that some users can enter information while others can finalize and submit the proposal.
Transfer of Account and History: A grantee has the ability to designate a new contact person for a proposal or grant.
Reuse of Application Data: Applicants can easily see submitted applications and their whole history with a given grant-
maker. They cannot copy an entire existing application to use as a template for a new one, but the system is built specifi-
cally to make it easy to reuse answers to previous questionsapplicants use a find similar questions feature to easily copy
and edit past answers from any application theyve filled out using the system.
exist in the system. Admin users and the vendor also have the ability to review applicants for duplicates, and merge ac-
counts.
Custom Confirmation Messages: When an application is submitted, the designated contact for the application is emailed
a confirmation. The vendor frequently customizes this email for free as part of the setup process, but grantmakers need to
go through the vendor for any additional changes.
questions, but applications cannot contain multiple pages.
Saving Incomplete Applications: Applicants can save their work at any time, regardless of whether theyve filled out all
required fields in the application.
Application Auto-Saving: The system does not automatically save applications in progress, but the system warns appli-
cants at regular intervals if they do not save manually.
Security Scan: The system scans files for viruses at upload.
broswer.
Unified Accounts: Applicants or grantees can manage their grant information for all funders using the system through a
single account.

Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers to unsubmit a proposal with comments or request
additional information from the applicant, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

Look and Feel: The eligibility quiz, but not other online forms, can be customized to match the look and feel of your
website.
Character and Word Counts: The system does not include any functional character or word counts for application ques-
tions. Users can define a suggested character limit, but this is not enforced by the system.
In system Help: The system provides a standard FAQ list for applicants, as well as a help desk and support ticketing
system. The vendor provides technical support for applicants.
Application Review
from prospective grantees. The system, however, allows you to select which questions require a response.
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information.
easily.
in the system.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Scoring schemes can be
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest.
Comment Sharing Among Reviewers: Does not allow reviewers to see each others comments and grades, unless they have
also been granted another role, like board member, which allows them to view other parts of the system.
score.
Review Status Notification: Proposal owner and grants management staff can be automatically notified via email or
in-system notifications when reviews are completed.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: For online applicants, Employee Identification Numbers are checked against the IRS database
during the eligibility quiz. Otherwise, they can be checked by the grantor when entering a new organziation. 501(c)(3)
status is visible when viewing organization information.

Default Print Format: Lets you choose from different board docket reports that either print grant summaries or the entire
application, with the foundations logo. Board dockets can be produced in Word format, which allows you to customize
fonts and colors.
colors, and logos.
Printing Series of Summaries: Lets you download a series of summaries to PDF or Word-compatible files, which then can
be printed.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not support third-party electronic signature services, like DocuSign.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for print, email, and PDF formats.
Emails
Emailing Individuals and Groups: Lets you easily send an email to a particular individual, but not to a group of people at
once.
Email Template Flexibility: Lets you create email to individuals based on templates that include both standard text and
mail-merge type inserted data, but only the vendor can create and modify email templates. This is typically done at no
additional cost. Emails can be edited prior to sending if sent through the clients default email client.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees based on the
number of days prior to the due date.
Spell Checking: The system does not include spell-checking functionality for email.
Tracking Individual History: Its possible to capture multiple individuals on forms. The system will preserve an indi-
viduals history with a grant even after they have left the organization. The organization, but not the grantmaker, can mark
a contact as inactive. Inactive contacts are excluded from system generated communications.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization except as fiscal
sponsors.
organization.
Record of Correspondence: Does not store any record of system-generated emails or letters.

Email Capture: Does not let you automatically capture emails from an external email system. Emails can be manually
added to the grantee record.

up any default set of requirements that applies to all grants.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you set up requirements by proposal template, but not branch data collection depending
on type of grant.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines. The vendor can
configure email templates to include merge fields.
Progress Report Tracking: Currently, can track that a progress report has been received, but not whether staff has ap-
proved it.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. The vendor can provide suggested formats for progress
reports.
groups.
Payments
Check Requests: Allows you to export a filtered set of grant records that can be used to generate paper check requests
outside of the system.
payments for grants awarded in previous years, on a per-grant basis.
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with any accounting software packages, but can export payment
information to a csv file that can be imported into an accounting package. The vendor is willing to integrate at additional
cost.

mation.
Other Payment Issues: Voided and refunded payments can only be tracked through notes. In-kind or quid pro quo grants
can only be tracked as a separate, custom grant type.
Budgeting
Budget Tracking Configuration: The budgeting features can track both the amount paid out in a particular year and the
total amount awarded.
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount for each grants program or grantee and report on that
information with actuals (approved and pending).
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined program areas.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you easily set up multi-year budgeting on a per-grant basis.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: There is no ability for budgeted line items to automatically create grant requests.

training.
Report Modification: Cannot modify standard reports beyond choosing what set of data should be displayed. The system
has strong support for ad hoc reporting, however.
to users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos, and headers. The system also
supports ad hoc reporting from nearly any field displayed to users by exporting data to Excel for formatting.
Grant Summary Tracking: You can define codes and see them in reports, but these codes cannot be rolled up hierarchi-
callyfor example, to show grant money paid to each Education sub-program as well as total Education grants, except by
exporting the report to Excel and analyzing it there.
Attachment Searching: Does not currently let you search within attached documents.
such as the Foundation Center eReporting Excel format.
Automating Reports: Reports cannot be set to run and send automatically.

Visual Reports: The system provides the ability to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation such as
charts and graphs.
each individual user, or let users create multiple unique dashboards. The vendor reports that standard reports can serve the
need for visually displayed information.

Role-Based Interfaces: Can provide a board-specific interface and grant access through permissions.
log, but the log is only accessible by the vendor.
User Dashboards: All users see the same view of information; no dashboard views are available. However, you can run
standard reports, which provide both visual displays and additional information similar to that which a dashboard would
provide.
Users Task Lists: Provides users a task list when they sign onto the system, but at the time of this review the tasks are
manually entered by the user rather than system-defined.
Task Assignment: Does not currently let you assign tasks to other users.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for board members.
Data Access
Data Export to other formats: Lets you export all data visible to users into another file format, such as .xls or .csv. The
vendor notes the system can also export to .pdf and .rtf formats.
feeds to or from an external system. Use of API can require communication with vendor, which may involve additional
fees.
Custom Fields: Users cannot create custom fields. Some existing field names can be customized but not all.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will customize system to your needs, possibly at additional cost.
Support for Customized Systems: Vendor permits customized systems to remain on the upgrade path.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets you define different languages for application forms and progress reports.

Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides phone support for 30 days and email support thereafter. There is a support upgrade with
phone support past the initial 30 days.
Online Support: Vendor provides unlimited online or chat support without additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides online manuals and help documentation, including training videos
and a troubleshooting guide as part of an online knowledgebase.
Training: The vendor provides two hours of web-based initial training, and a one-hour training for administrators. The
vendor allows access to a sandbox version of the system to customers during implementation.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2004. Philantrack has been in use by clients since 2007.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 40 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 60 percent private, 10
percent corporate, and 30 percent community foundations.

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 83 percent [Note: Five out of the six people who
answered this question said Yes. One person skipped the question.]

POWEROFFICE
PowerOFFICE is a solid, well-rounded system with particularly strong features around relationship and contact
management. Built on IBM Notes Domino, the system can be installed on your organizations server, or hosted
on the vendors servers. PowerOFFICE is fairly strong in both print and email communication, although delivery
statistics for broadcast email are only available through customization by the vendor. The system provides relation-
ship and contact management through the PowerPEOPLE module, which allows users to track all the communica-
tion theyve had with individuals and associate multiple contacts to organizations and grants. The online application
process is straightforwardthe vendor will create application forms for you, but applicants cannot save incomplete
applications to finish later before submitting, and neither can they view or print submitted applications without
customization. A small foundation that receives only 10 applications annually could expect to pay about $3,000 per
year for a hosted version of the system, plus a one-time setup fee for online applications starting at around $4,000,
or a one-time cost of $6,000 to install the system on your own server, plus annual fees of $1,600 and the setup fee
for online applications. For larger foundations which receive around 100 applications annually, the system would be
$6,600 per year hosted (plus setup fee) or $12,000 for installed (with an annual fee of $2,000).
Internal Tracking
Splitting Codes: Lets you split grants across some, but not all, different codes or categories.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system by creating a new
request from the admin view and filling out fields.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but the vendor can configure the
system, possibly for a fee.
Online Applications
down boxes, checkboxes, and text fields, but the vendor must set up application forms for you at additional cost.

Support for Multiple Stages: The system supports multiple application stages, including new proposal, pending review,
waiting for additional criteria, approved, withdrawn, and declined. Users cannot customize these statuses but can create
sub-statuses for each.
Multiple Logins for Grantees: Does not support multiple logins for grantees without customization by the vendor,
Transfer of Account and History: There is no ability for applicants to transfer their account and grant history to a new
staff contact without contacting the grantmaker.
Duplicate Accounts: The system does not automatically check new registrants to make sure that they dont already exist in
the system, but the user has the ability to manually consolidate applicant records based on mailing address.
Viewing Status Online: Applicants cannot view their status online without customization, possibly at additional cost.
tion.
Application Formatting: Applications are configured by the vendor.
Saving Incomplete Applications: Applicants must complete applications in one session.
User Registration: The vendor can create a registration process for applicants at implementation, for additional cost.
Lost Credentials: Lost credentials can easily be reset by the grantmaker, but not by applicants.
Viewing Applications: Applicants cannot view or print applications without customization by the vendor, possibly at
additional cost.
Preview Packet: Applicants cannot view or print applications without customization by the vendor, possibly at additional
cost.
Security Scan: The system itself does not scan files for viruses at upload. Clients have the ability to restrict what file types
can be uploaded by applicants.
broswer.
Unified Accounts: Theres no means for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information for all of their funders in
the system.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers and applicants to work back and forth on a proposal
through email only.

Look and Feel: Applications are configured by the vendor.
Character and Word Counts: The system does not include character or word counts for application questions, but the
vendor could customize this, possibly at additional cost.
In system Help: Clients have the ability to customize the text around an application form to provide additional instruc-
tional text. The client provides technical support for applicants.

Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can print grant summaries or full grant information, if granted access to that
functionality by the client.
easily
in the system.
comments.
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest unless
configured by the vendor at implementation, possibly at additional cost.
grades.
Numeric Review Scores: You cannot report on numeric review scores as summary statisticsfor example, average score.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: There is no in-system support for checking 501(c)(3) status, without customization.
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, without customization.

colors, and logos.
step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: Lets you view but not customize letters before printing them.
Electronic Signatures: The system typically uses individual user IDs for authorization, but can support third-party elec-
tronic signature services.

Emails
text and mail-merge type inserted data. Emails can be edited after merging the list.
Email Delivery Reporting: Does not let you see email delivery statistics without customization by the vendor, possibly at
additional cost.
submission.
individual associated with a grant, even if they leave the organization.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization without customiza-
tion by the vendor, possibly at additional cost.
Email Capture: Does not let you automatically capture emails from an external email system.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Data collection can branch based on the type of grant, by creating specific task forms or
subgroups for each grant type.
Grant Requirement Deadlines: Grantees cannot view grant requirement deadlines online without customization by the
vendor, possibly at additional cost.
Progress Report Tracking: Can track that a progress report has been received, but not whether staff has approved it,
without customization by the vendor, possibly at additional cost.
Storing Progress Report Data: You cannot store progress report information submitted by grantees in multiple data fields
(i.e., you can only store progress reports as attached documents).

Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Does not let you create online progress report forms without customization.
User Groups: The system has the ability to configure task lists to collect data based on grant program.
Payments
Schedule-Based Payment Viewing: Lets you see what payments are due, and whether the grantee has met the associated
prerequisite requirements, on an individual grantee basis.
steps.
payment requirement through notes.
mation.
Other Payment Issues: The system provides the ability to void or place holds on payments in the system, update payment
details in batch, and track in-kind and quid pro quo payments. Users cannot refund payments in the system or create
payments in batch.
Budgeting
purposes.

in a proposal.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports, searches, and notes without navigating a
much-larger set.
Saving Modified Reports: Lets you name and save SQL searches, but not reports, that you create or modify.
Excel or a separate reporting tool for formatting.
Grant Summary Tracking: Cannot track or report summaries based on any codesfor example, to show grant money
paid for a set of geographical regionswithout exporting the list to Excel.
such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI.
Automating Reports: Reports are dynamically generated, and can be set to automatically run and send the results to
reviewers or users.
Individual Dashboards: The system does not provide dashboard views to summarize the grants currently relevant to
each individual user.

system functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Fields and modules can be hidden from users based on role, but the system does not provide a
simpler interface for users with less-complex needs.
log.
User Dashboards: The system does not provide dashboard views to summarize the grants currently relevant to each
individual user.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for board evaluators, but not for management.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Does not assign tasks to users based on rules and roles without customization by the vendor,

Data Access
Custom Data Feeds: Does not allow a programmer to create custom data flows to an external system, unless they purchase
the source code.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device: Does not provide explicit functionality to let you see grant summary
Custom Fields: Users cannot add custom fields, unless they have purchased the source code. The vendor can add fields for
the user upon request, possibly at additional cost.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets youdefine custom language sets for applicants and reviewers based on user, group,
or giving program.
Ease of Use
scan.

Online Support: Vendor provides email support at additional cost.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and documentation online.
Training: The vendor provides training in person or via the internet at additional cost.
User Support Forums: User support forums or discussion groups are not available.

Installation and Maintenance: The system is available installed or hosted on the vendors servers. This Online hosted
system is accessible from any major web browser.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business for 25 years; the system has been in use by clients for 15 years.
Client Base: The vendor did not disclose the number of clients. The vendor does not provide a client breakdown by
foundation type.


SMARTSIMPLE GMS360
SmartSimples GMS360 has undergone a major user experience redesign which complements its power and flex-
ibility with greater ease of use. This system lets you create relatively complex online forms that can contain a wide
variety of field types, including rich text fields with formatting toolbars and internal tracking fields that can be made
invisible to applicants. Uploaded files can be version-controlled and indexed, making their contents available to
queries and reports. The system provides useful support for managing relationships, broadcast email, mail-merged
letters, and reporting, as well as integrated task lists and dashboards to manage each users work. Payment functional-
ity and budgeting are particularly strong, with support for payment workflows and multiple currencies. SmartSimple
implementation starts at about $20,000. Annual support and maintenance are included in monthly user fees.High
usage staffers such as grants administrators and program officers who use the system more than 40 hours a month,
are billed at $1,176 per user per year (billed on a montly basis). Low usage staffers who are logged into the system
for less than 40 hours per month are billed at $180 per year (again on a monthly basis). External users, like reviewers
or board members, are billed annually at $2,400 total (on a monthly basis). License fees are based on actual usage,
and the system automatically audits the user type for fair billing.
Internal Tracking
percentage or dollar allocation if the categories are tied to the budget.
out the process.
Attaching Files to Grant Record: Lets you easily attach files to grant records, organizational records, and personal profiles,
including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and PDFs.
application ID, and program and grant cycle. The vendor has added considerable enhancements around searching.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system from the new appli-
cations area of the Submission Manager module. Forms can be filled in PDF and the data imported back into the system.
the database.
Taxonomy: The system has support for the NTEE syntax within the system, and the vendor is willing to work with clients
to incorporate other taxonomies into the system.
Online Applications
Support for Both Individual Applicants and Organizations: The system allows for both individuals and organizations to

Creating Online Applications: Lets you create an unlimited amount of online applications with file uploads, dropdown
Number of Online Application Forms: Lets you create unlimited different online forms to support each grant program.
Support for Multiple Stages: Supports multiple application stages, including an automatically scored eligibility quiz,
a Letter Of Intent stage, a more detailed proposal stage, and as many other stages as needed. The system also supports
branching at the point of registration.
Transfer of Account and History: The vendor reports that grantees or applicants can transfer their account and history to
new staff contact if a foundations business rules allow for this.
Duplicate Accounts: There is a process for grantmakers to review applicants to look for duplicates on the back end.
tion.
Spell Checking: Grantees can easily spell-check applications and all attachments.
Application Auto-Saving: Applications in progress are automatically saved at regular intervals. The auto-save interval is
configurable.
are sent a confirmation email. Clients can opt for manual approval of registration requests or to allow applicants with
accounts to create their own additional accounts for their organization.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system does not explicitly support application process via mobile or tablet,
although the administrative interface is fully functional on a mobile or tablet device.
Unified Accounts: The vendor reports that the platform allows for applicants or grantees to manage all grant information
for all of their funders in the system.
reviewer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete. For instance, a reviewer
could add a note visible to the applicant, and configure a trigger to alert the applicant of the notes existence.


Character and Word Counts: The system includes character and word counts for application questions, and an adminis-
trator can set and adjust character limit for any field.
In system Help: The system includes in-system help editable by the foundation staff.
Application Review
Viewing Relationship History: Lets you see a history of a relationship with prospective granteesfor example, the com-
munications history and what grants theyve applied for, been declined, or been granted in the past.
easily.
in the system. Audio and video files are playable within the browser, and documents are converted to a single PDF.
configure a workflow without the assistance of the vendor. Workflows can branch based on various factors, such as request
amount.
comments. Reviewer comments can be made visible to the foundation staff as soon as they are saved as a draft.
criteria to assign applications for review. You can also create and save review panels to assign to requests.
grades.
completed, either via email or internal message, or both.

profit registry, and flags those not listed. The system uses the IRS database and also supports similar lists from the Canadian
Revenue Agency and Inland Revenue of the UK. Provides updates based on the revocation list. The tax status automatic
check includes auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and tax status, and includes date and time stamp,
which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you perform checks and updates
in batch.
ist watch lists within the grants management system itself. The OFAC check is supplied by OFAC Analyzer and includes
date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due diligence step(s). Lets you perform
checks and updates in batch.

colors, and logos.
step.
Board Docket Attachments: Lets you attach documents to the board docket, and includes a dedicated interface to manage
board meetings and the creation of documents to support them.
Electronic Signatures: The system supports electronic signatures with an external approval process.
PDFs.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are not sent as blind copies, but rather individually to minimize the likelihood of being
caught in a spam filter.
text and mail-merge type inserted data. You cannot edit one-off emails from a batch sent out based on a template.
of people who clicked on each link, and bounce reports.
submission. Email configuration is done through the workflow engine.
schedule emails based on date or elapsed time. Email configuration is done through the workflow engine.
vendor takes a series of steps to ensure email is not flagged as spam. Alternatively, email can be sent through the clients
email servers or through third-party email services, which may require an additional fee.
Spell Checking: Lets you spell-check emails within the system.
for communications.

Email Capture: Lets you automatically capture emails from external email systems into grantee or organization recordsfor
example, by including a special grants management system email address in the bcc field.

grantees. A grant can be associated with any number of pre- and post-activities.
staff.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms:
User Groups: The system can support user groups to collect uniform data for evaluation purposes through a variety of
means, including manual grouping of organizations, cross tab views, and ad hoc reporting.
Payments
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting, but its not possible to print a check directly from the
system.
fiscal sponsors).
Accounting Integration: Integrates tightly with Quickbooks, Accpac, and SAP. The vendor states they can also faciliate data
transfer to most other GL systems.
Automated Payment Approval Process: Supports an automated payment approval process with configurable workflow steps.

tion.
Payment Notes: Theres no built-in way to add a note to payments, although one could be added through custom fields.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments and place payments on hold as statuses within the system. Theres no default
ability to track quid pro quo and in-kind payments, although this could be tracked in custom fields. Theres no ability to
update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch, or ability to create payments in
batch.
Budgeting
Budget Amount Reporting: Lets you enter a budget amount and disbursements for each grants program and report on that
information with actuals (approved and pending).
Multiple Programs Per Grant: Can split grants across more than one program for budgeting and payment-tracking pur-
poses. You can also manage multiple budgets and draw funds on a per grant basis.
What-Ifs: Does not let you set up what-if scenarios, although the vendor reports that this feature is forthcoming.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can create grant requests and feed directly to disbursements.

There is also a more advanced reporting sub-system for expert users.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports and queries without navigating a much-larger
set.
Ad Hoc Reporting: Supports ad hoc reports within the system, which can include and filter by nearly any field displayed to
users. These reports can include custom data columns, data sets, sorting, grouping, logos, and headers, but some formatting
requires HTML/style-sheet expertise. The system also supports ad hoc reporting from nearly any field displayed to users by
exporting data to Excel for formatting.

Standard Reports: Contains report templates to easily align data with reporting standards used by the sector, such as Foun-
dation Center eReporting Excel format, Reporting Commitment hGrant format, and IATI.
Users can create their own dashboards. Any data point within the system can be aggregated across the system and made into a
report or dashboard, and users can monitor indicators personalized to them.

Permissions Granularity: You can grant individuals access to granularly view, edit, or delete data for a wide variety of system
functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Can provide a role-specific internal interface for each role in the systemfor example, an admin
needs.
Audit Logging: Records the majority of data updates, along with the data and the user who made the update, in an audit log.
Board/Management View: Provides a focused, roles-based view for management and board members that can be customized
to meet specific organizational needs.
Data Access
feeds to or from an external system. Webservices, AJAX, and .Net APIs are provided.
Mobile Device Application Review: Provides a standalone app for Android devices that allows for application review. Most
tablets also have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web browser.
Grant Information Review from a Mobile Device [: Provides a standalone app for Android devices which allows you to see
grant summary and grant details from a mobile or tablet device. Most tablets also have a screen size sufficient for viewing data
and performing data entry via the devices web browser.
Data Integrity: The vendor reports that the system protects the integrity and security of data within the system through best
practice sever encryption, configurable password policies, role based access, optional two factor authentication, and intruder
lockouts, among other practices.
Dropdown Fields: Lets you customize dropdown values for fields such as program or grant codes, as well as change field
types.
Custom Fields: The system lets you create an unlimited number of custom fields with the same permissions as system-
standard fields, and you can track the creation or change of custom fields in a log for historical documentation.
Online Information Customization: Lets you customize the information requested in online applications and review forms,
including visual design aspects.

Ease of Use
specific to the system in order toeffectively use it. The User Interface is configured to meet the specific needs of the client.
Easily Taking Action: On the core interface pages, the user can easily find the actions he or she is most likely to take. The
User Interface is configured to meet the specific needs of the client.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email support at no additional cost. The vendor can provide tech
support for applicants as well, but at additional cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides a wiki at smartsimple.org that houses documentation for SmartSimple. There are also
support videos on YouTube.
Manuals and Documentation: Documentation is created by the vendor to facilitate the training of new hires.
Training: User training at the SmartSimple facility is included with every system or via WebEx Sessions. On-site training is
available on a fee basis. Additional training is also provided. SmartSimple offers training for end users and system administra-
tors.
User Support Forums: Vendor provides an online community portal and the SmartSimple LinkedIn group provides forum
for discussions.

Installation and Maintenance: There are three hosting options: 1) Multitenant: Vendor hosts multiple clients in one server;
2) Dedicated server: Vendor hosts SmartSimple for client on a separate server; and 3) Self-hosted. The client hosts Smart-
Simple on their own server, which can be either Windows, Amazon, or Linux-based.
Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2002. SmartSimple Grants Management has been in use since 2004.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 40 clients for SmartSimple GrantsManagement. The breakdown by type
of grantmaker is 10 percent private foundations, 10 percent corporate foundations, and 52 percent government. The remain-
der are other entities, including community foundations.
required to support it. The company is managed by the founding ownership team. There is no debt financing and no outside
investments.


VERSAIC GRANTS
The Versaic platform is used by a number of corporate philanthropic departments to manage grantmaking, product
donations, and sponsorships. Versaic Grants is a highly flexible platform built on Microsofts .NET business applica-
tion framework. The vendor provides consulting services for clients, including configuration of online forms, batch
updates, and ongoing tech support for applicants and grantees. Reporting is very strong in the system, and it has
powerful internal workflows that can help segment applications based on programs and automatically rout them to
the right staffers. Theres no OFAC checking in the system at this point, and you cant see email delivery statistics.
The Versaic Grants solution can be implemented for $10,000 and up, with subscription fees of $10,000 and up per
year for small foundations. For larger foundations, the vendor quoted a minimum implementation cost of $20,000,
with annual subscription fees starting at $15,000.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Program Cycle or Board Meeting Date: Cycles are not a pre-set system feature; this would be accommodated
through configuration.
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes, and track by
Splitting Codes: Lets you split grants across program codes.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be entered into the system either by duplicating an
existing application or creating a new application and entering the information.
the database.
Batch Updates: Batch updates are possible but must be handled by the vendor.
Taxonomy: There is no support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system, but the vendor would be willing to
build one upon request.
Online Applications
Creating Online Applications: Lets you collect application information online, but the vendor must set up application
forms for youtheres no additional cost for most typical applications.

sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations. Applications can then be sent to different mailboxes for routing to
the proper staffer on the back end.
could contact the vendor or grantmaker to make that transfer.
Reuse of Application Data: Its possible to carry over contact information and other appropriate data for an organization
or grant from one years application form to another, or from a Letter Of Intent to a proposalfor example, a narrative
entered in a Letter Of Intent doesnt have to be re-entered in a proposal. However, the vendor generally recommends
against duplicating proposals.
tion.
Application Formatting: Applications are configured by the vendor.
are sent a confirmation email. Theres a registration check for security and to confirm the email address.
Lost Credentials: Both applicant and grantmaker can quickly and easily reset lost credentialsthis process is highly
configurable.
Security Scan: The system performs an anti-virus scan on all documents uploaded into the system.
although the administrative interface is fully functional on a mobile or tablet device.
funders in the system, but the architecture of the software could support this, and the vendor reports that this is on the
product roadmap.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system does not currently have the ability to let applicants and reviewers work
together on a proposal in draft form, but reviewers can return submitted applications to applicants, with comments,
multiple times for more information or edits.

fonts, and navigation. Vendor provides ongoing configuration as part of the annual fee.

Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: External or internal reviewers can easily print grant summaries, but not attachmentsthose
would need to be printed manually.
easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can view selected documents associated with the request and stored in the
system, but they need to manually open them apart from the application.
throughout the system on a very sophisticated level.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. This must be customized by
the vendor.
External Reviewer Profiles: The system would need to be customized in order to track external reviewers interests and
potential conflicts of interest and use those criteria to assign applications for review, as well as to track reviewers and
applications by geography or other criteria defined by grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
completed, including by only a portion of the assigned reviewers if that is a desired workflow. The system can send notifica-
tion within the system and via email.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Automatically checks Employee Identification Numbers against a standard 501(c)(3)
nonprofit registry, and flags those not listed. Vendor is implementing GuideStar Charity Check. Provides updates based
on the revocation list. The tax status automatic check includes auto-population of related fields for legal name, EIN, and
tax status. It does not include date and time stamp, which can serve as an audit trail demonstration completion of due
diligence step(s). The vendor can perform checks and updates in batch.
OFAC and other terrorist watch lists, but the vendor is implementing GuideStar Charity Check, which will include this
service.

colors, and logos. You can also create mailing labels.
step.
Emails
particular criteria. Emails are sent individually from a no-reply address to avoid spam filters.
text and mail-merge type inserted data, and edit the emails after they have been merged. You can add logos and other
graphic elements through HTML.
submission.
Outbound Email Method: Emails can be sent through third-party email services or through clients email servers, and the
Spell Checking: Theres currently no internal spell-check for email, but the vendor reports that this could be configured.
Tracking Individual History: The system could be configured to let you keep a record of an individual no longer associat-
ed with a grant within the systems audit trail, and have the individual not show up as an active contact for communication.
Tracking Business Units: Does not let you track individual business units under a larger organization, although this could
be customized.
Record of Correspondence: Automatically stores a record of all system-generated letters and emails for each grant, but its
stored in the entire audit trail with all the rest of the information about the grant.
detailed communications log.

Email Capture: Does not currently let you capture emails from an external email system, although this could be custom-
ized.
Contact Synchronization: Does not currently synchronize contacts with Outlook, although this could be customized.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you branch to different progress report forms based on type of grant program.
Deadline Reminder Emails: Can automatically email grantees to remind them about upcoming deadlines, and merge field
information from requirements into reminder emails.
staff.
which you can then summarize across grantees in reports, including numerical evaluation results.
Creating Online Progress Report Forms: Online progress report forms (for example, corresponding to different pro-
grams) can only be created by the vendor, but this is covered in the ongoing annual fee. The vendor reports that they are
planning to release default reports that will be available to all clients in the future.
User Groups: Supports program-based user groups in order to collect uniform data consistent with other groups.
Payments
Default Payment Scheduling: Lets you define a default payment schedule that applies to all grants. The vendor could
adjust the amounts and dates for each grant individually.
Electronic Payments: Supports ACH payments and wire transfers, but you need to manually enter information and
confirmation codes for successful transactions.
Viewing Payments Made: Lets you see what payments have been made, including amount, date paid, and check number/
ACH payment/wire transfer number (the latter must be manually entered).
Accounting Integration: The vendor has experience in integrating the system with external accounting software packages.
Most of their clients do not choose to integrate their accounting systems, however.
steps.

mation.
Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, refund payments, and place payments on hold through statuses with
workflows associated with them. Lets you track quid pro quo and in-kind payments, through configuration. Its not pos-
sible to update payment details or create payments (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch, although the vendor
could do so.
Budgeting
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Budgets can be tracked in hierarchically defined groups, categories, or program areas.
purposes.
What-Ifs: The vendor has built in forecasting tools that could support what-if scenarios.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items are connected to grant requests.
Program-Related Investments: Theres no current support for interest repayments on PRIs, but the vendor is willing to
configure this for clients if needed.

General Reporting Approach: The system uses Microsoft reporting technology as its infrastructure. The vendor helps
configure and customize complex reports for foundations.
groupingto meet slightly different needs, but the vendor must upload the new versions for you.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Lets you quickly view favorite reports, queries, and actions without navigating a
much-larger set.
sector, such as Foundation Center eReporting Excel format or Reporting Commitment hGrant format.
Automating Reports: Vendor would need to configure the system to have reports automatically run and send to individu-
als and groups.

Individual Dashboards: The system provides some basic dashboard views that summarize the information currently
relevant to each individual user. The vendor creates them for you. The system lets users have their own multiple unique
dashboards.

system functions.
Field-Level Permissions: You can define user or group permissions on either a functional or a field-by-field basis.
needs.
log.
Board/Management View: Provides a standard focused, roles-based view for management and board members through
system customization.
Data Access
Data Export to other formats: Lets you export all data visible to users into another file format, such as .xls or .csv
Custom Data Feeds: The vendor can provide custom data flows to an external system.
Mobile Device Application Review: Does not explicitly support application review via mobile or tablet devices, but
interface is fully mobile and tablet responsive.
and grant details from a mobile or tablet device, but the interface is fully mobile and tablet responsive.
Data Integrity: The system protects sensitive data and any data that a customer requests be encrypted through Microsoft
SQL server protocols. All sensitive data transferred over the internet is encrypted using 40-bit to 128-bit SSL 2.0 encryp-
tion, depending on browser settings. Versaics hosting provider is both SAS 70 Type II and SSAE 16 certified.
Dropdown Fields: The vendor would customize dropdown values for fields.
Custom Fields: The vendor can create custom fields and provide an audit log.
Internal Tracking Fields: The vendor would customize internal tracking fields for staff use.
Online Information Customization: The vendor would customize online application and review forms.
Vendor Customization: Vendor will extensively customize system to your needs.
Support for Multiple Languages: Lets you define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program.
Ease of Use
Interface Layout: The interface is polished looking and neatly laid out. The vendor customizes the interface based on each
implementation.

Intuitive Labels: Navigation and action items are labeled intuitively, so that a user doesnt have to understand language
specific to the system in order to effectively use it.

Phone Support: The vendor provides unlimited phone support for every user.
Online Support: The vendorprovides unlimited email and web meeting support for every user.
Manuals and Documentation: Manuals and documentation are provided for each client on an as-needed basis.
Training: The vendor provides all initial and ongoing training for every user. Allsystem configuration changes are
included as part of the subscription, and the vendor alsoprovides consulting services to ensure all changes meetclient
requirements.
User Support Forums: There are no user support forums at this time.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2000; Versaic Grants has been in use by clients since 2010.
Client Base: The vendor reports 90 clients, all of which are corporate.


WESTAFS GRANTSONLINE
Designed as the successor to CultureGrants Online, WESTAFs GrantsOnline (GO for short) was built by grant-
makers for use by the sector. In addition to traditional grants management functionality, GrantsOnline has some
unusual features likely to be of interest to arts funders, such as the ability for applicants to submit videos in support
of their applications. Conveniently, the videos stream rather than download, although files are converted to the Flash
format, which isnt well supported on iOS devices like iPads. While generally strong in internal tracking, the system
has a comparatively limited ability to track grants easily by categories and codes. Dynamic fields allow you to build
powerful online forms with more intricate branching logic than youll find in most other systems. Application review
and email capabilities are similarly strong. During implementation, clients can select from a menu of options for
grant-payment functionality that can be includedpossibly, for an additional implementation cost. While reporting
facilities are powerful and flexible, theres no ability to see a list of favorite reports. Pricing for GrantsOnline has
three tiers and starts at $4,450 in annual license fees for five grant programs and up to 500 users with a first-year
setup fee of $7,550. Media storage per user above 100MB is available at additional cost.
Internal Tracking
specific percent or dollar allocations without customization.
Splitting Codes: Its not possible to split grants across program codes without customization.
out the process.
Attaching Files to Grant Record: Lets you attach files to grant records, including Word documents, Excel spreadsheets,
and PDFs, as well as audio or video files.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be easily entered into the system as a new grant.
the database.
Taxonomy: The vendor is developing support for an industry-standard taxonomy within the system.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: There is limited availablility to see related records and data
across records.
Online Applications

Transfer of Account and History: Lets a grantee or applicant transfer his or her account and history to a new staff contact
from the front-facing interface.
Duplicate Accounts: The system checks the username of each new registrant to make sure it doesnt already exist in the
system, and duplicates can also be identified on the back end.
tion.
Spell Checking: Grantees can spell-check applications if their browser is configured to do so.
User Registration: Applicants enter email address and password, but are not sent a confirmation email.
Preview Packet: The applicant can create a preview packet of their grant, which includes a listing of uploaded documents
with links to view or download them.
Security Scan: All documents and images are scanned for viruses before uploading to the system. Audio and video samples
are converted to Flash upon upload.
grantmaking staffer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete.

fonts, and navigation with a simple WYSIWIG editor. For more advanced form design, the system supports CSS.
WYSIWIG editor for different application forms. The vendor asks the foundation to be the first line of defense for
applicant inquiries, but can take on technical inquiries as needed.

Application Review
Printing Grant Summaries: Lets external reviewers print out full grant application information by converting applications
and support materials into a PDF file, but not summaries of grants.
easily.
Viewing Documents in the System: Reviewers can view selected documents associated with the request and stored in the
system, but it requires some clicks to navigate there from the reviewer portal home page.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs, which is customizable by
foundation staffers. You can also choose to assign more weight to certain scores over others.
criteria to assign applications for review. The system doesnt support the tracking of reviewers and applications by geogra-
phy or other criteria defined by grantmaker for making assignments.
grades.
score. Aggregation is available only through reporting.
Review Status Notification: Its not possible for the proposal owner, external reviewers, or grants management staff to be
automatically notified when reviews are completed.


colors, and logos.
step.
Pre-Print Viewing and Customization: Lets you view and customize letters before printing them.
Electronic Signatures: The system has limited ability to support electronic signatures through a custom text box, but
cannot provide independent secure verification.

Printed and Electronic Templates: There are no default templates for electronic or tablet view, but the system supports the
creation of sophisticated PDFs for board meetings.
Emails
particular criteria. Group emails are not sent via blind copy.
text and mail-merge type inserted data. You can preview emails after merging them, but cannot edit one-offs.
Email Attachments: Lets you attach files to emails sent to individuals and groups, but these attachments are limited to
PDF files generated by the system.
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see read receipts and notifications of non delivery, but not open, click-through, or
unsubscribe rates for each email.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, as well as if an
applications status changes.
to report contact.
contact at a grantee organization. This log can be threaded and is searchable.
Contact Synchronization: Does not synchronize contacts with Outlook. Contacts can be exported to a file that can be
imported into an external email system.

grantees.
Branching for Evaluation: Lets you set up conditional logic for progress reports, but not branch data collection depend-
ing on type of grant.

staff.
ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. The system does not include suggested formats, but the
vendor works with clients during implementation to configure forms according to best practice.
groups through its report builder.
Payments
Check Requests: Can generate a paper check request for accounting. This requires configuration at no additional cost. Its
not possible to print checks directly from the system.
payments for grants awarded in previous years. This requires customization at no additional cost.
met the associated prerequisite requirements, but requires customization at additional cost.
example, fiscal sponsors), but requires customization at additional cost.
for successful transactions, but requires customization at additional cost.
payment/wire transfer number, but requires customization at additional cost.
steps, but requires customization at additional cost.
payment requirement, but requires customization at additional cost.
mation, but requires customization at additional cost.
Payment Notes: Lets you include notes on payments through administrative forms.
Payment Reporting: Its not possible to pull reports on payments that carry coding attributes of associated requests,
organizations, and contacts.

Other Payment Issues: Lets you void payments, make refunds, and place payments on hold, but these are simply statuses
that dont synch with accounting. Its not possible to update payment details (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in
batch or create payments in batch, although you can batch update statuses. There is no ability to track in-kind and quid
pro quo payments.
Budgeting
year or the total amount awarded, but this requires customization at additional cost.
actuals (approved and pending), but requires customization at additional cost.
requires customization at additional cost.
Budget Basing: Lets you use previous years budgets as a base and adjust them for current year, but requires customization
at additional cost.
purposes, but this requires customization at additional cost.
Multiyear Budgeting: Lets you easily set up multi-year budgeting, but requires customization at additional cost.
What-Ifs: Lets you set up what-if scenarios, but requires customization at additional cost.
Budgeting and Grant Requests: Budgeted line items can be set up to automatically create grant requests.

training.
Favorite Reports, Queries, and Actions: Cannot quickly view favorite reports, actions, or queries without navigating a
much-larger set.
Automating Reports: Program reports can be set to automatically run and send to individuals or groups, but this requires
Visual Reports: Its not possible to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, e.g., charts and graphs.
Individual Dashboards: The system cannot provide dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to
each individual user, or let users create multiple unique dashboards.

Permissions Granularity: You can grant individuals access to granularly view, edit, or delete data for a wide variety of system
functions.
needs.
Audit Logging: Records the majority of data updates, along with the data and the user who made the update, in an audit log.
Data Access
tablets, however, have a screen size sufficient for viewing data and performing data entry via the devices web browser. Audio
and video attachments require Flash, and so cannot be viewed on the iOS operating system. However, Android-based mobile
devices play audio and video attachments.
performing data entry via the devices web browser. Audio and video attachments require Flash, and so cannot be viewed on
the iOS operating system. However, Android-based mobile devices play audio and video attachments.
Data Integrity: The vendor provides robust documentation regarding their security, which highlights the redundancy of the
data stored on its server.
permissions as system-generated fields. Versioning of custom fields is possible, but not recommended.
Online Information Customization: Lets you customize the information requested in online applications and review forms,
including visual design elements.
Support for Multiple Languages: Its not possible to define custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program
without customization.
Ease of Use


Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email support from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. MST, as part of the yearly
support and maintenance fee.
Online Support: The vendoroffers an interactive custom built GO Helpdesk atgograntsonline.org/help. They conduct
monthly training webinars and record/edit training tutorials that are posted to the Helpdesk for streaming.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and documentation. The manual is divided into searchable,
easy-to-read segments to allow feedback from clients.
Training: The vendor provides initial training, which can be onsite, at no additional cost. Each client is assigned a project
lead who answers questions and does training. The vendor spends approx. three months with the client during the intake
phase to adapt their version of the GO system to their needs and processes. During this time, client staff are trained.
User Support Forums: User support forums or discussion groups are available.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 1974 ; GrantsOnline has been in use by clients since January 2010.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have 32 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 5 percent private and 95
percent government.


WIZEHIVE
WizeHives Grant Management System offers a combination of features and affordable pricing that will make this
Online hosted system an attractive option for smaller grantmakers. It is approachable, with a polished layout and
collapsible side navigation menus that make it easy for users to find their way around the system. WizeHives Grant
Management System scores well in grant tracking and online applications, and easily configurable grant review
workflows bolster an already solid application review process. However, WizeHives Grant Management System is
less strong when it comes to creating letters or other print communication, as there is no mail-merge functionality.
An organization with five users, 10 grants per year, and only light online application and review functionality could
pay as little as $2,000 in the first year. An organization that receives more than 500 applications annually and
requires more-robust donor management capabilities might pay closer to $7,000 per year.
Internal Tracking
Tracking by Categories and Codes: Can track by categories, such as geographic or population-based codes. Its possible to
build reports to show the specific percent or dollar allocations across these codes.
Splitting Codes: Its not possible to split grants across program codes without customization.
out the process.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: Grants and applications are only searchable by EIN, legal name, and appID. Searching by grant and program
cycles depends on system setup, which could be configured during initial consultation.
application. Copies of the physical application can be scanned and saved in the system as a PDF or image file.
Taxonomy: There is no built-in compliance for an industry-standard taxonomy in the system. Users have the ability to
customize system menus and field labels to match a standard taxonomy.
Ability to View Related Records and Data Across Records: Its possible to view an organizations payment history by
creating a custom form to capture that data from the organization. The results of forms are included in system reports.
Online Applications

sponsored organizations than 501(c)(3) organizations, but this must be set up by the vendor, possibly at additional cost.
Transfer of Account and History: The client has the ability to add a form to the applicant portal to allow a grantee or
applicant to transfer their account and history to a new staff contact.
Duplicate Accounts: The system does not automatically check each new registrant for potential duplicates, but could be
configured to do so by the vendor at implementation.
Application Auto-Saving: Applications in progress are automatically saved at regular intervals.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system maintains different versions of each form optimized for computer or
mobile viewing.
Unified Accounts: Applicants can use the same account for all funders in the system; they will have to log in from each
funders portal separately, however.
Grantee/Foundation Collaboration: The system allows reviewers and applicants to work back and forth on a proposal
through email only.

fonts, and navigation. Forms can also be embedded in your website as iFrames.
the ability to set maximum and minimum character limits for each field.
around an application form to provide additional instructional text.
Application Review

Printing Grant Summaries: Lets external reviewers print out full grant application information by converting applications
and support materials into a PDF file or through a mail merge but not summaries of grants. Reviewers can easily print
grant summaries or full grant information.
easily.
in the system.
system includes three pre-built workflows that can be used as templates. The client can set conditions for workflow over-
ride.
comments.
Scoring Flexibility: Supports different information or scoring schemes for different programs. Scoring schemes can be
grades.
score.
completed.

501(c)(3) Status Checking: Lets you click on organizations to view their records and tax status in a standard registry of
501(c)(3) nonprofits, such as Guidestar. The system supports tax verification for all 501(c) types.
lists within the grants management system itself. Checks the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

Printing Series of Summaries: Lets you export letter or summary information for a series of grants or grant applications in
a single step.
Electronic Signatures: The system does not support third-party electronic signature services, like DocuSign.
Printed and Electronic Templates: The system includes templates for electronic templates by default. The client can
define print templates through Microsoft Word.

Emails
Email Delivery Reporting: Does not let you see email delivery statistics. Users can contact the vendor to request delivery
statistics.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees. Emails can be
configured to send at a set time after any action, through a custom workflow.
organization. Departed staffers can be marked as no longer with the organization through a custom field or tag, which can
be configured to exclude them from future communication.
Tracking Organizational History: Users can create and run a report to see a history of all grants to an organization.
Report results can be used to populate a new grant application.
Tracking Business Units: The system can only track individual business units under a larger organization by creating
subrecords or subforms.
Multiple Contacts Per Organization: Lets you associate multiple contacts with an organization by allowing applicants to
include additional contacts on the application form. Contacts tracked like this can be emailed or included in report results.
Record of Correspondence: Automatically stores a record of all system-generated email for each grant. Phone calls or other
communication can be manually recorded as notes.
for example, by including a special grants management system email address in the bcc field.

grantees.
staff.

User Groups: The system does not have the ability to support user groups for consistent data collection.
Payments
requirements linked with that conditional payment, but requires you to create a view to dispay this information.
Check Requests: Cannot easily generate paper check requests.
payments for grants awarded in previous years, but requires you to create a view to dispay this information.
met the associated prerequisite requirements, but requires you to create a view to dispay this information.
for successful transactions, but requires custom fields.
payment/wire transfer number, but you have to create a view to do so.
Accounting Integration: Does not currently integrate with any accounting software packages. The vendor can build
custom integrations at implementation.
steps.
mation.
Payment Notes: Can include notes on the record of the grant, but not on the payment record itself.
Other Payment Issues: In general, payment issues are handled through the clients accounting system. Voided/refunded
payments, in-kind payments, or payment details can be tracked in the system through custom fields on the grant record.
Its not possible to update payment details (e.g., general ledger account, fund, etc.) in batch or create payments in batch,
although you can batch update statuses.
Budgeting
Hierarchical Budget Tracking: Does not let you track budgets by hierarchical categories or program areas. Vendor recom-
mends exporting data to Excel for hierarchical budget tracking by defined categories or program areas.

Budget Basing: Lets you use previous years budgets as a base and adjust them for current year, but requires customization
at additional cost.
purposes.
in a proposal.
Program-Related Investments: The system does not support interest repayments on PRIs without the use of custom fields.

training.
Grant Summary Tracking: Can track summaries based on hierarchical codesfor example, to show grant money paid
to each Education sub-program as well as total Education grants, but this functionality would have to be considered and
accommodated during initial setup.
dards. The vendor reports that they can build report templates upon client request.
Automating Reports: Reports are dynamically generated, but there is no way to automatically send the results of a report
to reviewers or users.
Individual Dashboards: The system includes a general overview dashboard, but this view cannot be customized by
individual users.

system functions.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides two different internal interfacesone for owner admin role and one for limited member
roleto provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex needs.
log.
User Dashboards: Provides dashboard views that summarize the grants currently relevant to each individual user, but you
cannot customize the dashboard view.

Board/Management View: The client can create additional review pages, which can be customized to provide a more
focused view for management and board members.
Data Access
feeds to, but not from, an external system. However, the vendor can create a custom integration with other systems, for
additional cost.
Custom Fields: Lets you add custom internal tracking fields for staff use.
Internal Tracking Fields: The system allows for unlimited custom fields, which can be placed nearly anywhere and have
the same permissions as system-generated fields.
Support for Multiple Languages: Its possible for clients to define custom language sets for system navigation and menus,
or create application forms in multiple languages.
Ease of Use
Intuitive Labels: The labels for navigation and action items are not always intuitive, meaning that many users will require
training specific to the system in order toeffectively understand them, but the client has the ability to rename many, but
not all, labels.

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone and email support at no additional cost. Standard response time is one
business day. More rapid response times can be purchased at additional cost.
Online Support: Vendor provides online or chat support at no additional cost.

Manuals and Documentation: Documention is provided online in PDF and video format. The vendor also provides an
online knowledgebase with videos on the system.
Training: Vendor provides initial training for users and judges (on-site or online) at an additional fee. Initial online admin
training is included at no extra charge.

Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2007. The system has been in use by clients since 2008.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 750 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 50 percent private, 10
percent family, 10 percent community, 10 percent corporate, and 20 percent government.

Percent of Survey Respondents Who Would Recommend the System: 100 precent

ZOOMGRANTS
ZoomGrants is a well-laid out, hosted grants management solution centered on requests for proposals (RFPs) and
the grant applications submitted in response to RFPs. Grant applications support an eligibility quiz in addition to
the application itself, and can include fields for post-grant reporting. The system has robust support for the applica-
tion processapplicants can manage their proposals and information for all funders using the system using one
account, and can carry over contact information and other data from one application to another, or from a Letter of
Intent to a proposal. Only applicants, not foundation staff, can make changes to organizational information. Search
functionality is basic; ZoomGrants outputs information to an onscreen report and then requires foundation staff
to rely on their browsers search functionality to hone in on what they need. Merge fields are supported for emails,
but not for printed correspondence, which must be produced by exporting system data to a CSV file to be merged
with Microsoft Word. A foundation with one RFP or grantmaking program could pay as little as $1,495 per year for
ZoomGrants. Each additional grantmaking program adds $1,495 annually.
Internal Tracking
Updating Basic Grant Information: Only the grantee can update basic grant information like project names or codes.
sheets, and PDFs.
Searching: There is no traditional search functionality. Users must run a report to list all contacts and organizations in the
system on-screen. From here you have to use your browsers search functionality to locate the information you want.
Handling Paper Applications: An application received in paper can be entered into the system, but you must log in as a
grantee to do so. System is designed so that grantees control their information rather than the grantor.
File Attachment Method: The system stores attached documents in the database as objects, but can also be configured to
store links to files.
Online Applications
Creating Online Applications: Lets you create new online applications with, at a minimum, file uploads, checkboxes, and
text fields, without additional charges from the vendor. Radio buttons are used in lieu of dropdown fields.
Number of Online Application Forms: Only supports one online application form per RFP, but multiple RFPs can be
run simultaneously.

Support for Multiple Stages: Supports two application stages, including an eligibility quiz and a more detailed application
stage, as well as a post-funding stage for approved proposals.
Transfer of Account and History: The applicant has the ability to change their account information, user ID, and pass-
word, in order to transfer their account and history to a new staff contact.
system.
tion.
Application Formatting: Does not allow applications to be formatted using rich text, groups of questions, or multiple
pages.
Application Auto-Saving: Applications in progress are automatically saved when the applicant moves between fields.
Mobile Device Application Access: The system explicitly supports the application process via mobile or tablet, using
responsive design.
reviewer to comment or make suggestions, and work back and forth until a proposal is complete. For instance, a reviewer
could add a comment visible to the applicant, and the applicant would be notified of the notes existence by email.

Look and Feel: Does not currently let you customize the colors, fonts, or navigation of your online application forms to
match the look and feel of your website.
the ability to set maximum and minimum character limits for each field.
In system Help: The system includes online help for both end users and applicants, including videos and tips. The vendor
provides technical assistance for applicants.

Application Review
Requirements Checklist: Supports a checklist to define the information or documents you require from prospective
grantees by allowing you to add fields to the grant application that are viewable only to administrators. These fields could
comprise a checklist.
Printing Grant Summaries: Reviewers can easily print grant summaries or full grant information by program or date.
Reviewers Portal: Users in the reviewers group are shown an appropriately limited interface.
in the system.
comments.
External Reviewer Profiles: Does not let you track external reviewers interests and potential conflicts of interest without
customization.
grades.
score.
Review Status Notification: Does not allow for automatic notifications when reviews are completed.


Default Print Format: Lets you define a default format for grant application summaries and choose which fields to
include, but you cannot customize the fonts or colors.
Printing Series of Summaries: Does not let you print letters in a single step, but you can print each one individually. It
is possible to print summaries for a series of grants or grant applications in a single step, but only by generating a custom
report.
Electronic Signatures: The system has limited ability to support electronic signatures through a custom text box, but
cannot provide independent secure verification.
Printed and Electronic Templates: There are no default templates for electronic or tablet view, but the system supports the
creation of PDFs for board meetings.

Emails
Email Delivery Reporting: Lets you see the number of emails successfully sent and the recipients, but not the open rate,
click-through rate, and unsubscribe rate for each email, the number of people who clicked on each link, and bounce
reports.
submission.
Schedule-Triggered Email: Lets you set up and send scheduled reminder emails to applicants and grantees, up to 14 days
days in advance of an event, but general emails cannot be scheduled to send in the future.
Tracking Individual History: Its possible to capture multiple individuals on online forms. Lets you keep a record of an
individuals association with a record, even if they leave, for historical and audit purposes, and they will not show up as an
active contact for communications.
Tracking Business Units: Does not currently let you track individual business units under a larger organization, and see
grants for both the individual units and the larger organization.

Defining Grant Requirements: You can manually define grant requirements for each RFP, but cannot set up any default
set of requirements that applies to all grants. You could manually copy requirements from one RFP to another.
Viewing Grant Requirements: From the grant application you can see which requirements have been met.
staff.

ing to different programs) without paying additional vendor fees. You can create custom application for each RFP.
User Groups: The system does not support user groups to collect uniform data.
Payments
Check Requests: Cannot generate paper check requests.
grantee (for example, fiscal sponsors) without customization.
Multi-Currency Support: Only supports grants in a single currency per RFP.
Payment Controls: Does not currently let you set up payment controls to ensure that only certain staff can change pay-
ment information; only the admin role can change payment information.
Other Payment Issues: Voided payments could be recorded in the system as declined; the system has the ability to track
quid pro quo and in-kind payments.
Budgeting

in a proposal.
Program-Related Investments: The system does not currently support interest repayments on PRIs.

Searching and Filtering: Cannot search or filter for grants within the system. This can only be accomplished by exporting
the files to CSV and search from Excel.
to users, but cannot include logos or headers without exporting to Excel.
Automating Reports: Reports cannot be set to automatically run and send to individuals or groups.
Visual Reports: There is no ability to create, view, and export data in a visual graphic representation, e.g., charts and
graphs.
Individual Dashboards: The system provides a dashboard view that summarizes the grants currently relevant to each
individual user. Users cannot create multiple unique dashboards.

ability to customize these roles or what permissions they have. There are four roles: admin, senior admin, reviewer, and
applicant.
Role-Based Interfaces: Provides four different internal interfacesadmin, senior admin, reviewer, and applicantto
provide a simpler experience for users with less-complex needs.
log.
User Dashboards: The system provides a dashboard view that summarizes the grants currently relevant to each individual
user. Users cannot create multiple unique dashboards.
Role-Based Task Assignment: Assigns tasks to users based on roles, but not rules.

Data Access
Dropdown Fields: Radio buttons are used in lieu of dropdown fields. These values are customizable.
Custom Fields: The system lets you create a limited number of custom fields with the same permissions as system-standard
fields. Some existing field names can be customized, but not all. The system keeps a log of when fields are created or
changed for historical documentation.
Support for Multiple Languages: Does not let youdefine custom language sets based on user, group, or giving program,
but can translate the text displayed based on the language settings of the grantees computer.
Ease of Use

Phone Support: Vendor provides unlimited phone support without additional cost, during business hours.
Online Support: No online or chat support is available for the system.
Manuals and Documentation: The vendor provides manuals and documentation, including slide shows, videos, and tip
sheets.
Training: The vendor provides initial training via the internet at no additional cost, and additional training sessions can be
scheduled. In-person training can be scheduled for a nominal fee.


Vendor Background
History: The vendor has been in business since 2002; ZoomGrants has been in use since 2002.
Client Base: The vendor reports that they have about 36 clients. Breakdown by foundation type is 80 percent government
and 20 percent various private foundations.


APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Eligibility Criteria vendors declined to participate in this report: True

Tandem Dynamic Solutions because their product
The constituency for grants management systems is not generally offered without their consulting
can be divided into two broad groups: software for services, and Agate Softwares IntelliGrants, who did
private foundations (including corporate and family not give us a reason for opting out. Another vendor,
foundations) and software for community founda- NimbleNet, did not respond to repeated attempts
tions. We decided that this report would focus on to contact them for this report, and another vendor
grants management software for private foundations, included in previous versions of the report, Grantium
so we narrowed our list by eliminating packages aimed G3, declined to participate in the update process.
primarily at community foundations.
This left us with 28 grants management systems to
Further, we decided our definition of a grants manage- review for our report.
ment system would include only systems capable of
managing the full grant cycle, and which are offered as
free standing products rather than part of a foundation
Evaluation Criteria
back office management service. Systems on our list We started with the criteria used for our 2011 grants
that we knew met these criteria were included on our management report, then solicited feedback on our
final roster, and we emailed an eligibility questionnaire criteria from five experts in the grants management
to vendors of systems less known to us to determine field. In August of 2013, we also posted our evaluation
whether their software fit our grants management criteria for public review on a wiki site, and dis-
system definition. We also disseminated widely a call seminated a call for comment and revision to software
for participation through the lists of the Technology vendors and to the lists of the GMN and TAG com-
Affinity Group (TAG) and the Grants Managers munity. Idealware read and responded to each of the
Network (GMN). Through this process, we rounded comments from close to 50 different contributors.
out our final roster of 28 systems to review.
That process, paired with our expert interviews,
resulted in the addition of 44 new and revised criteria
Product Selection to use when evaluating the 28 grants management
We started with a list of grants management systems systems in this updated edition of our report. Our
that included products known to Idealware, the features comparison is based on a rubric derived from
Technology Affinity Group, and the Grants Managers these evaluation criteria. This rubric is, in turn, based
Network . on the one we used in the first and second editions of
this report, with some changes that reflect both the
From this list, we invited both vendors who partici- addition of the new criteria and the current state of
pated in our 2011 report and vendors of products the field of grants management systems.
that we knew met our selection criteria to demo their
grants management solution for our 2013 report. We From late August to early October 2013, Idealware
then emailed an eligibility questionnaire to vendors of conducted detailed software demos of 28 grants
products we were not familiar with. management packages. These packages were evaluated
against more than 180 criteria for reviews. The results
Based on responses to our questionnaire, five products can be found in the previous section.
did not meet our eligibility criteria for this report. Two

Customer Experience Survey size was very small, and this survey should not be
taken as a rigorously scientific research method. Its
In September 2013, Idealware distributed a customer our hope that the survey represents a facet of the
experience survey through the lists of the GMN and grants management landscape that is different from
TAG community, as well as directly to the vendors the function-based write-ups in this guide.
of the grants management systems included in this
review. We had 637 people take the survey. For each
review, weve published how many people reported
using the grants management software in the survey,
and a score based on their reported experience with
the training, support, and implementation offered by
the systems vendors. For many systems, the sample

APPENDIX B: HOW WE EVALUATED THE SYSTEMS
The reviews are much easier to understand when the vast amount of information gathered is considered through the
lens of typical grantmaker needs. In order to more easily compare strengths and weakness across packages, we created
a rating system based on the common needs expressed in interviews and the features on which packages typically
differed. While every organization will need to decide on the criteria that is important for their own needs, and thus
may rate criteria quite differently than we did, this rating system can provide a starting point for comparison.
Internal Tracking
None / Not Acceptable Basic Solid Advanced
Does not meet the Can track a project Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. name, request
amount, and organi- Lets you attach documents Lets you easily attach
zation. to a grant record, possibly external documents to
by logging into the system a grant record, without
Can track the as an applicant to do so. logging into a separate
program with which a interface as a grantee.
grant is associated. Can track by program cycle
or board meeting date, and Lets you define custom
All information for by categories such as geo- categorization codes for
each grant project graphic or population-based tracking and reporting.
is linked together codes.
through its entire Lets you easily update
lifecycle. Lets you search grants and basic grant information
applications by a number like project names or codes
You can easily retrieve of criteria, including orga- throughout the process.
grant information and nizations legal name, EIN,
status. Lets you easily enter ap-
application ID, program, plications received in paper
and grant cycle. into the system without
Lets you easily update logging into a separate
basic grant information interface as an applicant.
like project names or codes Lets you perform batch
throughout the process. updates of defined coding
OR, applications that are and other fields.
received in paper can be
easily entered into the The system stores attached
system without logging documents in the database
into a separate interface as a as objects rather than links.
grantee. OR, the system uploads
attached documents to the
Lets you easily view related server and stores a link to
records and data across that uploaded file in the
records. database.
Can track by percentage
or dollar allocation across
programs.

Online ApplicationsGrantmaker Experience
Does not meet the Lets you collect ap- Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. plication information
online and view it. Can include file uploads, Lets you create new online
dropdowns, checkboxes, applications without
Can include custom and text fields in applica- additional charges from
dropdowns and text tion fields. vendor.
fields in applications.
Supports multiple ap- Lets you customize a
Lets applicants upload plication stages, including confirmation message to be
files as part of their an automatically scored sent upon submission of an
application. eligibility quiz, a Letter of application.
Intent stage, and/or a more Lets applicants upload a
detailed proposal stage. wide variety of files as part
Automatically pulls data of their application.
from online applications The system allows both
into the core grants individual applicants and
management systemno organizations to apply for
download or upload of data grants from the same grant
files is required. program.
Supports multiple logins for Supports multiple logins
grantees on a single applica- for grantees on a single
tion. OR, grant application application, AND grant
forms can branch at all application forms can
stages, possibly through branch at all stages, possi-
customization. bly through customization.
There is a virus scan or Supports multiple ap-
security feature to prevent plication stages, including
malicious files from being an automatically scored
uploaded onto the applica- eligibility quiz, a Letter
tion or downloaded onto of Intent stage, a more
the system. detailed proposal stage,
and as many other stages as
needed.

Online ApplicationsGrantseeker Experience
Does not meet the Lets applicants view Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. their status online.
Lets applicants save their Both applicant and grant-
System registration application and return to it maker can quickly and
follows standard best at a later point. easily reset lost credentials.
practicesapplicants
enter email address Carries over contact infor- The applicant can create
and password and are mation and other appropri- a preview packet of their
sent a confirmation ate data for an organization grant, which includes
email. or grant from one years either copies of all up-
application form to another, loaded documents or links
or from a Letter of Intent to to them.
a proposalfor example, a The system checks the
narrative entered in a Letter email address of each new
of Intent doesnt have to be registrant to make sure it
re-entered in a proposal. doesnt already exist in the
Applicants can easily view system, and prompts the
or print applications at any user if it is a duplicate.
stage in the process.
Form Design & Flexibility
Does not meet the Lets you, or the Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. vendor, customize
online application Lets you adjust character or Lets you, or the vendor,
forms with your logo, word counts for all fields in customize online ap-
at a minimum. online forms. plication forms to match
the look and feel of your
Lets you adjust char- Lets you adjust character website, including colors,
acter or word counts count, and displays promi-
nently how many characters fonts, and navigation, at no
for at least some fields additional cost.
in online forms. remain on a field.
Lets you customize in- Lets you adjust word as
system help for applicants well as character count,
or grantees. and displays prominently
how many words or char-
OR Vendor can customize acters remain on a field.
in-system help for appli-
cants or grantees. In-system help is customiz-
able (by you or by the
vendor) in the form of
online videos, FAQs, wikis,
or another sophisticated
option.

Application Review
Does not meet the Supports at least a Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. single review com-
ment and rating for Lets you see a history of a Lets multiple reviewers
each application. relationship with prospec- each numerically rate an
tive granteesfor example, application on a number of
Lets reviewers easily what grants theyve applied different factors, and add
print grant summa- for or been given in the comments.
ries. past. Supports different informa-
External or internal tion or scoring schemes for
reviewers can print grant different programs.
summaries or full grant Supports online viewing
information (including and reviewing of applica-
attachments). Lets multiple tions.
reviewers each rate an ap-
plication, with at least one Lets you track external
comment and one numeric reviewers interests, poten-
grade for each application. tial conflicts of interest,
and geographic location
Provides a simplified or area of expertise and
portal interface to allow use those criteria to assign
reviewers to see and review applications for review.
grant applications without
navigating the full grants Lets reviewers see each
management interface. others comments and
grades, if you allow it.
Proposal owner and
management staff can be Lets you view numeric
automatically notified when review scores and report
reviews are completed, them as summary statis-
either via email or within ticsfor example, average
the system. scoreand aggregate
them.
Supports checklist func-
tionality to define what Lets you define automatic
information or documents steps and rules, or work-
you require from prospec- flow, for the grants review
tive grantees. OR, provides process.
strong online application
functionality, including
the ability to reopen online
applications once theyve
been submitted if more
information is required
from the applicant.

Does not meet the Lets you click on Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. organizations to view
their record and tax Lets you create a list of Automatically checks
status in a standard organizations in a format Employee Identification
registry of 501(c)(3) that can easily be used to Numbers against a stan-
nonprofits, such as check them against standard dard 501(c)(3) nonprofit
GuideStar. OFAC and other terrorist registry, and flags those not
watch lists, potentially in a listed.
different system. Lets you compare orga-
The tax status automatic nizations and individuals
check includes auto popula- against standard OFAC
tion of related fields for and other terrorist watch
legal name, EIN, and tax lists within the grants
status. management system itself.
Includes date and time
stamp, which can serve as
an audit trail demonstra-
tion completion of due
diligence step(s).
Lets you perform checks
and updates in batch. OR,
the vendor will perform
checks and updates in
batch for you.

While letters and dockets are quite different from a process perspective, they are technically very similar, and most
systems have a similar level of support for each.
Does not meet the Lets you print a view Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. of each grant applica-
tion. Lets you define a default Lets you define a default
format for grant application format for printing grant
Lets you insert summaries and choose application summaries,
mail-merge data into which fields to include. choosing which fields to
letters, possibly by include, as well as custom-
way of downloading Provides several standard
letter and electronic izing fonts, colors, and
data into Microsoft logos.
Excel. templates that you can
generate using grant record Lets you create letter
information. templates that include
mail-merged information
about grants and organiza-
tions, and lets you custom-
ize their fonts, colors, and
logos.
Lets you print letters or
summaries either individu-
ally or for a series of grants
or grant applications in a
single step.
Lets you view and custom-
ize individual letters before
printing them.
The system provides
support for electronic
signatures, possibly with
external verification.
Emails
Does not meet the Lets you send email Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. through the system to
a single individual. Lets you send email through Lets you create email to
the system to a single individuals and groups
individual or a group of based on templates that
people who meet particular include both standard text
criteria. Group emails are and mail-merge type
not sent as blind copies, but inserted data.
rather as one-to-one. Lets you set up and send
Lets you set up and send scheduled reminders to
automatic emails based on applicants and grantees
certain events. OR, Lets you see the open
lets you set up and send rate, click-through rate,
scheduled reminders to and unsubscribe rate for
applicants and grantees. each email, the number of
people who clicked on each
link, and bounce reports.
Lets you attach files to
emails sent to individuals
and groups.
Does not meet the Tracks organizations Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. separately from
individual grants to Lets you associate multiple Automatically stores
allow you to see a contacts with an organiza- a record of all system-
history of all grants to tion, and define their generated letters and emails
an organization. relationships to you and to for each grant.
a specific grant. Lets you keep a log of
Lets you note interac-
tions with a grantee Lets you keep a log of communications such as
with at least a single communications such as phone calls and emails with
comment field. phone calls and emails with a particular contact at a
a particular contact or a grantee organization.
grantee organization. Can track individual busi-
Lets you keep former staff- ness units under a larger
ers that were associated with organization.
a grant on an organizations Lets you communicate
record without making with a contact according to
them active contacts for their relationship with the
communications. grant or organization (for
Can track individual busi- example, send the payment
ness units under a larger letter to the payment
organization. OR, lets you contact, or email report-
automatically capture emails ing reminder to report
from external email systems contact).
into grantee or organization System allows you to
records. automatically synchronize
contacts with Outlook.
OR,
system allows you to
automatically export
system contacts to Outlook
or Exchange. OR, system
lets you automatically cap-
ture emails from external
email systems into grantee
or organization records.

Does not meet the Lets you easily see Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. which requirements
grantees have met, Lets you define a default Lets grantees view grant
and which they have set of grant requirements requirement deadlines
not. and customize them for online.
individual grantees. OR, Emails to applicants can
lets grantees submit progress include information spe-
report information through cific to the grant program
online data fields. in question.
Lets you store progress Lets grantees submit
report information submit- progress report informa-
ted by grantees in multiple tion through online data
data fields. fields, which you can then
Can automatically email summarize across grantees
grantees to remind them in reports.
about upcoming deadlines. Lets you create custom
Lets grantees submit online progress report
progress report information forms (for example, cor-
through online data fields. responding to different
programs) without paying
additional vendor fees.
Supports evaluation
metrics based on user
groupsi.e., you can
summarize and report on
data based on grantees
programs, geographic
location, or other criteria.
Data collection can branch
based on type of grant.

Payments
Does not meet the Lets you define a Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. payment schedule for
each grant. Can generate a report of The vendor has experience in
the amount scheduled to integrating with at least one
Lets you see what be paid out in a given year external accounting software
scheduled payments (including carryover from package (if the accounting
are upcoming. previous years grants). system is not built in).
Lets you see what Lets you see upcoming Can generate a paper check
payments have been scheduled payments and request for accounting.
made, including whether the grantee has met
amount, date paid, Supports wire transfers by
requirements linked with storing required information
and check number. that payment. and confirmation codes for
Supports payments to successful transactions.
organizations other than Supports grants made in
the primary grantee (for multiple currencies by storing
example, fiscal sponsors). currency and exchange rate
Lets you include a note on a information.
payment. Lets you define a default
Supports grants in a single payment schedule that applies
currency. OR, to all grants, and then adjust
the amounts and dates for
allows for payments to each grant individually.
be made contingent or
conditional upon a specified Allows for payments to be
grant or payment require- made contingent or condi-
ment. tional upon a specified grant
or payment requirement.
Lets you pull reports on
payments which carry cod- Lets you configure audit or
ing attributes of associated security controls to ensure
requests, organizations, and that only certain staff can
contacts. change payment information.
Supports an automated pay-
ment approval process with
configurable workflow steps.
Lets you void payments,
make refunds, and place
payments on hold, which are
attached to workflows within
the system.
There is the ability to update
payment details and create
payments (e.g., general
ledger account, fund, etc.) in
batch.
OR, there is the ability to
track quid pro quo and in
kind payments.

Budgeting
Does not meet the Lets you track either Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. the amount awarded
or the amount bud- Can split grants across Lets you choose whether
geted in a particular more than one program for to track either the amount
year. budgeting purposes. OR, awarded or the amount
Lets you use previous years budgeted in a particular
budgets as a base and adjust year.
them for current year. Can track budgets in
hierarchically defined
categories or program
areas.
Lets administrators view
the impact a particular
grant will have on future
year payouts with a what
if type feature. OR, lets
you track interest repay-
ments on PRIs (possibly
through customization).

Querying and Reporting
Does not meet the Lets you run pre- Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. packaged basic
reports, such as a Lets you search or filter Supports ad hoc reports
standard 990 report, to find a particular set of within the system, which
upcoming payments, grants based on status, can include custom data
or the list of grants program, and cycle, and columns, datasets, sort-
currently being view pre-packaged reports ing, grouping, logos, and
reviewed. based on this customized set headers.
of grants. Can make small updates to
Lets you save reports that standard reports.
you create or modify. Reports can be set to
Supports ad hoc reports, automatically run and sent
which can include nearly to individuals or groups.
any field displayed to users, Users can create their own
possibly by exporting data multiple unique dash-
to Excel for formatting. boards, or a vendor can do
Virtually all system data this for you.
including the data entered Lets you quickly view
into online applications, favorite reports, and
review forms, and grantee possibly queries and
progress reports, if sup- actions, without navigating
portedcan be included in a much-larger set.
reports.
Lets you save ad hoc
Lets you quickly view reports that you create or
favorite reports without modify.
navigating a much-larger
set. OR, can make small Lets you search the con-
updates to standard reports. tents of file attachments.
OR,
There is a process of run-
ning reports that is easy lets you drill down for
enough for casual users to more information on some
run queries independently. or all reports.

Permissions & Workflow
Does not meet the Lets you grant Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. individuals access
(or not) to certain Has at least two different Lets you define user or
large areas of system internal interfacesfor group permissions on a
information, such as a example, an admin view field-by-field basis.
module. and a reviewer viewto Provides dashboard
provide a simpler experience views, which summarize
for users with less complex the grants and tasks cur-
needs. rently relevant to each
Records a number of spe- individual user.
cific actionsfor example, Lets you assign tasks, such
grant approvals, status as the review of a progress
changes, and new grantee report, to particular users
recordsin a system audit through workflow func-
log. tionality.
Lets you grant individuals Provides a standard,
granular access to view, edit, focused, roles-based view
or delete data for a wide for management and board
variety of system functions. members. OR, assigns tasks
to users based on rules and
roles.
Data Access
Does not meet the All data stored within Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. the database can be
extracted by someone Lets you export most data Lets you export all data
other than the vendor. visible to users into another visible to users into another
OR, the vendor agrees file format, such as .xls or file format, such as .xls or
to provide data in a .csv, in a way that it can be .csv.
standard file format used for further reporting. Provides a method, such as
(such as .csv) as part Provides a method, such as an API or a direct ODBC
of the standard license an API or a direct ODBC database connection, to
agreement. database connection, to allow a programmer to
Lets you export core allow a programmer to create custom data feeds to
grant data, such create custom data feeds to an external system.
as project name, an external system. OR,
program, and grant provides apps or views
amount, into another designed specifically for
file format, such as mobile devices (for any
.xls or .csv, in a way purpose).
that it can be used for
further reporting.

Does not meet the Lets you customize Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. the information
requested in online Lets you customize the Lets you add custom
applications, if of- information requested in internal tracking fields
fered, potentially at online applications and for staff use, potentially at
additional cost. review forms at no ad- additional cost.
ditional cost. OR, vendor Lets you customize the
Lets you store custom will extensively customize
information submit- names of fields displayed in
system to your needs, the interface, potentially at
ted by grantees, potentially at additional
such as application additional cost.
cost.
narratives or progress Lets you add a virtually un-
report metrics, in limited amount of custom
separate fields. fields, with an audit log to
Lets you customize track their creation.
dropdown values for Vendor permits clients to
fields such as program extend system functionality
or grant codes. via access to underlying
database and code (as
Ease of Use
Does not meet the Most individuals Users can easily find the Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. could learn how to actions they are most likely
use the system with to take (possibly by looking The interface is polished
training. through a considerable list looking and neatly laid
of options). out.
The interface is polished Navigation and action
looking (though potentially items are labeled intui-
otherwise flawed). tively.
Users can easily find the
actions they are most likely
to take.
The system pulls together
the information and ac-
tions an expert user is
likely to need.
Support & Training
Does not meet the Vendor can be Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. reached for questions.
Vendor provides training, Vendor provides unlimited
Vendor provides potentially at additional phone and email support
either online or cost. within a yearly fee or
printed help manuals. maintenance package.
Vendor provides phone
support. Vendor provides initial
training in person or via
the internet at no addi-
tional cost, and additional
training sessions can be
scheduled.

Customer Experience with Support
The vendor de- Number of respon- Number of respondents Number of respondents
clined to distribute dents who agreed or who agreed or strongly who agreed or strongly
Idealwares survey strongly agreed with agreed with positive state- agreed with positive state-
and/or we did not positive statements ments regarding support ments regarding support
receive enough regarding support was was within 1 point of our was above 1 point of our
responses to be below 1 point of our average score. average score.
statistically mean- average score.
ingful.
Customer Experience with Training
Idealwares survey strongly agreed with agreed with positive state- agreed with positive state-
and/or we did not positive statements ments regarding training ments regarding training
receive enough regarding training was was within .5 point of our was above .5 point of our
responses to be below .5 point of our average score. average score.
statistically mean- average score.
ingful.
Customer Experience with Implementation
Idealwares survey strongly agreed with agreed with positive state- agreed with positive
and/or we did not positive statements ments regarding implemen- statements regarding
receive enough regarding implementation was within .5 point implementation was above
responses to be tation was below .5 of our average score. .5 point of our average
statistically mean- point of our average score.
ingful. score.

Does not meet the The software package Meets Basic criteria, plus: Meets Solid criteria, plus:
criteria for Basic. has been in use by
clients for more than The software package has The software package has
one year. OR, the been in use by clients for been in use by clients for
vendor reports that more than three years while more than three years.
the software package supported by the same The vendor reports that
has more than 10 vendor. OR, the vendor the software package has
clients. reports that the software more than 50 clients.
package has more than 20
clients.
The revenue earned from
the software package covers
the personnel and opera-
tional expenses required to
support it.

APPENDIX C: SUMMARY OF CHANGES TO
RUBRIC FOR 2013 CONSUMERS GUIDE TO
GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
These criteria have been added to the software demo profiles; deleting reviews sent in error; and automated
process after the public comment period on Consum- worfklows about review statuses.
ers Guide to Grants Management Systems wiki and
interviews with five experts in the grants management 501(c)(3) and OFAC Status
space. For a full view of the public comments and
Idealwares responses, see the wiki site at http:// We added criteria about the revocation lists; capability
idealware-grants-mgmt.wikispaces.com/. for both organizations and individuals; tax verification;
linking to external sources like the Foundation Center;
autopopulation of fields; audit trails; and batch update
Internal Tracking capabilities.
We added criteria about the ability to track data
regarding program, geographic areas, and populations Letters and Board Dockets
served; attaching all kinds of files to grant records;
support for an industry-wide taxonomy within the We added criteria about support for electronic signatures;
system; and the ability to view related records and templates for electronic formats; and support for tablet-
data across records. based and online board interactions.
Online Applications (Including Emails

Reuse of Information and Ease for We added criteria about the support for sending individual
Applicants) versus group emails; editing emails after theyve been
merged into a template; scheduling emails; and spell-
We added criteria about support for individuals check.
as well as organizations; eligibility branching for
multiple applications; transfer of account and history
between individuals; duplicate checking; security Relationship Management
scans for attachments; mobile application capabil- We added a substantial number of criteria about tracking
ity; collaboration between staff and applicants; and an individuals history with the organization over time;
unified accounts for grantees and applicants. preserving the records of contacts no longer associ-
ated with organizations without having to delete them;
Form Design and Flexibility automatically customizing communications based on the
individual applicant/grantees role within the organization;
We added criteria about sophisticated online form and synchronizing contacts from multiple organizations.
design capability; character and word counts; and
in-system help.
Application Review We added criteria about a systems ability to support
branching data collection based on specific types of grants;
We added criteria about printing grant summaries; the ability to create online progress report forms; schedul-
ease of viewing attachments; grant review workflows; ing and merging reminder emails; and user groups within
scoring flexibility and aggregation; external reviewer the system to compare metrics.

Payments Support and Training
We added criteria about check requests, notes on Most comments here are covered in the Customer
payments, and reports that preserve coding attributes; Experience survey, such as information regarding
the ability to void, hold, refund, and otherwise alter updates. But we did add a criterion about the avail-
payments; batch updates and creation; and tracking ability of print manuals online.
quid pro quo and in kind payments.
Budgeting Most comments here would be difficult to evaluate us-
We added criteria about the ability for budget line ing our methodology (e.g., Is the underlying software
items to connect to grant requests within the system; architecture state-of-the-art, or does it lag behind its
support for program-related investments; as well as a peers and the information technology industry in
greater focus on scenario-planning and what ifs. general? would be difficult to assess).
Reporting Customer Experience

We added criteria about the general reporting ap- This is a new area of the report for 2013. Some of the
proach of the system (i.e., is it for power users only?); comments were covered by Support and Training,
favorite reports and queries; availability of standard- and some are beyond the scope of this project (e.g.,
ized report formats from the grantmaking sector; Suggest asking how long theyve had the system
automating reports; and the ability to create visual implemented. It would also be interesting to know
data representations, as well as a greater emphasis on how satisfied customers are based on how long theyve
dashboards. had the system. Are long time users happier or less
happy than new converts?). We did add a question
on whether issues from implementation were resolved
Permissions and Workflow in a timely manner.
We added a greater emphasis on the ability to config-
ure ones own workflow.
Methodology
Comments on our methodology were out of the scope
Data Access for this rubric review process, but we did respond to
We added a question on the portability and integrity them on the wiki site.
of system data.
Report Structure
Overall Customization Most comments were beyond the scope of this
We added new criteria about availability and process, but we did respond to them on the wiki site.
capability of custom fields; the customization of In response to comments that the evaluation chart
online information; and the ability to define custom is hard to understand, we will reevaluate the ways
language sets. in which we organize the evaluation information
we publish in the report this year, so that not all 28
systems are compared at once.
Ease of Use
We added a criterion about the modernity and up-to-
datedness of the systems appearance and layout.

APPENDIX D: CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY

1. What system do you use to manage your grantmaking process?

6
Other(pleasespecify)
2. About how long have you had the system you currently use?
6
3. Would you recommend this system to another grantmaker?

6
4. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding support for the
system you use?
I'venever
Stronglydisagree Disagree Agree Stronglyagree contactedthis Idon'trecall
vendor
It'sgenerallyeasytoreach j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
someonewithaparticular
problemorquestions.
Ingeneral,thepeopleI've j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
reachedwereabletosolve
myproblem/answermy
question.
Ingeneral,myquestionsor j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
issuesareresolvedwithin
anhourortwo.
Ingeneral,myquestionsor j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
issuesareresolvedwithin
24hours.
Thevendorprovidesuseful j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
onlineavenuesinwhichto
researchanissueorsolution
myself.
Thevendorisconsistently j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
availableandpromptin
termsofrespondingtoa
questionorotherneed.
Igenerallyhearfromthe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendoraboutpending
updatestothesystem.
Ingeneral,itiscleartome j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
whatisinanupdate.
Ingeneral,updatestothe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
systemarerelevanttoour
needs.
5. Does your vendor offer multiple tiers of support (Basic, Premium, etc.)?
6

6. If so, did you elect to purchase the premium support level?
6
7. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements regrading the implementation of
the system you use?
Iwasnotinvolved
Stronglydisagree Disagree Agree Stronglyagree Idon'trecall inimplementing
thesoftware
Theimplementationofthe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
softwarewentaccordingto
schedule.
Theimplementationofthe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
softwarewentaccordingto
budget.
Therepresentativesofthe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendorduringthe
implementationphasewere
knowledgeable.
Thesystemdeliversonthe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
promisesthevendormade
duringthesalesprocess.
Smallissuesfrom j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
implementationwere
resolvedwithinafewdays.
Largerissuesfrom j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
implementationwere
resolvedwithin12weeks.
8. Do you agree or disagree with the following statements regarding the trainingofferedby
thevendor?
Iwasnotinvolved
Stronglydisagree Disagree Agree Stronglyagree Idon'trecall intrainingonthe
software
Thetrainingofferedbythe j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendorcoversareasof
interesttomeandmy
organization.
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendorisgenerallyhelpful.
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendorisgenerallyeasyto
understand.
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
vendorisgenerallyeasily
accessible.
Ingeneral,thequalityof j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n j
k
l
m
n
trainingofferedbythe
vendorisworthwhatwepay
forit.

9. If using a hosted/online solution, about how often has there been a time when you
couldn't access the system?
6

ABOUT THE REPORT PARTNERS
About Idealware
Idealware, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, provides thoroughly researched, impartial, and accessible resources about software
to help nonprofits and the philanthropic sector make smart software decisions. By synthesizing vast amounts of
original research into credible and approachable information, Idealware helps organizations make the most of their
time and financial resources. Visit www.idealware.org to learn more or view our hundreds of free articles, resources,
and reports.
About the Grants Managers Network

Grants Managers Networks mission is to improve grantmaking by advancing the knowledge, skills, and abilities
of grants management professionals and by leading grantmakers to adopt and incorporate effective practices that
benefit the philanthropic community. Grants Managers Network is a leader in identifying and promoting effective
grantmaking practices through field-wide change efforts. Learn more at www.gmnetwork.org.
About the Technology Affinity Group

TAG is an active community of professionals responsible for information and communications technology in the
philanthropic sector. The community provides the highest quality resources and learning opportunities in an open
and trusted environment. Visit www.tagtech.org to learn more or join TAG.

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A Consumers Guide to Grants

Many thanks to the organizations who supported this research

And to the experts who contributed their time

PAGE 2 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

Considering Grants Management Systems..................................................................................................... 5

PAGE 3 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

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If your processes are complex enough that youre

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Its difficult to think about your own needs or evalu-

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for organizations with A few systems can be almost completely customized to

PAGE 20 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

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So, grants management systems can provide a lot

PAGE 23 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

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PAGE 32 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

As part of this research, we reviewed 28 grants management software packages in

Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers *

Permissions & Workflow

PAGE 34 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers *

Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers *

Form Design and Flexibility

501(c)(3) and OFAC Status

Grant Requirements & Evaluation *

System Querying & Reporting

PAGE 35 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers **

Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers

Grant Requirements & Evaluation *

System Querying & Reporting

PAGE 36 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Systems November 2013

Online Applicationsfor Grantmakers **

Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers

501(c)(3) and OFAC Status

Grant Requirements & Evaluation

System Querying & Reporting

Online Applicationsfor Grantseekers * *