A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Software

8/13/2019 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Software

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PAGE2 A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Software October 2011

Authors

Jay Leslie, IdealwareLaura Quinn, Idealware

Chris Bernard, Idealware

Many thanks to the organizations who supported this research

The Grants Managers Network

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

The Technology Affinity GroupAnd to the experts who contributed their time

Joseph Behaylo, Open Society Foundations

Ignacio Estrada, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

Jonathan Goldberg, Surdna Foundation

Lisa Pool, Technology Affinity Group

Martin Schneiderman, Information Age Associates

Rebecca Van Sickle, The Atlantic Philanthropies


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CONTENTS

Executive Summary .................................................................................................................................4

Considering Grants Management Systems ..........................................................................................6

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................7

Do You Need a Grants Management System?.......................................................................................9

What Types of Systems Are Available? ................................................................................................. 10

What Do Grants Management Systems Do? .........................................................................................12

What Do These Systems Cost? ...............................................................................................................22

What Packages Are Available? ...............................................................................................................23

Comparing the Systems .......................................................................................................................... 30

Comparison Chart .......................................................................................................................................31

How to Decide ............................................................................................................................................ 35

Reviews of the Grants Management Systems ...................................................................................37

Altum Easygrants ...................................................................................................................................... 38Altum proposalCENTRAL ........................................................................................................................44

Bromelkamp Akoya.net ........................................................................................................................... 50

Bromelkamp First Pearl ........................................................................................................................... 56

Closerware GrantMaker ........................................................................................................................... 62

Dulles Technology Partners WebGrants .............................................................................................. 68

Foundant Grant Lifecyle Manager .........................................................................................................74

FusionLabs GrantedGE ............................................................................................................................80

Good Done Great Grant Management System ................................................................................... 86

Grantium G3 ............................................................................................................................................... 92

GrantStream GrantRight ...................................................................................................................... 98

JK Group ....................................................................................................................................................104

MicroEdge GIFTS ......................................................................................................................................110

MicroEdge GIFTS Online .......................................................................................................................... 116

NPower Foundation Grant Manager .................................................................................................... 122

Oceanpeak Common Grant Application ............................................................................................. 128

PhilanTech PhilanTrack .......................................................................................................................... 134

SmartSimple GMS for Private Foundations ......................................................................................140

Solpath Fluxx ............................................................................................................................................146

WESTAF GrantsOnline ......................................................................................................................... 152WizeHive Grant Manager .......................................................................................................................158

ZoomGrants ..............................................................................................................................................164

Appendices ............................................................................................................................................ 170

Appendix A: Research Methodology .................................................................................................... 171

Appendix B: How We Evaluated the Systems .................................................................................... 172

About the Report Partners .................................................................................................................... 183


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Grants management software helps grantmakerssave time, make their processes more effective andtransparent, and can even transform the way they do

business. The options in grant management systemsare growing every year, and there are currently moresolid systems than ever before.

This expansion of the market is great for grantsmanagers, but the array of choices can make it com-plicated to decide what system makes sense for anygiven organization. This report explores the systemsavailable to help private foundations accept andreview applications and track grants throughout theirlife cycles, with detailed comparisons of 22 systems.

Community foundations differ from private founda-tions in several important areas, and are thereforenot included in this reportwe also have a report ongrants management software for community founda-tions that well release soon after this one.

What Systems Are Available?Theres a huge variety of grants management systems,ranging from options for small foundations at only

a few thousand dollars a year, specialty options forniches like arts grantmaking or medical researchfoundations, and robust, completely congurable

solutions for large foundations starting at $100,000 ormore.

Low cost for simple needsMore functionality isnt necessarily better. If youhave only a small grants program, a straightforwardsystem with a lower price tag could provide exactly thesupport you need. Consider BromelkampsAkoya.net, Closerware GrantMaker,Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager, MicroEdgeGIFTS Online, Oceanpeaks Common GrantApplication, WizeHive Grant Manager orZoomGrants.

Flexible relationship management

If you are hoping to track not just the basic detailsof a grant, but complex custom tracking informationabout applications and relationships, consider thegrowing number of systems geared to support thisneed with customizable options and strong supportfor relationship management, such asBromelkampAkoya.net, Bromelkamp First Pearl, Good Done

Great Grant Management System, MicroEdgeGIFTS, MicroEdge GIFTS Online, NPowerFoundation Grant Manager, SmartSimple GMS

for Private Foundations orSolpath Fluxx.

Complex online data collection needs

If your core priority in a grants management systemis to collect complex application and grantee progressreport data online, a number of systems provideboth strong online support and useful general grantsmanagement functionality. Consider CyberGrants,

Good Done Great Grant Management System,JK Group, PhilanTech PhilanTrack orNPowerFoundation Grant Manager.

Complex application review needs

Some systems provide very little functionality to sup-port complex review processes, while others providecomplex scoring mechanisms, online forms to allow

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Theres a huge varietyof grants managementsystems, ranging frombasic options at only a

few thousand dollars ayear to robust solutionsfor large foundationsstarting at $100,000 ormore.


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outside reviewers, and even specialized functionalitygeared toward reviewing arts projects or medicalresearch applications. If review functionality is a corepriority, considerWESTAF GrantsOnline, DullesTechnology Partners WebGrants, GrantStreamGrantRightorAltum proposalCENTRAL.

Strong all-around functionality

for the large foundation

If you need all of the aboveand are willing to payfor itlarge enterprise systems provide strongfunctionality and customization for a larger pricetag. ConsiderAltum Easygrants, Grantium G3,FusionLabs GrantedGEor MicroEdge GIFTS.

Whats Changed?We released the rst edition of our Consumers Guideto Grants Management Systems in 2008, and sincethen the eld of systems has evolved substantially.The number of vendors offering tools has greatlyexpanded, providing many more options for smallerfoundations at affordable costs. Online hostedsystems are also becoming the norm. While a fewtraditional installed systems remain available, allthe vendors in this report offer an online hostedoption. These hosted systems can be compelling tograntmakersthey allow program staff to login to thesystem from anywhere with internet access, and tend

to provide better support for online applications andonline grantee communications.

On the higher end, systems are adding compellingfeatures. Far more systems offer customization peruserfor instance, to show a dashboard of thetasks a user is likely to want to take on, or to providedifferent interfaces for different types of roles. Asan example, a grants manager might see an interfacethat allows sophisticated data management, whilea program ofcer might see one thats pared down

and easier-to-use. More advanced functionality, like

branching in online forms and robust budgetingfacility, have become far more common. The grantsmanagement system marketplace is becoming morevibrant, with healthy competition creating bettersystems for both small and large grantmakers.

Comparing the SystemsHow do all these packages compare? Its impossible tsay in a few quick paragraphs, but this report provideboth a high-level look at the systems and a closer loo

at the details behind them. Quick paragraph blurbsdescribe the core strengths and weaknesses of eachsystem, and a comparison chart (starting on page 30)shows how they stack up across a set of 17 differentcriteria. Finally, the reviews of the systems provide adetailed, six-page summary of each system that showhow it addresses more than 125 different criteria.

The grants management software marketplace hasnever had a better set of options to support effectiveand efcient grantmaking, and this report helps gran

makers understand how all these options compare.

The number of vendorsoffering tools hasgreatly expanded,providing many moreoptions for smallerfoundations ataffordable costs.


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CONSIDERING GRANTSMANAGEMENT SYSTEMS


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Grantmaking programs are complicated to manage.Even the relatively small programs can involve track-ing dozens of applications, reviewers, requirementsand payments. But grants management software appli-cations can help by saving grantmakers time, makingtheir processes more effective and transparent, andeven transforming the way they do business.

Grantmakers choices are growing each year, and thesystems available to them range in complexity andprice. Small packages can support straightforwardonline application, review and progress reportingprocesses for less than $3,000 a year, while sophisti-cated, highly customizable systems might costupward of $200,000.

How do you choose the right system for your needs?This report is a good place to startweve done alot of the work for you. Well explore the availableoptions for accepting and reviewing applicationsand tracking grants throughout their life cycles, takea look at what grants management systems do, andcompare the strengths and weakness of the packages

available for United States-based foundations. Thenwell recommend packages that might work for yourorganization based on your specic needs.

This report focuses on systems that helpprivatefoundationsmanage their grantmaking process throughthe entire grants lifecycle, including payment tracking.Community foundationsdiffer from private foundationsin several important areas, and are therefore notincluded in this reportwe also have a report ongrants management software for community founda-tions that well release soon after this one.

Note that theres another kind of grants managementsystem entirelyone designed to help the recipientsof grants rather than grantmakers. These systems helpnonprots manage proposal submissions and grantstheyve received, and confusingly, are also known asgrants management systems. They are not includedin this report.

Whats Changed Since theLast Report?

We released the rst edition of our Consumers Guide toGrants Management Systemsin 2008, and since then, theeld of systems has evolved substantially. The numberof vendors offering tools has greatly expanded,providing many more options for smaller foundationsat affordable costs.

Online hosted systems are also becoming the norm.While a few traditional installed systems remainavailable, all the vendors in this report offer anonline hosted option. These hosted systems can becompelling to grantmakersthey allow program staffto login to the system from anywhere with internetaccess, and tend to provide better support for onlineapplications and online grantee communications.

INTRODUCTION

Well take a look at whatgrants managementsystems do, andcompare the strengthsand weakness of thepackages available

for grantmakers.


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On the higher end, systems are adding compellingfeatures. Far more systems offer customization peruserfor instance, to show a dashboard of thetasks a user is likely to want to take on, or to providedifferent interfaces for different types of roles. Asan example, a grants manager might see an interfacethat allows sophisticated data management, whilea program ofcer might see one thats pared downand easier-to-use. More advanced functionality, likebranching in online forms and robust budgetingfacility, has become far more common.

All of this is good news for grants managers, but itcan make it even more complicated to decide whatsystem makes sense for you. Dont assume that asystem provides the best mix of features and price foryour needs just because a number of other people areusing it.

More advancedfunctionality, likebranching in online

forms and robustbudgeting facility,has become far morecommon.


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If your processes are complex enough that yourewondering whether a grants management systemmight be helpful, its probably worth taking a lookat the available packages. Generally speaking, grantsmanagement processes can be complicated. Evengrantmakers who give just a dozen or so grants a yearmight nd a system usefulespecially if they involvemultiple people in the review process, pay grants

in more than a single payment, require progressreports from grantees, or want to look at reports thatsummarize information about their grantmaking inaggregate.

Another key benet of a packaged system, evenfor a small foundation, is the ability to collect dataonlinefor example, grant applications or granteeprogress reports. If youre considering shifting yourprocesses online, a grants management system canprovide both online and grant-tracking functionality ina single package.

As a rule of thumb, if you nd your grants cant easilybe tracked on a single Excel worksheet, a packagedsystem is worth considering. You should also lookat the available packaged options if youre debatingbuilding something yourself, such as a MicrosoftAccess database to track grants, or web forms toaccept online applications. Custom-built functionalityis almost always a bigger long-term investment, bothto build and support, than organizations expect. Itshould be a last resort when its clear nothing on themarket will meet your needs.

With a few recent additions to the market that costless than $4,000 per year, there are more lower-costoptions than there ever have been before. For mostorganizations that make more than a handful ofgrants per year, theyre worth a look.

DO YOU NEED A GRANTS MANAGEMENTSYSTEM?

If you find your grantscant easily be trackedon a single Excelworksheet, youlllikely find a packaged

system helpful.


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As you start to consider your options, think throughwhat typesof systems might work for you before con-sidering specicsystems: Hosted Online or Installed,Integrated with Back-Ofce Services, Specialized forCommunity Foundations, or Custom-Built.

Hosted Online SystemsA growing number of grants management systemsare hosted entirely online, accessible through webbrowsers. In this model, sometimes called Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), you pay a software vendor toprovide online access, and the softwarealong withall your grants datais stored on the vendors servers.The benets are that you dont have to purchase anyhardware, the vendor handles software updates anddata backups, and your staff can access the system

from anywhere theres an internet connection.

But recent well-publicized security breaches involvingonline services have led some to question this kind ofsystem. The truth is, it can be quite securein fact,many banks and hospitals with far greater securityneeds rely on similar models. Security issues are notlimited to SaaS platforms; similar breaches have oc-

curred with systems installed on site at organizationaldata centers behind company rewalls.

The online systems currently available typically offerstrong support for online data collection, includingonline applications, review processes and progressreports. They range from straightforward, inexpensivepackages that cost less than $3,000 per year all theway up to very sophisticated, customized systemsfor $200,000 per year or more.

Installed Systems

A more traditional option, these systems are pur-chased up front and installed onto your network andyour staff s computers. Many of these systems onlyrun on the Microsoft Windows operating system, soif your organization uses Mac or Linux machines, youmay have a difcult time nding one thats compat-ible. With this model, youre responsible for softwareupdates and data backups.

The available installed systems tend to be strong inthe kinds of features that can help your staff managea complex process, such as the ability to code grantswith keywords and easily create printed letters, butweaker in online data collection. They typically costmore in the rst year than the online systems, rangingfrom $15,000 to $200,000 or more for the rstyear, but many are more affordable on a per-yearbasis after that.

A few of the higher-end systems use a differentinstalled model, and offer software that you buy andinstall on your own web serverlike online hostedsystems, your staff can then access it from anywheretheres an internet connection, and it easily supportsonline data collection. It also provides more controlover technical details than a hosted system. However,youll need to purchase the hardware required to host

WHAT TYPES OF SYSTEMS ARE AVAILABLE?

It makes sense to think

through what typesof packages mightwork for you beforeconsidering specificsystems.


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Custom-Built Systems

This report focuses on packaged solutions, butbuilding your own system can be a useful alternativefor large foundations with truly unique needs. Goingdown this road merits caution, however, as it can beexpensive, lengthy and risky. Make sure you have agood reason to build a system around your unique

needs rather than standardizing your processes tobetter match industry best practices. And thinkthrough the long-term ramications of becominga software developeryoull not only need to payto create the system initially, but to maintain it andupgrade it to match changes in your processes orother software packages.

If you are looking into building a custom system,consider starting with a exible platform, such asSalesforce.com or Microsofts SharePoint. This

strategy can give you solid base functionality thatcan be customized and built on to meet your needs.Salesforce.com is a highly extendable online systemwith strengths in managing constituent informationand internal workow. SharePoint provides a toolsetwith sophisticated document management facilitiesand support for integrating online and ofine data.Both are currently used for basic grants managementby at least a few foundations.

the system, and youll need qualied IT staff to installand update the software, and backup the data. Youllalso need to ensure that the system is hosted securelyand reliably.

Systems Integrated with BackOffice Services

A few companies offer online grants managementsystems as part of a much larger service offering thatincludes staff support for a full range of back ofceservices, like payment processing, mailings, account-ing and tax preparation. This report does not coverspecic service providers. While we do include asummary of one system offered by a service companyas a standalone product, in general, if youre consider-ing this option, youll want to look well beyond thefeatures offered by their grants management system.

Specialized CommunityFoundation Systems

Community foundations often have such complexrequirements on top of the more universal grantsmanagement needs that a group of software packageshas been developed to meet them. Because thisreport focuses on private foundations, it doesntcover community foundation systems; our soon-to-

be-released follow-up report will look at communityfoundations and the specialized systems designed tomeet their needs.


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WHAT DO GRANTS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS DO?

Its difcult to think about your own needs or evalu-ate the systems that are available without a solidunderstanding of what types of features are possibleand which are common. Based on our interviews withfoundation staff and reviews of various systems, welearned a few things about whats typically availableand about whats desirable. More is not always better.The right system for you organization is the one thatbest supports your needs, not necessarily the one thathas the most features. Feature-rich solutions can alsobe needlessly complex, and may present an unneces-

sarily high learning curve for your staff.

Use this section to construct a list of the features thatmight be useful to you, and then carefully prioritizethe list for your own organization.

Internal Tracking

At its simplest, a grants management system needsto do two things: store basic information about grant

projects so you can easily retrieve it (for example,project name, organization and contact person), andtrack the projects status as it moves through yourorganizations process. Useful additional featuresinclude the ability to upload documents, such asproof of 501(c)(3) status, or electronic copies ofproposals in various le formats. Every system welooked at handles these basic functions, but withvarying degrees of ease and exibility.

If you plan to receive grant proposals by means other

than an online application, such as email or post,make sure the software accommodates you. Whilesome packages provide forms to facilitate data entry,others expect all grant project information to beentered by grantees and make it difcult or impossiblefor grantmakers to change project names, updatecontacts or upload documents themselves. Some evenrequire grantmakers to log in as grantees, which is anawkward step.

The ability to categorize grant projects also varieswidely between systems. Consider how youd liketo label grant projects in order to group them andreport on themfor example, by grant program, bygeographic or population-based categorization code,

or by other elds such as dates. Will the system allowyou to code based on your strategy? Grantmakerssometimes need to make similar updates to dataacross several grant records. Some grants managementsystems nicely facilitate bulk changes to data whileothers leave you to make such updates on a record-by-record basis.

Online Applications

Grantmakers are increasingly accepting grant propos-als online, which can considerably streamline opera-tions by reducing the need to manage paper proposals,enter data and follow-up on missing information.However, grants management software varies widelyin its support for online applications. Some barelysupport them at all; others are built around them.

Software varies widelyin support for onlineapplications. Somepackages barely

support them, whileothers are builtaround them.


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Online applications collect information from prospec-tive grantees in online data elds like text boxes, drop-down boxes and checkboxes, and let grantees uploadles. More advanced systems might include complexbudget forms, or the ability to submit a portfolio ofwork. Most also support applications with multiplepages and sections.

All systems allow you to customize the elds thatyou collect, but some make it easy for you to add orupdate elds yourself. Other charge you for everychange. Check to see if you can customize forms withyour organizations logo, colors and fonts to matchthe rest of your website.

Online application processes can grow complicated,especially if you accept unsolicited proposals. Somepackages support an interactive qualifying round,

sometimes called an eligibility quiz, in which ap-plicants answer a few questions to determine whethertheyre allowed to move forward in the process.Most allow at least a two-stage process that supportsboth an initial Letter of Interest and a more detailedproposal. If your application process contains

multiple stages, check to see if the software will rollinformation from one stage to the next so granteesdont have to re-enter a project description with aproposal if theyve already entered it with a Letter ofIntent. Most systems also allow applicants to avoidlarge amounts of redundant data entry by lettingthem reuse information from one application stage toanother, and from one application to the next.

Its important to consider the grant applicantsexperience in using the online application form. Forexample, online forms can time out unexpectedlyand lead to the loss of signicant time and data entry.Some systems mitigate this by automatically savingonline form entries at regular intervals or warningapplicants to save. Applicants should also be ableto save incomplete applications and return to them.Most online application tools let applicants usebrowser-based spellchecking to proof their work, but

a few packages include built-in spellcheckers. Wantmore information about this area? Our StreamliningOnline Grant Applications: A Review of Vendorsreporttakes a detailed look at the software features that canmake the grant application process easier for bothgrant applicants and grantmakers.

Most systems allow grantees to register themselvesand set a user name and password. You can limit theregistrations by selectively sharing the web address.Some of the more advanced systems let prospective

grantees set up multiple accounts for a single applica-tionfor example, to allow a nancial staff memberto enter budget information. A few even supportsubmissions from other sources, such as references,that are kept invisible to the applicants.

Once applications are submitted, applicants shouldreceive conrmation emails. Some systems let youcustomize the text of that email. Check to make suretheir application then ows seamlessly into your ownadministrative interfaceif not, youll have to take

the time to do manual data transfers. Can applicantscheck the status of their requests online as they movethrough your review process? If not, theyll have tocall you for updates.

Its important to

consider the grantapplicants experiencein using the onlineapplication form.For example, onlineforms can time out

unexpectedly and leadto the loss of significanttime and data entry.


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grant programs or do you have to apply the samestandards to all applications? Its useful to be ableto view summary statistics about those scoresforexample, comparing average scores between differentproposalsand allow reviewers to see the scores andcomments of other reviewers.

Many systems allow reviewers to see and rate ap-

plications online. This allows internal staff to reviewapplications from any location, and provides anopportunity for you to involve people from outsideyour organization as reviewers. If you do plan toinclude external reviewers, consider features thatallow you to manage this process in detail. Canreviewers choose which proposal to review? Can theyag conicts of interestfor example, if they workfor the same university as a grant applicant? Can youmatch reviewers to proposals based on keywords orsee how the average scores of reviewers compare

in order to identify those who will typically scoreproposals higher or lower? Can foundation staff benotied when reviews are completed?

501(c)(3) & OFAC Status

As a routine part of the review process, grantmakersoften check applicants tax exempt, or 501(c)(3),status. Many grant management systems allow youto easily click through on an Employee Identication

Number (EIN) to see the applicants record and taxstatus on GuideStar, the online nonprot organiza-tion database. Some allow you to screen capture theGuideStar record, which is useful for audit purposes.A few even check the status of each organizationautomatically and ag those that are not tax exempt.

Laws passed in the wake of September 11, 2001,suggest that grantmakers should check all granteeorganizations and contacts against the Ofce ofForeign Assets Control (OFAC) lists of individuals

and organizations with terrorist ties. Although theressome debate about the appropriateness or effective-ness of this requirement, it may be helpful to yourorganization to have software features that facilitatethe process. Some systems integrate with externalOFAC list-checking websites or systems to make iteasier to ag possible matches. Others provide theselist-checking features within the grants managementsystem itself.

Application Review

Once youve received grant applications, a grant man-agement system should help manage the process ofreviewing them and deciding what to fund. For simpletracking purposes, some systems provide a checklistto help ensure you have all the information you needto consider a grant.

Make sure its easy for application reviewers to seeand print all the information necessary to consideran application. For example, can you easily printan application summary, or only a document withevery eld and attachment in the proposal? Can yousee whether youve previously awarded any grantsto the applicant? It can also be useful to providereviewers a stripped-down version of the system sothey dont have to wade through every detail of an

application to nd the relevant information andadd their comments.

Software packages provide varying degrees of sup-port for more complex review processes. For exam-ple, will the system let you track comments and scoresfrom more than one person? Can you dene complexscoring criteria, such as multiple scores grouped intocategories? Can scoring criteria vary between different

Packages providevarying degrees ofsupport for morecomplex review

processes. Can youtrack comments frommore than one person?Store complex scoringcriteria? Let peoplereview online?


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Creating Letters and Board Dockets

Grants management processes can be document-heavy. Grantmakers often need to create not onlyprinted letters, but also printed board dockets that al-low board members to review all the proposals underconsideration. Systems with sophisticated functional-ity in this area allow you to create your own letter and

docket templates, which can include personalized text,mail-merged grant data, and custom formats, fontsand logos. Many integrate with Microsoft Words mailmerge functionality.

If you will be printing letters or docket informationfor a large number of grants at one time, somesystems allow you to easily create documents for awhole pool of grants in a single step. It can then beuseful to be able to review and tweak each individualletter or docket before it is printed.

Some of the less-expensive online tools make itdifcult to create custom-printed documents. Forexample, you may not be able to choose which eldsto include on a docket summary sheet, or customizethe formatting in any way. A few systems require youto export data into Microsoft Excel if you want tomail-merge.

Foundations that need to manage substantial amountsof supporting documents related to grants might

appreciate the ability to attach documents to boarddockets. This feature allows staff to easy supply boardmembers with overall documents relevant to a wholegrant cycle (for example, a letter introducing the grantmaking priorities for the cycle).

Email

Grantmakers have wholeheartedly embraced elec-tronic communications over printing and mailingtraditional letters. Most grants management systemssupport email in some form. Most store addressesand let you send email by clicking on a contact, andsome allow you to email multiple contacts at once

for example, to send information about an upcomingevent to all the grantees in a particular program.

Email templates, such as a boilerplate email informingapplicants that their application has moved to thenext stage in the review process, can be helpful. Manysystems allow for more robust templates, includingsupport for mail-merged elds (such as the projectname) or le attachments (such as a budget spread-sheet template). A few solutions in this report offeremail delivery reports including open, click-through

and unsubscribe rates, but most do not.

The ability to send automated emails from thegrants management system can be a useful wayto email grantees a notication upon receipt of acompleted application, or when due dates for deliv-erables are approaching. Most systems provide somesupport for emails triggered by schedules and systemevents, and a few provide robust control over suchautomated email.

If your organization plans to send bulk email throughits grants management system, youll also want toconsider how this email is sent. Some systems sendout email through your own organizations emailserver, which works ne for individual emails, oremails to a few dozen people, but is risky if you emailthousands of prospective grantees. On a big list, somepeople will ag your email as Spam no matter howcareful you are. Over time, those complaints build up,and you run the risk of having your whole domainblacklisted. That means that none of your organiza-tions emailincluding email directly from staff

members to other organizationswill go through. Itsnot likely, but it does happen, and it can take weeks toget yourself removed from blacklists when it does.

In general, Idealware recommends sending broadcastemails through vendors servers, which would meaneither choosing a system that allows that, or optingfor a third party broadcast email tool instead.

Some tools make itdifficult to createcustom printeddocuments.


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Relationship Management

During the course of a grant, grantees are likelyto interact regularly with various people at yourorganization. Grants management systems can helptrack these interactions. What communications haveyou sent a grantee? Who have they spoken with, andabout what?

To do this effectively, a system must track organiza-tions separately from individual grantsto allow you,for example, to see what conversations you had abouta previous grant when a new one is under review. Itcan also be helpful to track the names and roles ofindividual staff members at a grantee nonprot, ordifferent units within a larger organization. This isparticularly important for large institutions such asuniversities, where different divisions or researchersmay apply separately for grants.

Many systems that support email or mail-mergedletters also automatically store records of those com-munications. Its also useful to be able to store a logof communications for a particular contact orgrantfor example, to track email sent outside thesystem, or telephone communications with grantees.

In addition to logging emails sent within the grantsmanagement system, some systems allow you toeasily capture other emails youve sent externallyforexample, through Outlook. Some even let you syn-chronize your contacts with Outlook.

Grant Requirements and Evaluation

Once a grant is approved, many grantmakers requiregrantees to le interim progress reports of some kindA number of packages provide checklist functionalitythat lets you dene those requirements or others, suchas the need to do a site visit, and assign them to staffor grantees with a due date. Some systems require you

to manually set up requirements for each individualgrant. Others let you set up default requirementsthat can be applied to all grantsand then, perhaps,customized on a per-grant basis.

Once they are set up, you can track which require-ments are upcoming, completed or sometimes evenapproved as wellto note, for instance, that aprogress report was read by your staff and approved.

Some systems allow you to set up automatic email

reminders that alert staff members or grantees whenrequirement deadlines are approaching. Some letgrantees login to a website to see approaching dead-lines online.

If you require written progress reports from grantees,make sure the system provides the ability to afli-ate those reports with the grantee. Can you attacha document to the grant record? Can you enterspecic information as data elds on the recordforexample, the number of people served by the grant?

If you can enter data elds, can this information thenbe used in reports that summarize metrics across allgranteesfor example, to know that your granteescollectively provided food to 4,523 children in 2010?

A number of systems use online forms to collectthese types of detailed data elds, including narrativeinformation, quantitative metrics, or even detailedbudget information. If you plan to collect data onlineconsider how easily you can update the forms. Canyou customize them yourself, or will you have to pay

the vendor for each change? Can you use the col-lected data in summary reports?

Grants managementsystems can help trackyour interactions withgrantees. With whom

have you spoken, andabout what?


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Payments

In many software packages, setting up a paymentschedule for a grant mimics the process of settingup grant requirements. Some require you to scheduleeach payment manually, or automatically default topaying the entire grant in a single lump sum on theestablished grant start date. Others allow you to set

one or more default payment schedules, which youcan then assign to a grantfor example, to say thatevery grant within a particular program is a three-yeargrant with a payment on the rst of each year. Somesystems also offer a payment scheduling wizard,which lets you, for example, dene four evenly spacedpayments over four years. However you initially denepayment schedules, its useful to be able to thenmanually adjust them to specic circumstances for aparticular grant.

Grantmakers often tie payments to specic granteerequirementsfor example, a second payment maybe contingent on the receipt of a progress report.To support this, make sure the grants managementsystem allows you to link payment to requirements,and that it uses this information to generate paymentreports.

Systems vary in their support for payment specialcases. Is it straightforward to award grants to oneorganization but pay another, such as a scal sponsor?

Are you able to update the amount of a grant in themiddle of a grant period to account for unforeseenevents without losing the record of the approvedgrant amount? Can you make grants in currenciesother than U.S. dollars, or in multiple currenciesandif so, will the system track the exchange rate notjust at the time of grant approval but at the time ofpayment? Can you report on grants made in othercurrencies, including exchange rate data?

If your organization requires paper check requests

for accounting, make sure the system supports them.Alternatively, consider more streamlined ways togenerate grantee payments. Many systems store wiretransfer information and can facilitate electronic grantpayments. Whichever method you use, make sure youcan store payment information, such as date paid,check number and amount, within the grants manage-ment system itself, where its easily accessible.

Many grants management systems integrate withexternal accounting systems like QuickBooks or Dy-namics GP (formerly Great Plains). Such integrationcan streamline the payment process by transferringinformation about upcoming payments into the ac-counting system and then retrieving data on paymentsthat have been made. Vendors of packages with no

accounting system integration are often willing tocustom build this facility for an additional cost.

Finally, grantmakers will often want to control whohas access to payment information. Most of thesystems in this report allow you to restrict accessto payment information through permissions, andaccording to payment status.

BudgetingThere is wide variance among grants managementsystems in support for budgeting. A few offer nobudget support at all, while some others allowbudgeting only through heavy customization. Thereare some packages, however, that include strongbudgeting components. Most commonly, budgetingfeatures let you dene the amount of money you planto devote to each grant program or category, and thengenerate reports to compare these budget amounts to

the amount spent. More versatile systems allow youto track by both program and subprogram, or splitgrants between programs.

When looking at budget functionality, its criticalto understand what tracking method the system isusing. Foundations budget by one of two differentmethods: by the amount paid out to grantees over

When looking at budgetfunctionality, its criticalto understand whattracking method thesystem is using.


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that year (common among corporate and communityfoundations, and sometimes called a cash methodof budgeting), or by the amount awarded that yearregardless of when it is paid (common among privatefoundations, and sometimes called an accrual methodof budgeting). None of the systems reviewed trackedbudget gures for both these methods at the sametime, although some let you choose the method

you prefer.

The ability to base budgeting on a previous yearsbudget can save time and effort for many organiza-tions. Several packages allow this, while some evenallow you to create budgets for multiple years or tobuild what-if scenarios.

System Reporting

System reports can help manage grants processes andprovide updates to others. At a minimum, you shouldbe able to create the basic reports you need for yourgrantmaking processesfor example, the amount ofmoney committed and paid for the year, sorted byprogram, or grant details required for a Form 990 PF(Return of Private Foundation).

Such basic reports are considered standard, andmost software packages provide for them out of thebox. The ability to customize these reports to better

meet your needs and save those customizations forfuture use can save a lot of time and money, but notall systems allow this. Also, many of the systems thatdo provide standard reports provide a lot of them.Is there some way to customize or lter the list or tobookmark your preferred reports?

From time to time you may want more customized

reports. Support for such ad hoc reports varies widelyamong grants management software packages. Makesure you have access to all the data that might beuseful in such a report, including any custom eldsyouve dened and information submitted in grantapplications or progress reports. For simple ad hocreports, the ability to export this data to Excel, whereyou can format it, might sufce.

But for more complex reports, some systems providea set of tools that let you dene the data youd like to

see, as well as report columns and formatting. Someof these tools are basic, and allow limited support forcustomizing reports. Others are limited only by yourability to apply themreporting tools are complex,and can be confusing to users without experiencemanaging databases. Look carefully at the featuresto judge whether someone on your staff will be ableto effectively create reports. Also, make sure you cansave a report format once youve invested time increating it.

If youre looking for specic information abouta grant application, it can be useful to search thecontent of attachments to grant records. Some grantsmanagement packages provide this functionality,though usually through additional cost modules orintegration with Microsoft SharePoint.

Finally, if your organization categorizes grants usinghierarchical codes, make sure the reporting systemsupports thatfor example, will it associate Pre-Kand Elementary codes with Education? Not all

systems offer this advanced feature.

Roles and Permissions

If multiple staff members will use the system,make sure you can set different levels of access.This will help protect critical data by limiting who can

Support for such ad

hoc reports varieswidely among grantsmanagement softwarepackages. Do theyinclude the data youll

need? Can you figureout how to use them?


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update it.

Many systems support varied access to individualfeaturesfor example, some users can read but notupdate any information, or update grant informationbut not approve grants or change their amounts.The granularity of these access rights varies widelyamong systems. Some provide for a few different,

preset roles. Others allow you to dene read/update/delete rights for each module. Some even allow you todene rights for each individual data eld.

In many cases, disabling functionality or features for aparticular user or group doesnt remove it from theirview. Users with read-only access may still have tonavigate through disabled screens or elds to reachthe information they need. Systems that providesimplied interfaces to improve ease of access forsimple tasks or users with less complex needs, such

as reviewers, might be a better option for largerfoundations with wider pools of users.

Audit logsa record of who made updates to whatelds, and whencan also be useful. If a systemincludes an audit log, check to see what actions arelogged. Is it every change, or just a few core ones?

The grants management process often is a series oftasks which need to be done by specic people, in aparticular order. Because of this, larger foundationsmay want a system that manages the workowforexample, assigning grants or tasks to individuals orroles and providing a customized dashboard viewthat spells those tasks out for each staff member.Systems that support congurable workows can

simplify grants management for organizations withcomplex processes.

Data Access

Whether your system is hosted (Software-as-a-Ser-vice) or installed, the grants data it contains is yours.You should be able to access it at will. Being able toextract your data from the system is critical in orderto back it upalways a good ideaor to migrate it toa new grants management system. If your system ishosted on the vendors servers, make sure the vendorguarantees specically that you will be able to fullyexport all grant data and all attached les on request.Systems that allow you to do this yourself, withoutrelying on the vendor, are even better.

Easy data access can also allow you to interact withyour data through other systemsfor example, toexport grants data to a website as a text le, or toExcel for sorting, calculating and formatting more

sophisticated reports. The ability to import les is alsohelpfulfor example, to manually load informationfrom an external accounting system.

If you want a system to integrate with other softwarepackages, such as QuickBooks or Crystal Reports, sothat data ows from one system to the next withoutmanual intervention, check to see how the connectionis congured. Is an Application Programming Inter-face (API) or Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)connection provided so your own programmer can

congure it? What data can be accessed this way?Is it read only, or can you write to the database? Ordoes the vendor have to set up any integration withexternal packages for youoften at extra cost?

As mobile devices grow in popularity, users lookincreasingly to work from their smartphones andtablet computers. While any web-based system is, in

If you want a systemto integrate with othersoftware packages,such as QuickBooksor Crystal Reports,check to see how

the connection isconfigured.


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theory, accessible via mobile web browsers, its notlikely to be practical to use on a small mobile screenunless the vendor provides a view or app optimizedfor mobile browsers. Given their larger screen sizerelative to smartphones, using a web-based grantsmanagement system from a tablet computer can bepractical without any specialization. Mobile deviceaccess is new territory, so it pays to get detailed

information from the vendor if this is something thatinterests you.

Overall Customization

Most grant management systems are designed tosupport a variety of different foundations. To thisend, most systems let you customize the programsand codes you use to categorize grants. Systems thatsupport online applications, reviews and progressreports also let you customize the elds collectedwithin these online formsalthough some require afee to the vendor to update them.

But the differences among the systems become more

apparent when you begin to consider their ability toadd custom internal tracking eldselds used bystaff rather than the online data elds used to gathergrantee information. A few systems dont let you addany new internal use elds. Others let you add elds,but only into a limited custom eld area, whichcan become disorganized and awkward if you adda number of elds. Check to see if you can remove

elds or change the names of existing ones.

If you want to capture specic application or prog-ress report information from grantees, check to seewhere the system will store it. Some provide usefulviews of this information. Others dump it into thatsame disorganized custom eld area, forcing you toset up custom reports to view it effectively.

A few systems can be almost completely customizedto your needs, with custom elds, labels, interfaces,processes and functionality, but they require thevendors involvement in the customization. This canbe useful for organizations with unique needs, but itcan be expensive, and more difcult to support downthe road. Before you pay to customize a system toyour existing process, revisit the processes to see ifthey can be streamlined or improved. Are they trulyunique? Or would you be better served by moving

toward the best processes used by a number offoundations, which are therefore easier and cheaper tosupport? If you choose to have the vendor customizethe system, make sure they are experienced with thistype of work. Does the vendor allow heavily custom-ized systems to remain on the upgrade path?

Ease of Use

All grants management systems are fairly complex,

so your staff is likely to require training. However,functionality should be relatively easily to learn andto remember. Are elds and functions intuitivelynamed and easy to nd? If staff need cheat sheets orguesswork to run basic processes, theyre more likelyto opt out of using the system, or to resort to work-arounds. Can users easily nd the actions they needto take without returning to a main menu? Thesystem should also effectively support power usersthose most familiar with the system. Can your grantadministrator perform common tasks quickly

and efciently?

Support and Training

Whatever else you need in a grants managementsystem, you can be sure youll need customer sup-port. All the reviewed vendors offer solid, basic-levelsupport: phone support, system documentation,and at least informal training upon request.

Completely customizedsystems can be usefulfor organizations with

unique needs, but theycan be very expensive,and more difficult tosupport down the road.


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In terms of phone support, the difference is likelyto be on price and quality. How much do you haveto pay, either per incident or per year? Are existingcustomers typically able to reach someone knowledge-able when they call for support?

Good documentation, whether printed or online, is

also critical. Ideally, information is available in theform of hypertext within the systemfor example,to let you see what clicking a button will do beforeyou actually click it. If youre rolling out a system to anumber of people in your organization, can you tailorthe documentation to your own processes?

Different vendors provide different types of training,from affordable over-the-phone and online options

to more formal training at your own ofces. Do theyhave training materials? How much will you pay foreach of these training options?

Installation and Maintenance

Its important to know what hardware and softwarewill be required to use the system you choose. Formost online hosted systems, a major web browseris likely all you need. For installed systems and web-

based systems you host yourself, there can be manyother requirements. You will want to know whatkind of server hardware you will need. Additionally,there will likely be software prerequisites, like webserver software and a core database like SQL orMicrosoft Access. Will the vendor help with setupand maintenance? If not, then you might need tohire a consultant to assist you.

Stability in the Market

Finally, consider vendor stability. Choosing a grantsmanagement software package and moving your datainto it is a considerable effort. You dont want to beforced to repeat this work in a year because a vendorhas gone out of business. Ask some backgroundquestions. How long have they been in business? How

many clients do they have? Does the revenue earnedfrom the grantmaking system cover the personnel andoperational expenses required to support it?

Because the grants management market supportsniche software solutions, 20 or so clients is often suf-cient for a vendor to support operations. But if theyhave fewer than 10 clients or so, or if their revenuesdont cover their expenses, the vendor likely isnt yetat a very stable point, and their long-term viabilityis more of a risk.

Specialized Needs

This report focuses on the core grant managementfunctions shared by most foundations, but somegrants management systems provide a number ofadditional functions typically focused on the moreniche needs of particular types of foundations. Asweve discussed, this report doesnt cover functional-ity specically intended for community foundations(like fund development, full fund accounting, ordonor portals), but corporate foundations havetheir own set of needs.

For instance, corporations often want matching giftfunctionality to track employees charitable donationsand the corporations possible grants. Matching giftfunctionality tracks donations by employee, as mostcorporations will only match a nite per-employeeamount. In addition, some corporate philanthropyarms count employee volunteer hours as communitycontributions. Many foundations use separate systemsto track this, but a few grants management systemsoffer integrated volunteer hour tracking.

Its important to

know what hardwareand software will berequired to use thesystem you choose.


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Prices for grants management systems vary widely,but follow three primary models:

License and maintenance fees. Most installedsoftware packages charge a per-user upfront feefor purchase and installation, anything from a fewthousand dollars to hundreds of thousands. Manyoffer an a-la-carte menu of optional modules thatcan substantially affect the license cost. In addi-tion, theres typically an annual maintenance fee,generally 15 percent to 20 percent of the first-yearlicense costs, which covers phone support andsoftware updates. The maintenance fee is often op-tional, but skip it at your own riskphone supportis important, and without updates your softwarewill become out-of-synch with the vendors latestversion, making it difficult (and likely expensive) topurchase add-on modules in the future.

Yearly fees. As opposed to license or maintenancefees, some systemsincluding most hostedsystemscharge an annual fee. This fee is oftenscaled to usage, and is likely to be based on somecombination of number of system users, how

many grants applications you accept, how manydocuments you store, and how many programs(with separate system processes) you run. A fewsystems define this yearly fee based on the amountof assets you are administrating within the system,rather than your actual system use.

Setup and configuration costs. Most vendorscharge setup and configuration fees. Some vendorspricing structures are simple, charging specificfees for analyzing and documenting your system

requirement, customization, online applicationbuilding, report creation and data migration. Afew cover all these services in the base pricingstructure. Others use complicated pricing schemesthat let you choose exactly what services you want.Remember, whether you pay the vendor, hire aconsultant or choose to tackle setup or installationyourself, theres often a lot of work to do. Datamigration in particular is a time-consuming andoften underestimated task.

In general, installed software packages cost more upfront than similar hosted online packages, but are lessexpensive in terms of ongoing vendor fees. Keep inmind that the cost for the software itself is likely tobe only a small piece of what youll pay to implementa new grants management system. Costs for consul-tants, conguration, data conversion, user training,necessary new hardware and more can take the priceof a news grants management system to twice or eventhree times that of the actual software package.

The comparison chart in the next section includesprice estimates for each system, for both a minimalimplementation of the package typical for smallorganizations and for a complex installation for alarger organization. The First Year cost representsany license costs, setup costs or fees for the rst yearof service. The Yearly cost is the recurring mainte-nance fee or annual fee you would expect to pay eachyear.

WHAT DO THESE SYSTEMS COST?

In general, installedsoftware packages costmore up front thansimilar hosted onlinepackages, but are lessexpensive in terms of

ongoing vendor fees.


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How do the available packages compare? Below, youllnd summaries and a comparison chart. We also tooka careful look at all 20 packagesyou can nd thosedetailed reviews in Appendix A.

Low cost for simple needs

More functionality isnt necessarily better. If you haveonly a small grants program, a straightforward systemwith a lower price tag could provide exactly the

support you need.

Closerware GrantMaker

Closerwares GrantMaker offers solid and affordablegrant and application tracking features with reason-able support for online forms. Online applicationforms can be extensively formatted with a varietyof eld types, and the resulting applications andgrants can be easily coded and searched. A varietyof application-scoring options with the ability tosummarize and report on numerical review scores

add to GrantMakers generally strong applicationreview functionality. Lack of any substantial paymenttracking functionality and budget support will disap-point some organizations, as will relatively weak emailcapabilities. GrantMaker licenses start at $600 per userannually, with volume discounts for ve licenses andup. There is a one-time setup fee of $500. See ourdetailed review starting on page 62.

Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager

At $6,000 for each two-year contract and a $1,500

one-time setup fee, Foundant Grant LifecycleManager is a polished and friendly low-cost grantmanagement option with a strong focus on onlinedata gathering. Easy-to-update online forms allow youto collect online grant applications, feedback fromexternal reviews and online progress reports from

grantees, but it has only basic support for paymentsand budgeting. The system does not allow users tointeract with data via an Application ProgrammingInterface. It does, however, allow you to export mostvisible data from the system. See our detailedreview starting on page 74.

WizeHive Grant Manager

Wizehives Grant Manager offers a combination offeatures and affordable pricing that will make thisonline hosted system an attractive option for smallergrantmakers. It is approachable, with a polished layoutand collapsible side navigation menus that make iteasy for users to nd their way around the system.Grant Manager scores well in grant tracking, onlineapplications and email capabilities, and easily congu-rable grant review workows bolster an already solidapplication review process. However, Grant Managerhas minimal support for relationship managementits difcult to associate multiple grants with a singleorganization, or multiple contacts with a single grant.

A 501(c)(3) organization that needs only light onlineapplication and review functionality could potentiallyuse Grant Manager free of charge. An organizationthat receives more than 500 applications annually, andmore-robust donor management capabilities, mightpay closer to $6,000 per year, plus setup fees rangingfrom $2,000 to $8,000. See our detailed reviewstarting on page 158.

Common Grant Application, by Oceanpeak Inc.

An online, hosted option, Common Grant Applica-

tion by Oceanpeak Inc. provides an affordable, easy-to-use system with some interesting featurespar-ticularly for applications. For example, applicants caneasily attach video and other multimedia componentsto their applications. The applications themselves arelimited in formatting and functionality, but onlineapplications include a helpful, well-thought-out ability

WHAT PACKAGES ARE AVAILABLE?


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for applicants to reuse information. On the otherhand, much grantmaker functionality is notablyabsent, and relationship management is all but non-existent, as is support for budgeting. Common GrantApplication does not handle mail-merge elds forprint or email correspondence. There is some abilityto track payments, but no functionality to make pay-ments contingent on a reporting requirement. While

the system does not support saving a list of favoritereports for easy access, all visible system elds canbe queried and included in both standard and ad-hocreportsfor instance, reports can be congured toinclude just text elds. A small foundation could useCommon Grant Application for around $1,270 peryear, while a large foundation could expect an annualfee of about $6,700. See our detailed reviewstarting on page 128.

ZoomGrants, by ZoomGrants

ZoomGrants is a well-laid out, hosted grants manage-ment solution centered on requests for proposals(RFPs) and the grant applications submitted inresponse to RFPs. Grant applications support aneligibility quiz in addition to the application itself,and can include elds for post-grant reporting. Onlyapplicants, not foundation staff, can make changesto organizational information. Search functionalityis basic; ZoomGrants outputs information to anonscreen report and then requires foundation staffto rely on their browsers search functionality to hone

in on what they need. Merge elds are supported foremails, but not for printed correspondence, whichmust be produced by exporting system data to a CSVle to be merged with Microsoft Word. A foundationwith one RFP or grantmaking program could pay aslittle as $1,495 per year for ZoomGrants Standard.Each additional grantmaking program adds $1,495annually. ZoomGrants Pro, required to access allthe functionality covered in this review, requires anadditional $2,495 annual subscription fee. See ourdetailed review starting on page 164.

As other inexpensive systems, consider Bro-melkamps Akoya.net and MicroEdges GIFTSOnline, listed under Flexible Relationship Manage-ment, below.

Flexible Relationship Management

If you are hoping to track not just the basic detailsof a grant, but complex custom tracking informationabout applications and relationships, consider thegrowing number of systems geared to support thisneed with customizable options and strong supportfor relationship management.

Bromelkamp Akoya.net

Akoya.net, Bromelkamps new online grants manage-ment system, is built on Microsofts Dynamics CRMplatform, and provides solid mid-level functionalityfor a great price. Akoya.net leverages Dynamicsexible constituent-tracking base to provide usersgreat relationship management capabilities, along withthe ability to track applicants and grants by virtuallyany characteristics you choose. Like its sister product,Pearl, Akoya.net relies on Bromelkamps eGrant.net

module, at additional cost, for online data collectionand grants review. Dynamics CRM makes for asolid grants management platform but its interfaceat times can obscure Akoya.nets functionality. Toexport all visible data from Akoya.net is currentlyan entity-by-entity manual process, but the vendorplans an automated backup button in a futurerelease. Bromelkamp is open to performing customdevelopment at additional cost for clients who needit, and there are Dynamics CRM and Akoya.net APIsavailable for those who want to extend the system on

their own. Akoya.nets initial setup fees start at $890and $1,740 annually for the rst user. Each additionaluser costs $660 per year. See our detailed reviewstarting on page 50.

Bromelkamp First Pearl

First Pearl is a traditional installed software packagebuilt in Microsoft Access, which is both a strengthand a weakness. On one hand, Access includes a solidreport builder, is strong in data tracking and providesa exible database platformwhich Bromelkamp

leverages to tailor First Pearl to each clients needs,including adding elds or features to support uniqueprocesses. Someone with Access development experi-ence can extend First Pearls functionality themselveswith minimal or no vendor assistance. On the other


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dashboards, task lists and role-based views providesa feature-rich experience for grants managers whileallowing program ofcers and management to seeonly the information relevant to them. Grantees andexternal reviewers login through a separate, but tightlyintegrated, portal application. Users will want to visitthe Salesforce AppExchange to add Conga Composerfor mail-merge capability. Email sent from Founda-

tion Grants Manager is automatically logged androuted through Salesforce email servers, which shieldsorganizations from the risk of being blacklisted formass mailing, but is limited to 500 emails per day. Aconnector, at additional cost to implement, lets userslog email sent from Outlook and synchronizes theirOutlook contacts with the system. The initial deploy-ment cost for Foundation Grant Manager is $25,000,with $5,000 per year for support and maintenance.Salesforce charges $360 annually per user beyond the10 free user licenses it donates to nonprots. See

our detailed review starting on page 122.

SmartSimple GMS for Private Foundations

A very traditional, unadorned web interface beliesthe power and exibility of SmartSimple GrantsManagement. This system lets you create relativelycomplex online forms that can contain a wide varietyof eld types, including rich text elds with formattingtoolbars and internal tracking elds that can be madeinvisible to applicants. Uploaded les can be version-controlled and indexed, making their content available

to queries and reports. The system provides usefulsupport for managing relationships, broadcast email,mail-merged letters and reporting, as well as integratedtask lists and dashboards to manage each users work.Payment functionality is particularly strong, with sup-port for payment workows and multiple currencies.SmartSimple GMS generally costs between $10,000and $13,500 in the rst year. Annual support andmaintenance is calculated on a per-user basis. Coreusers, such as grants administrators and programofcers, are billed at $1,140 per user, per year. Internal

users with more limited access needs are charged $180annually, and external userslike external reviewersor board members, for examplepay between $24and $48 annually, but with a $2,400 per year minimumcovering up to 100 concurrent external users. Seeour detailed review starting on page 140.

Solpath Fluxx

Fluxx has a unique interface that replaces traditionalmenus and screens with cards arranged horizontallyon the screen. Users can save sets of cards as dash-boards containing frequently viewed information.These cards are easily searchable and lterable toallow efcient access to information related to anyentity in the system, and can also contain graphical

views of data. Like the rest of the system, the report-ing functionality is polished, but does not supportcomplex ad-hoc reportsfor instance, users cannotdene what columns or sums should be included.As an open source package, however, a qualiedprogrammer could enhance reporting functionalityand build any other features a client might need.Fluxx boasts exible, powerful automated workowfacility that support grants review and paymentapproval processes, in addition to allowing you toeasily set up reminders for grantees and staff, and to

assign tasks to users based on schedules and events.Fluxx is an open source package, and is free to installand use. There are costs, however, if you would likeimplementation assistance and ongoing support andmaintenance. First year costs start at about $15,000with an annual recurring cost of $10,200 for supportand maintenance. . See our detailed reviewstarting on page 146.

For complex online data

collection needsIf your core priority in a grants management systemis to collect complex application and grantee progressreport data online, a number of systems provideboth strong online support and useful general grantsmanagement functionality.

JK Group

JK Group provides outsourced foundation-operationmanagement services, specializing in corporation

foundations. Each system is custom built, with onlineapplication forms, online progress reports, workowand viewing screens all tailored to the clients needs.The core system supports matching gifts and volun-teer programs, and has solid budgeting functionality.Relationship management features are strong, as is


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support for producing mail-merged letters and boarddockets. Reporting facilities are limited by lack ofsupport for favorite reports, and while users canlter existing reports to display the data they want,they cant save modied reports or create new ones.However, the vendor can build reports. JK Groupsgrants management solution typically costs between$10,000 and $20,000 to set up, and from $10,000 to

$20,000 annually, including support and maintenance.See our detailed review starting on page 104.

PhilanTech PhilanTrack

PhilanTrack is an online hosted option that priori-tizes the user experience for both grantseekers andgrantmakers. It provides solid support for trackingapplications and grants, and for producing lettersand board dockets. The online application interfaceallows grantseekers to use the system as their owngrant language repository, with the ability to search

for and reuse language theyve used on past grants.Grantmakers will nd PhilanTrack simple to navigate,though search functionality is tied to specic areasof the system, meaning you have to know the tab inwhich the subject of your search is located in orderto nd it. PhilanTracks relationship-managementfacility is limited, with only basic support for trackingcommunications with grantees, and no way to easilydene parent/child relationships for organizationsin the system. Though you cant congure ad hocscheduled or event-triggered emails, the system can

generate automatic emails based on a number ofaction-triggers. PhilanTracks pricing starts at $4,000annually with another $4,000 in rst year setup costs.

See our detailed review starting on page 134.

CyberGrants

CyberGrants offers an online hosted solution witha particularly strong base of corporate foundationclients. Because the vendor declined to participatein any of our research processes, we havent beenable to form a detailed picture of functionality. Pastconversations with customers painted a picture ofa tool with generally solid online data gatheringcapabilitiesfor example, online support for eligibil-ity quizzes, proposals and progress reportsandadministrative tracking features, such as the ability toupdate application information at any time, to attachinternal use and coding elds to applications, and tocreate mail-merged letters. The customers we spoke

with paid an initial setup fee of between $8,000 and$30,000, and then a yearly fee of $2,000 to $3,000 persystem user. (We were not able to review this systemin detail).

Other systems strong in online data collection includeNPower Foundation Grant Manager and GoodDone Great Grant Management System, both

listed under Flexible Relationship Management,above.

Complex application review needs

Some systems provide very little functionality to sup-port complex review processes, while others providecomplex scoring mechanisms, online forms to allowoutside reviewers, and even specialized functionalitygeared toward reviewing arts projects or medicalresearch applications.

WESTAF GrantsOnline

Newly built from the ground up, WESTAFs polishedand friendly GrantsOnline is the successor toCultureGrants Online. In addition to traditionalgrants management functionality, GrantsOnline hassome unusual features likely to be of interest to artsfunders, such as the ability for applicants to submitvideos in support of their applications; conveniently,the videos stream rather than download. Whilegenerally strong in internal tracking, the system carries

over from its predecessor a limited ability to trackgrants easily by categories and codes. Dynamic eldsallow you to build powerful online forms with more-intricate branching logic than youll nd in most othersystems. Application review and email capabilities aresimilarly strong. During implementation, clients canselect from a menu of options for grant-paymentfunctionality that can be includedpossibly, foradditional implementation cost. While reporting facili-ties are powerful and exible, theres no ability to seea list of favorite reports. Pricing for GrantsOnline

starts at $4,450 in annual license fees for ve grantprograms and up to 500 users with a rst year setupfee of $7,550. See our detailed review startingon page 152.

Dulles Technology Partners WebGrants

WebGrants is a well-designed mid-market onlinepackage with support for the full grant lifecycle. Users


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can dene sophisticated online application forms,review forms and grantee report forms to collectextensive information. However, theres no supportfor forms that can branch based on form entries.The system also allows you to build your own customapplication review forms for internal or external use.Ad hoc reporting capabilities are strong, and thesystem provides useful internal tracking functional-

ity, but administrators can only search on a limitednumber of elds. Some standard reports are available,or data can be analyzed with the included JasperReports engine. Letter templates can be set up withmerged data elds. The system is typically licensed asa one-time fee for unlimited use, and then installed onthe users internet servers. The license fee is typicallybetween $15,000 and $45,000, depending on whatmodules are purchased. See our detailed reviewstarting on page 68.

GrantStream GrantRightAimed primarily at corporate foundations, GrantRightis an online hosted option with a web-based interface.It has a particular strength in internal grant tracking,payments and budgeting features. However, itssomewhat limited in online application and progressreporting. For instance, it can only support an eligibil-ity quiz and one other application phase, and does notoffer any ability to track data from grantee progressreports without additional customization. Nearlyanything is customizableincluding sophisticated

application review workows and formsbut almostall customization must be done by the vendor,potentially at additional cost, including customizingvalues in drop-down boxes and creating letter andgrant summary templates. Ad hoc reports are exibleand easy to format. Standard reports can be easilymodied by those familiar with SAP Crystal Reports.GrantStream has extensive experience with corporateclients and is willing to heavily customize GrantRight,which could make it attractive to corporate founda-tions with specialized needs. Annual recurring costs

for GrantRight can be between $18,000 and $25,000,with rst year setup fees generally starting around$30,000. See our detailed review starting onpage 98.

Altum proposalCENTRAL

ProposalCENTRAL is an interesting mid-marketsoftware package focused on health and biomedi-cal research grantmakers. It is very strong in someareasfor example, it offers support for sophis-ticated online applications and some of the mostpowerful support for external review committees oany software package we looked at. Lack of budgetisupport and weak mail-merge facility for printedletters, however, may make it less appealing to someorganizations. A technical feel and suboptimal layoumakes the system harder to learn than many others.The system starts at about $18,000 per year for smafoundations, and scales up through $100,000 per yeor more for very large foundations with complexprocesses. See our detailed review starting onpage 44.

Strong all-around functionalityfor the large foundation

If you need all of the aboveand are willing topay for itthese large enterprise systems providestrong functionality and customization for a largerprice tag.

Altum Easygrants

Easygrants combines sophisticated functionality witthe ability to customize, in depth, not only all onlineapplications, review forms and grantee reports, butall workow and tasks required for each programincluding who should do which task, and when.Each user is presented with an easy-to-parse list ofupcoming tasks assigned to them in a portal-likeformat; they can also search the system or performsuch bulk processes as sending emails, printing letteor creating reports. The system does not, however,easily support branching online forms. It excels in itsupport for complex, online review processes, andis also good with mail-merged letters and automaticemail reminders. The system can be hosted by Altumbut is often installed on grantmakers own webservers. A mid-sized organization might expect to pabout $75,000 to $100,000 in rst-year licensing cosplus $50,000 to $200,000 or more for initial setup anconguration. See our detailed review startingon page 38.


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FusionLabs GrantedGE

GrantedGE is an installed system that integrateswith Blackbauds Raisers Edge, Financial Edge andBlackbaud Net Community (BBNC) to complementthe functionality of those systems with solid grantsmanagement features. Tight integration with Black-bauds systems allows you to click a link on an orga-nization to see more information about it in Raisers

Edge, or to view a window from Financial Edge toprint checks. BBNC also handles event- and schedule-triggered emails, and can provide an outbound serverfor broadcast email, shielding users from the risk ofblacklisting (some BBNC-linked services come atadditional cost). Fusion Labs online form module,Proffer, supports reasonably sophisticated formattingof forms, but theres no support for branching, andusers are not allowed more than one grantee loginper organization. License costs range from around$20,000 to $85,000, with an equivalent amount for

setup coststhe average rst year price is about$60,000. Raisers Edge is required, Financial Edge isrecommended. See our detailed review startingon page 80.

As another system that can support large foundationswith complex needs, consider MicroEdge GIFTS,listed in the Flexible Relationship Managementsection, above.

Grantium G3

Grantium G3 is an enterprise level system that caneither be self-hosted, or access through the vendorsservers via a Software as a Service model. Whilegovernment entities compose the bulk of Grantiumsuser base, it has many features attractive to largeprivate sector grantmakers as well, with solid func-tionality for online applications, reviews, requirement

scheduling, online progress reports, payments, andcommunications tracking. Online forms can includesophisticated, spreadsheet-like calculated elds to as-sist in collecting budgeting information. An additionalcost Cognos business intelligence module is requiredfor some mail merge and reporting functionality.The system is fairly open and exible, with the abilityto easily customize online forms, integrate externalreporting tools, or even build custom data feeds usingtheir API. Grantium refused to disclose any pricinginformation this year, but as of our 2009 report

the vendor reported that the system started around$100,000 for the rst year and about $25,000 in yearlyongoing costs See our detailed review startingon page 92.


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As part of this research, we reviewed 22 grantsmanagement software packages in detail to determinehow they compared in a number of critical areas.The chart below compares these packages on a set ofspecic criteria. Keep in mind that more bubbles onthe chart dont mean that the system will work bestfor you. Not all criteria are necessary, or even useful,to every grantmaker.

Whats more, weve reviewed the systems to deter-mine which vendors support specic tasks, but notthe manner in which they accomplish them. Use thischart to get an overall sense of the various packagesstrengths and weaknesses in areas important to mostprivate foundations. If youre making decisions aboutgrants management systems, we strongly suggest thatyou go beyond the chart, read the detailed reviews ofthe products you are considering, and demo thosesystems that seem to make sense for your organiza-tion.

These ratings are based on a detailed set of ratingcriteria. The details for each system are included inthe Reviews of the Grants Management Systemssection. The framework used to determine the ratingsis included in Appendix B.

COMPARING TH

Documents

A Consumers Guide to Grants Management Software