Grant Catalog – Foundant Technologies

The Grant Catalog is a feature that facilitates crowdfunding, co-funding, and other funding needs for nonprofits. It allows fund advisors and the public to donate to a specified list of funding requests. All donations are made to the foundation, which then makes grants to the nonprofits.

The grant catalog can be viewed on the grant catalog tab of the Giving Hub, the (legacy) fund advisor portal or the Fund Management tab of the Portal through a private link, or a combination of those options.

A grant catalog defines the dates that the grant catalog will be available for grant requests and donations, as well as various settings that determine where the catalog can be viewed and how it displays. More than one grant catalog can be active.

Grant Categories organize the grants within a catalog. Grants added to the grant catalog must be assigned to a grant category, so at least one grant category must be created. Consider aligning these categories with your grant type interest menu.

Once a grant catalog and at least one grant category have been created, grants can be added to the catalog. The steps below provide guidance from the creation to closing of a grant catalog with the various steps in between used for configuration.

Step 1: Create a Grant Catalog

Navigate to the Grants page and click Grant Catalogs in the left-side menu.
Click Create in the left-side menu.
Enter the applicable Create Grant Catalog information, and then click Create.
- Name - The description of the grant catalog.
- Request Start Date - First day that grantees can submit grant requests.
- Request End Date - Last day that grantees can submit grant requests.
  - This ends at 11:59 pm.
- Catalog Start Date - Date that the grant catalog opens for donations.
- Catalog End Date - Last day the grant catalog is open for donations.
- Funding Goal - Overall goal of grant catalog.
  - This is optional and for internal purposes. It does not display on the grant catalog.
Enter applicable Edit Grant Catalog information.
- Custom URL - Directs the grant catalog Donate button to a web address different from the CommunitySuite unique url.
  - The Giving Hub Donate button can still be directed to the unique CommunitySuite url for processing purposes.
  - When one grant catalog is used, the Continue Giving button will redirect donors back to the custom url.
  - When more than one grant catalog is used, the Continue Giving button will direct donors back to the CommunitySuite url.
- No Request Amounts - Determines whether a grant has a funding cap.
  - This controls whether or not the grantee can request a specific amount.
    - It relates to the request side of the the functionality, not to the funding side.
  - If checked, grants can be funded to any amount and no adjustment to the amount is needed when the grant is awarded. The award will be what was donated to the grant.
    - The grants stay in the New bucket. The system sees these as funded because there is no request amount.
  - If not checked, a donor cannot fund a grant past the requested amount.
    - When a grant with a request amount is awarded and it was not fully funded, the grant request amount will need to be adjusted down to the funded amount.
- Hide Funded - If checked, the total donation amount that the grant request has received is hidden.
- Auto Approve DAF Grants - If checked, donations to grants made through the fund advisor portal are automatically approved.
  - Auto approve also automates the creation and posting of an internal grant.
- Allow Overfund Grants - If checked, allows donation amounts to be given over the requested amount.
- Hide From Public - If checked, the grant catalog tab is hidden from the donations portal.
  - If not checked and Hide Grant Catalog is not checked in Donations Settings, it will appear during the time frame from Catalog Start Date to Catalog End Date.
- Hide From Fund Advisors - If checked, the grant catalog is hidden from the fund advisor portal.
  - If not checked, the grant catalog will be visible during the time frame from Catalog Start Date to Catalog End Date for all fund advisors who have been given access to the grant catalog tab on the fund advisor portal.
- Private - If checked, grant catalog visibility is restricted to anyone that is provided the unique url.
  - The unique url can be found at the top of the Grant Catalog window after saving.
- Hide Donate Button - If checked, people can view the catalog but not donate.
  - This can be used to let people preview the catalog before launching a giving day.
- Hide Search Box - A search box is available by default which allows donors to search the catalog by keyword.
  - If checked, the search box is hidden.
- Separate Fully Funded - If checked, grants that have reached their funding goal are moved to the bottom of the catalog so grants that still need funding are prioritized at the top.
Enter applicable Grant Categories information, and then click Save.
- At least one category must be entered if it is linked to GLM; otherwise, grant categories are optional.
- Enter any additional category names.
- Enter the Sort Order for the categories.
  - By default, categories display in alphabetical order.

Once a grant catalog has been created, the link to the Grant Catalog tab of the Giving Hub is listed at the top of the Grants page. grant catalog url

The Unique URL for the specific grant catalog is displayed in the Details tab of the grant catalog.

Step 2: Customize Content

Customized content can be added to the email sent to grantees as well as to the request pages. The content fields support HTML.

Navigate to the Grant Catalogs page.
Click the ID of a grant catalog.
Click the Content tab.
Click Edit Content in the left-side menu.
Enter the applicable Edit Grant Catalog information, and then click Save.
- Grantee Invite Subject - Subject line of the email notification.
- Grantee Invite Email Body (HTML) - The body of the email notification.
  - Two merge fields are available for use: {{grantee_name}} and {{request_url}}.
- The following three fields are customized text a grantee will see when creating a grant request.
  - Request Header Text - The header text at the top of the page where grantees with Public Requests enabled begin their application process.
    - Add text to instruct grantees how to start applying for inclusion in the grant catalog.
  - Request Create Header Text - The header text at the top of the grant request page.
    - Instructions detailing how to fill out the form can be entered.
  - Request Submitted - Text the grantee will see after submitting a grant request.
- Header Text - Text that will display at the top of the grant catalog.

Step 3: Add Funding Requests to a Grant Catalog

There are three options for adding funding requests to a grant catalog. Requests can originate in CommunitySuite or for integrated sites they can originate in GLM. The third option is when the application process is skipped and the grants are manually entered by the foundation to the grant catalog.

Option A: Requests Originate in CommunitySuite

Step 1: Enable Grantees to Apply

In order for a grantee to submit a grant request through the online application, they must have a profile that is designated as a grantee with public requests enabled. Profile Designations contains additional information about adding the designation to a profile.

Step 2: Add Grantees to a Grant Catalog

After creating a grant catalog, add grantees who will be invited to participate.

There are two ways to bulk add grantees to the grant catalog. The first uses filtered reports to meet the criteria needed, and the second is based on the public grantee designation that was previously used to add grantees to the grant catalog.

Filtered Report Option

Navigate to the Grant Catalogs page.
Click the ID of the grant catalog.
Click the Grantees tab
Click Add/Remove Grantees in the left-side menu.
Click Filter.
Click the name of the filter to which the list of grantees will populate.
- Is Nonprofit and Organization are two popular filters.
Enter or select the applicable filter information, and then click Apply Report Filter.
Click Add To Catalog in the left-side menu.
Check the box next to each grantee that will be added to the grant catalog, and then click Submit.

Public Grantee Designation Option

The disadvantage to this option is that it is not possible to add or remove the public designation from grantees. This can be used to recreate the list from a previous year; however, it is not recommended for long term use.

Navigate to the Grant Catalogs page.
Click the ID of the grant catalog.
Click the Grantees tab.
Click Add Public Grantees in the left-side menu.
- Grantees that have public requests enabled will be added to the grant catalog.

Step 3: Notify Grantees They Can Apply

Invitations can be sent to grantees individually or in bulk. Before either option is used, ensure the Request Start Date and Request End Date are set on the grant catalog. If grantees try to access the grant catalog outside of this time frame or if those fields are blank, they will not be able to submit a grant request.

Send an Individual Invitation Option

Navigate to the Grant Catalogs page.
Click the ID of the grant catalog.
Click the Grantees tab.
Click [send] next to the grantee's Unique Request URL.
Review Send Grantee Invite contents, and then click Send.

Bulk Send Invitations Option

Navigate to the Grant Catalogs page.
Click the ID of the grant catalog.
Click the Grantees tab.
Click Send Invite Emails in the left-side menu.
Click Send.
- Uncheck any grantees for whom invitations should not be sent.
  - By default, all grantees are checked.

Step 4: Grantees Apply

Once a grantee clicks the URL, they can complete the Grant Request Information form. The form contains the fields below.

Organization
- This field is prefilled with their organization name.
Short Description
Long Description
Amount
Photo
- File must be minimum size of 300 x 300 pixels.
Organization Website
Contact Name, Email, and Phone
PDF document

Once these fields have been completed, the grantee can click Next to review and submit the request.
grant request page

After requests are submitted, staff can review them.

Option B: Integrated Grant Catalog

For users with integration between GLM and CommunitySuite, Integrated Grant Catalog provides instructions.

Option C: Add Grants Manually to the Grant Catalog

Any grant can be added to a grant catalog.

If a grant catalog is added to grants only for reporting and tracking purposes rather than running a grant catalog, the order of operations for when to add grant catalog to the grant is important. If adding grant catalog without running a grant catalog, add the grant catalog after the grant has been posted. If it is added before posting, funding will have to be added back to the grant.

Create a grant, and then click Create.
- Check the Public Donations box.
- Enter the applicable Summary field information that will appear on the Giving Hub.
Before posting, click [edit] next to Grant Catalog.
Select the grant catalog name from the Grant Catalog drop-down menu, and then click Save.

Step 4: Accept Donations

After funding opportunities have been added or approved and specified grant catalog dates are in place, donations can be made through the grant catalog.

Donations made through the grant catalog will automatically be connected to that grant and grant catalog. Any other donation can be connected to a grant catalog and grant.

Grants that have been fully funded through donations will move from the Grants Unfunded bucket to the New bucket.

After a donation has been entered, a grant catalog can be assigned to it.

Navigate to a donation record.
- It can be posted or unposted.
Click [edit] in the Grant Catalog field.
Select a Grant Catalog from the drop-down menu, and then click Save.
If the donation was not posted, post it now.
Click [apply] in the Donation Destinations section.
A list of unfunded grants in the grant catalog will appear. Allocate the donation amount across one or more grants by entering amounts into Apply Amount, and then click Apply Donation.

When a donor makes an online contribution to a grant in a grant catalog, the donation is automatically connected to that grant and grant catalog.

When a donor makes a contribution through the Donations page, it is not automatically connected to a grant catalog. It can be connected to the grant catalog the same way a grant catalog is added to an existing donation.

Edit the Grant Amount for a Partially Funded Grant

If a fund advisor or anyone donating to the grant catalog makes a partial donation to a grant, the total amount in CommunitySuite will need to be edited to match the donation amount.

Navigate to the grant.
- In the example below, the Amount on the grant is the full donation of $1,000 and in the Grant Payment Schedule the amount is $500. This means that the donor only paid $500 and the amount on the grant needs to be edited to match.
Click Edit in the left-side menu.
Enter the exact donation amount into the Amount field.
Click Save.
Click Edit Pay Schedule in the left-side menu.
Select a Payment Date and enter the installment Amount, and then click Save.

Step 5: Close a Grant Catalog

The Grants Catalog will no longer be available online for donations after 11:59 pm on the Catalog End Date. The text that displays when a donor attempts to access a closed grant catalog can be customized in Grant_catalog_closed in Grants Settings.

Once the grant catalog has closed, review the grants in the grant catalog on the Grants page. If they were fully funded, post and approve the total funding that was given.

Grant requests that did not reach the funding goal will need to be edited. They cannot be processed until the requested amount has been edited to equal the funded amount. Then the grant can be posted and approved. Approved grants will move into accounts payable where they will be picked up during the next scheduled check run process.