Efficiency is an age-old principle requiring us to complete more in less time. As we increasingly rely on automated systems and AI, it’s important to decide which manual tasks can be reduced or eliminated to have more time for tasks of greater importance.
Grantmakers have the difficult task of managing numerous and dynamic aspects across their entire grantmaking process, often leaving them with little time to devote to other important tasks. Automating many of these processes can streamline the workflow, reduce manual labor, and provide more free time for grantmakers to focus on the bigger picture. Automation also helps reduce costly errors associated with manual data entry, ensuring grantmakers can more easily track and manage their grants. Automation has the potential to empower grantmakers with the ability to do better work more efficiently.
Utilizing automation can ease many tedious tasks of being a grant manager. Automation saves time and effort in certain areas, allowing you to focus more on the aspects of grant management system where your direct attention is needed. Using automated tools, you can quickly process large amounts of data, track deadlines, manage financial records, automate tasks, and more.
Another advantage of or grants management systems is the ability to track progress and identify patterns in data quickly. Automated tracking tools can provide valuable insights, such as trends in your grant application process or changes in grant funding sources over time. This information can be used to create strategies for improving performance, resulting in greater efficiency and better outcomes.
Moreover, automation enables grant managers to streamline communication with stakeholders. Automation tools allow users to send automated emails, set up reminders, and access real-time data on the progress of projects. Automated notifications can be scheduled to inform stakeholders about important milestones and deadlines. At the same time, real-time updates can help ensure everyone is aware of changes in funding sources or deadlines.
1. Invest in Automation Solutions:
Automation doesn’t have to be a skill reserved for developers and engineers. Today’s technology makes it easy for anyone in business or operations to automate their workflows. It simplifies the process of getting things done quickly, efficiently, and with accuracy. This can help reduce time spent on mundane tasks so that more important ones can take precedence.
By leveraging the multitude of automated process tools available, such as CommunityForce, organizations can take their grant management operations to the next level. These solutions make it easy for businesses to transfer data between systems, allowing them to optimize the use of their resources. By automating standard tasks, organizations can free up more time that can be devoted to other parts of grant management.
This is especially beneficial for larger organizations that handle a large volume of grants regularly and who may not have the time or resources to dedicate to such tasks. Automated processes are also much more reliable than manual ones, reducing the possibility of errors and resulting in smoother operations overall. With so many helpful tools available, organizations can ensure their grant management processes are running as efficiently as possible.
In addition to automation tools, a myriad of other technologies can be used to streamline and optimize the grant management process. Business intelligence software integration with CommunityForce such as Microsoft Power BI can be employed to track progress and analyze data.
CommunityForce provides these and other automation tools to simplify Grants Management Processes and help grant managers manage their grant programs more efficiently and effectively – saving them time, effort, and energy while creating better outcomes for their stakeholders. With CommunityForce’s powerful integration with Microsoft Business Intelligence, Salesforce NPSP, Blackbaud, DocuSign, Guidestar, Ellucian, and many more, grant managers can enhance their operations in previously impossible ways. Utilizing these tools can help grant managers achieve their goals more quickly and with greater success.
2. Automated Communications:
To effectively manage grants, all stakeholders must be kept up-to-date. This includes notifying reviewers and any other relevant parties. However, manually sending out all of these emails and notifications is impractical and time-consuming.
The good news is that you can automate much of your communications process with the help of the right technology. By using automated communication tools, you can ensure that your grant program is running smoothly and efficiently. You will also be able to monitor progress and review feedback from all parties involved quickly. Automated communications will help streamline this process and make it easier for everyone involved.
This is where automated communications come in. For example, in CommunityForce, you can send tailored emails, notifications, and even SMS messages without switching between different applications. Not only does this save time and energy, but it helps to ensure that your grantees receive the fast response they need to move forward with their projects quickly and successfully.
CommunityForce’s platform allows you to mass-email applicants about upcoming deadlines or the status of their applications. Additionally, reviewers can be notified whenever new programs become available, or other updates are made. The scheduling feature allows you to pre-draft emails and create triggers that will notify you when automated notifications are sent out. This is a great way to ensure everyone is informed and up-to-date on critical information, all according to your time zone.
CommunityForce also offers a reporting feature that allows you to monitor the progress of your applications in real-time. When multiple people are involved in managing grants, automating the process gives users instant access to information at any time during the grant lifecycle. This will help you stay organized and ensure everything runs smoothly.
3. Grants Management Workflow Automation:
The grant application process is often lengthy and complex but necessary for success. Automating the workflow makes this process more efficient and ensures that grants are administered in a way that is fair to all applicants. Doing so can save a great deal of time, ensuring that everything goes through a consistent sequence. This not only improves the grantmaking process but also helps to guarantee an equitable distribution of funds across many worthy causes. This process can be streamlined for maximum efficiency and accuracy by taking advantage of automation technology.
Automating the review process for grant applications can help streamline workflow. Setting up automated review stages allows grant managers to assign each application to multiple parties for evaluation quickly.
Organizing these reviews into distinct stages also makes tracking and managing progress easier. For instance, you can create a stage for initial screening, where reviewers can quickly decide whether to accept or decline the application. This makes it easy to quickly determine which applications have the most potential for a successful grant award.
Another important aspect of automated review stages is providing feedback. At each stage, reviewers can give comments on the application for the team or applicant to consider and address before passing on to the next step in the review process. This helps ensure that all relevant information is considered before making a final decision.
Streamlining the grant review process sets off a series of triggers that ensure each individual in the review team is notified and instructed to take their part in the next step. This way, applications can be swiftly moved along for approval, rejection, or referral to the right nominees or managers.
In addition, an automated system increases accuracy and efficiency while freeing up resources to take on other activities. By implementing a grant review workflow, organizations can be sure that they are taking the most effective steps to manage grants and guarantee approval for deserving applications.
Within CommunityForce, you can customize workflows to fulfill the needs of your grant program and accommodate its lifecycle.
4. Schedule and Automate Grant Reports:
Once the grant has been awarded, tracking and monitoring its progress is often the most laborious phase of a grant management plan. It’s important to ensure that funding objectives are being met and that the mission remains on course.
Rather than letting anything slip through the cracks, automation can be used to ensure that project reports are scheduled and assigned as grants are awarded and according to your program timeline.
With CommunityForce, grantmakers have the ability to generate various grant report forms as needed. This could pertain to programmatic, financial, KPI, or other relevant information. This process can be automated by creating pre-set notifications that are sent to both the grantees and members of the team in order for deadlines and time efficiency to be met.
Moreover, the ability to run custom reports allows grantmakers to measure progress against goals and objectives quickly. With a few clicks, they can generate Grantee Profiles that provide insights into their grantees’ performance in key categories such as impact, compliance, or risk level. This helps them make better-informed decisions about funding allocations and project direction.
In addition to text and data, CommunityForce allows for including rich media content like videos, images, and audio. This helps grantmakers effectively review the project in question and assess the impact of the grant upon completion. CommunityForce platform also offers reporting tools that allow funders to effectively access real-time insight into their investments. These capabilities help grantmakers gain actionable insight and inform decisions around future grants.
Grant management is an essential part of philanthropy that brings a host of responsibilities. Many tasks require grantmakers to pay close attention to the finer details, while others are more repetitive and can be tackled through automated processes. Taking advantage of these automation strategies can alleviate some of the stress associated with repetitive tasks and improve your overall efficiency.
Did you know that organizations spend hundreds of hours annually on grant administration? From maintaining ad-hoc systems to updating spreadsheets, imagine the time you could put toward revenue-generating tasks if you were to automate processes. With grant management software like CommunityForce, you can automate award management , grant research, reminders and post-award report generation.
We invite you to join us to demonstrate our grant management platform, where we can show you how CommunityForce can support your granting efforts. With the right technology partner, your organization will have the tools to track impact and fund confidently.
Whether you’re a startup organization or a leading corporation, CommunityForce provides fully customizable, all-in-one online grant management solutions to maximize your efficiency, simplify complex processes, and improve collaboration so you can focus on increasing your impact. We’ve helped organizations streamline their entire process no matter the size and scope of their giving.
