Blackbaud FIMS vs. SmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Blackbaud FIMS
Score 5.9 out of 10
N/A
Blackbaud invites the user to manage and improve your funding and giving process with Blackbaud FIMS, a single, customizable foundation management software solution. It is based on the former MicroEdge FIMS product.N/A
SmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
SmartSimple in Toronto offers the eponymous SmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (formerly GMS360), their flagship grants lifecycle management platform, with advanced pre-screening tools and configurable application forms, templated generation of documents, meeting management with guest or invitee and agenda management, and other tools to support the grant generation workflow.
$75
per month
Pricing
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Low Usage
$75
per month
High Usage
$195
per month
External Community Group Subscription
$600
per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)
Small Businesses
Blackbaud Grantmaking
Blackbaud Grantmaking
Score 9.0 out of 10
Blackbaud Grantmaking
Blackbaud Grantmaking
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund Accounting
Score 8.7 out of 10
MIP Fund Accounting
MIP Fund Accounting
Score 8.7 out of 10
Enterprises
Workday Financial Management
Workday Financial Management
Score 8.2 out of 10
Workday Financial Management
Workday Financial Management
Score 8.2 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)
Likelihood to Recommend
6.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Blackbaud FIMSSmartSimple Cloud for Grants Management (GMS360)
Likelihood to Recommend
Blackbaud
It is a very robust system and with the various modules you can accomplish much of what is needed for traditional transaction US-based grantmaking. If you have more complicated grantmaking, deal with foreign currencies or want to have tighter alignment of finance and budget numbers, GIFTS may not meet your needs. Additionally, some of their core projects have limited accessibility in terms of various mobile devices or access from outside the organization's network.
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SmartSimple
No answers on this topic
Pros
Blackbaud
  • Simple layout
  • Duplication reports
  • Lots of fields for organization-specific information
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SmartSimple
No answers on this topic
Cons
Blackbaud
  • While GIFTS Classic is the most barren interfaces of all MicroEdge products, there are some simple capabilities I wish GIFTS could still perform such as better email integration from outlook to a GIFTS request, more efficient requirement reminders, and a wider use of Microsoft Office and other external product integration (GuideStar).
  • It's disappointing that you have to purchase an additional "Customizer Module" or "Budget Module" in order to access basic functions of a GMS. This seems like a basic system function that MicroEdge takes advantage of, unfortunately.
  • The online application module (IGAM) is still quite antiquated and you have to be knowledgeable of basic HTML in order to really customize your organization's online application. More flexibility and design functions would be greatly appreciated with the online application function, especially since this is a public document and represents your organization.
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SmartSimple
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Blackbaud
I typically receive a response to an inquiry within an hour or two, if not sooner. Most tech support people are knowledgeable about our problems, and if not, they will escalate to the proper person.
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SmartSimple
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Blackbaud
It is really a matter of priority. I can see situations where GIFTS Classic is a very strong option! Once an organization determines its priorities then it should definitely consider GIFTS to see how well it compares with mission critical functionality.
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SmartSimple
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Return on Investment
Blackbaud
  • Reporting was difficult on GIFTS - often we had to place data into Excel by hand since we could not create simple customized reports. This increased time spent on tasks GIFTS was supposed to streamline.
  • GIFTS did not alert us to duplicated organization records, so often it was difficult to reflect an organization's full grant history to our Board of Directors, leading to employees spending time searching through paper records to make sure all information was properly reported.
  • GIFTS created duplicate contact records, meaning it was difficult to find out which contact was related to which organization and cluttered our data. This caused decreased processing and response time to "new" contacts who turned out to be previous contacts or contacts whose information was tied to previous organizations. Even when contact information was updated for a new organization, sometimes the program would revert to the first organization contact information, several times leading to checks cashed to incorrect organizations---the very worst consequence of using GIFTS to our organization. Thankfully, the money was recovered upon the few times that error occurred, but it led to me and other employees reading through out 800+ checks before issue to make sure the correct organization was in fact being rewarded.
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SmartSimple
No answers on this topic
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