The in-system grant functionality can help foundations create, process, and manage grants. Grants are processed and paid to grantees, which can be verified utilizing the GuideStar Charity Check for United States clients and Grant Connect Charity Check for Canadian clients. Internal and external grants can be created by internal users, and fund advisors can use their Portal to make grant requests. Grant approvers, also known as grant evaluators in some instances, can review, evaluate, and approve grant requests.
Who: Finance teams, development staff, fund advisors, and grant approvers.
Use the Grants functionality to:
- Create and process internal and external grants for grantees.
- Manage grant approvals using designated grant approvers on a fund.
- Verify grantee nonprofit status using GuideStar Charity Check for United States clients or Grant Connect Charity Check for Canadian clients.
- Manage grant communications and documentation, including generating award letters, printing or emailing grant letters, and attaching them to corresponding grant records.
Grant Buckets
Grants are tracked and processed using Grant buckets, which provide clarity of grant status and improve workflow. The following Grant buckets exist:
Request - Grant requests that are made through the Fund Management tab of the Portal.
Catalog - Requests for funding made by grantees for inclusion in the grant catalog.
GLM - Grants synced from GLM if the integration with GLM is used.
Import - Grants imported via a formatted spreadsheet/.csv file.
Unfunded - Grants that are unfunded.
New - All unposted grants.
Approval - Grants that have been posted and are awaiting approval.
Award Letter - Grant award letters that can be processed.
Voucher - Grants have been approved and are ready to be paid.
Document - Grant letters that are ready for printing.
Paid - Grants that have been paid.
Complete - Grants that have been marked complete. Denied grants are automatically moved to this bucket.
Grant Settings
Grant functionality is largely controlled by the system's grant settings. These can be modified at any time, but most setup occurs during implementation. If grant committees are used, then set up the percent of approvers that are needed to issue grants. If grant approvers do not want to receive email alerts for grant requests and changes, then system generated emails can be disabled in grant settings.
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Grant Types
Grant types and philanthropic interest types can be applied to grants, funds, and profiles; and after setup, they are available in reporting. They can be assigned individually to grantees or bulk updated.
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Create and Process Grants
Grants can be created by organization staff and fund advisors. While similar, there are different processes for creating and processing internal and external grants. Once created, grants move through the system via the buckets listed above. In order for a grant to be approved, grant approvers are designated on the fund, usually at the time of fund setup.
In addition, grants can be copied from existing grants by using the option in the left-side menu. The details copied over can be edited and changed as necessary.
Resources:
- Create and Process an External Grant
- Create a Multi-Fund Grant
- Create and Process an Internal Grant
- Add, Create, and Delete Recurring Grants
- Create Spendable Grants
- Opt Out of Charity Check
Grant Letters
Grant award letters are generated when grants are created and can be used as a pre-award communication tool for grantee notification. Grant letters are generated when grant checks are posted. They can be printed or emailed, and once processed, are attached to the corresponding grant record. Grant letters can also be deleted from grant records. This removes them from the Grants Document bucket.
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Edit Grants
After grants have been entered in the system, they can sometimes require changes. They can be edited or placed on-hold. Grant and voucher dates may be edited in bulk from their associated buckets. Grant recipients may be changed. Use the resources below to guide the change process.
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