Category

Grant Management

Jan 31
0

Grant Management Benefits [video]

By | Grant Management, Nonprofit Enrichment Series | No Comments

How Grant Management could help your nonprofit organization.

Join us February 12, 2015 for ‘Grant Management Software Solutions’ part of the Nonprofit Enrichment Series. Register here.

Welter Consulting assists Washington nonprofits and nonprofit organizations throughout the Pacific Northwest find, and implement software solutions like Grant Management to help their organizations fulfill their mission and serve their constituents.

Nonprofits are constantly confronting increasingly complex grant requirements.  Grant management software can assist your organization in managing the entire grant cycle, from discovering new sources of funding to integrating with your fund accounting solution to measure the outcomes of grants, programs, projects and departments.

If grant management by email and spreadsheets is becoming more difficult to manage, it’s time to find the right tools and technology to empower your team.

Abila Grant Management is a powerful solution that can be used as a standalone system but becomes even more powerful when integrated with Abila Fund Accounting.    You’ll be equipped to track, manage and automate the various stages of the grant cycle.  When integrated with the powerful reporting of Abila Fund Accounting, your reports will be accurate, easy to create and to the specifications of the funder.

Jan 12
0

Grant Management: Where to Find Opportunities

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iStock_000017057771XSmallOne of the biggest aspects involved in grant management involves knowing where to look for them. Grants can actually be found a number of ways, and here are some of the most common places to search for them.

Government Grants

A host of information about grants can be found at Grants.gov. This website contains a database of more than 1,000 different grants that are administered by 26 different federal agencies. You can search for grants by agency or type in order to find one that is suitable for your nonprofit organization.

The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance sometimes lists grant programs as well. You can browse through a list of grants, or enter a specific keyword into the search bar in order to locate grants that are appropriate for you.

Knowing how critical grants are to funding various projects, The Nonprofit Times launched a section on its website dedicated to grants and makes it easy for you to find the grant you are looking for by segmenting the grants by type (e.g. Arts, Human Services, Animal Advocacy, etc.)

Grant announcements are sometimes placed on local and state government websites as well. By checking these pages often, you can be aware of grant opportunities as soon as they become available.

Private Grants

One of the best websites to use for finding private grants is The Foundation Center. You can subscribe to a newsletter entitled Arts Funding Watch to keep up with the latest grant announcements, and the site makes it easy to search their database for specific grants as well. In doing so, you can narrow down your search to foundations in your geographic area. That way, you can contact them directly if it appears they regularly donate to causes similar to yours.

Grant Station is another website that provides information on private grants. In addition, there are also tutorials and informational webinars designed to help those who are unfamiliar with the grant seeking process to gain the information they need.

Locating grants can take some time and effort, but it is nonetheless an essential part of operating a non-profit organization. In time, you’ll become more proficient at searching, and will also build a network of contacts you can call on for assistance from time to time.

Dec 30
0

Ten Do’s and Don’ts of Grant Management

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Nr. 10When it comes to grant management, there is a lot to get right, and perhaps just as much to get wrong. Here are some do’s and don’ts to follow in order to ensure your grant management plan remains focused and effective.

Do

  • Perform your research ahead of time in order to ensure you know what the reporting requirements are as well as some basic information about the agency providing the grant.
  • Write your grant proposal carefully, paying special attention to the executive summary portion, as it is often the first part of the document that is read. Take care when crafting your problem statement, but don’t make it sound so negative that the person reading your proposal assumes there is no hope whatsoever.
  • Pay special attention to grant guidelines in order to ensure you comply with all of them. Failing to follow instructions to the letter can result in your grant being denied.
  • Choose your targets carefully, and do not invest a great deal of time submitting proposals that are unlikely to be considered by the funder.

Don’t

  • Submit proposals late or fail to provide the requested documentation within the specified timeframe.
  • Fail to keep everyone who needs to be involved in the process up to date with reporting requirements.
  • Forget to find out what requirements you will be asked to fulfill if awarded a particular grant, as your work isn’t necessarily done once you receive the money.
  • Be negligent at keeping up with deadlines. In fact, you should keep track of them on a calendar or by using grant management software whenever possible.
  • Wait until the last minute to gather the necessary information, as writing a grant proposal can be rather time consuming.
  • Fail to follow up with the funding agency to ensure all necessary paperwork has been received or to check on the approval process.

By following these dos and don’ts for grant management, you will be going a long way toward helping ensure the success of your non-profit organization. Staying organized and paying attention to detail will help your grant management process operate more smoothly, no matter what type of organization you are heading.

Nov 11
0

Software Simplifies Grant Reporting

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Africian American Woman on White Seamless with laptopAbila Software simplifies grant reporting so that you can position your nonprofit to be more successful in being awarded government and foundation grants. The right technology can reduce your administrative workload and help to improve your relationship with valued contributors.

Tracking reporting deadlines: Create a master calendar with the deadline dates for interim and final reports for each grant you receive. Grant Management software will help you coordinate your workload and know what special tasks are coming up in the months ahead. You can also create internal deadlines to give your staff advance notice of the components they are responsible for. Most of all, you don’t want your funders to have to remind you that a report is due. Worse yet, you don’t want to be told that you’re holding up their audit because you didn’t submit a report on time.

Producing financial reports: Most grant reports will require both narrative and financial sections. They update a grant maker on the progress you made with the deliverables you proposed and provide a budget to confirm that funds were spent as projected. With the right software, you’ll have all the information at your fingertips already categorized by the budget line items you need instead of being caught scrambling at the last minute.

Improving donor relations: Your relationship with your donors is one of your most important assets. Technology makes it easier to stay in touch and demonstrate your excellence. That increases the chances of renewed support. Plus, grant makers often ask each other for feedback and recommendations so you’ll be generating good word of mouth.

Welter Consulting optimizes software solutions like grant management and fund accounting, so you can get back to your mission. Contact us to learn more about our financial, administrative and support resources that can deliver the results that nonprofits need.