Blackbaud Grantmaking for the win!
My organization utilizes the Blackbaud Grantmaking for the entire grant application and review process with all of the grant giving for …
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What is Blackbaud Grantmaking?
Blackbaud Grantmaking (formally GIFTS Online) is part of Blackbaud’s extensive portfolio of software, services, data intelligence and expertise that powers social good. Blackbaud Grantmaking delivers grantmaking capabilities configured to meet the user's needs, and to improve efficiency with personalized online…
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What is Blackbaud Grantmaking?
Blackbaud Grantmaking (formally GIFTS Online) is part of Blackbaud’s extensive portfolio of software, services, data intelligence and expertise that powers social good. Blackbaud Grantmaking delivers grantmaking capabilities configured to meet the user's needs, and to improve efficiency with…
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What is Blackbaud Grantmaking?
Blackbaud Grantmaking (formally GIFTS Online) is part of Blackbaud’s extensive portfolio of software, services, data intelligence and expertise that powers social good. Blackbaud Grantmaking delivers grantmaking capabilities configured to meet the user's needs, and to improve efficiency with personalized online grant applications and report forms, personalized user dashboards, and simplified financial processing tools. By providing access to giving data, including standard, advanced, and ad hoc reporting tools, Blackbaud Grantmaking enables users to measure, understand, and improve results. In addition, Blackbaud Grantmaking allows funders to become actively involved in the Foundation Center’s Glasspockets initiative with Grant reporting capabilities, allowing for greater collaboration and more impactful giving. Blackbaud Grantmaking supports organizations whose goal is to provide guidance, transparency, and accountability throughout the grantmaking cycle.
Blackbaud Grantmaking Features
- Supported: Configurable to meet your workflow
- Supported: Dashboards featuring real-time data
- Supported: Integrated tools for finance, payments and reporting
- Supported: Outcomes measurement capabilities
- Supported: Open API to connect with your other essential software solutions
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Blackbaud Grantmaking Video
Blackbaud Grantmaking is purpose-built to allow grantmaking organizations manage their entire grant lifecycle. Accessible anytime, anywhere, and from any device or browser, Blackbaud Grantmaking helps organizations of all shapes and sizes give more efficiently and effectively....
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Blackbaud Grantmaking Technical Details
| Deployment Types | Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based |
|---|---|
| Operating Systems | Unspecified |
| Mobile Application | Apple iOS, Android, Mobile Web |
| Supported Countries | All countries |
| Supported Languages | English (US), English (British), Welsh, Spanish, French, Portuguese |
Blackbaud Grantmaking Downloadables
Frequently Asked Questions
Bonterra Grants Management, Fluxx Grantmaker, and Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager are common alternatives for Blackbaud Grantmaking.
Reviewers rate Support Rating highest, with a score of 8.
The most common users of Blackbaud Grantmaking are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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July 17, 2018
Blackbaud Grantmaking Review
We are currently using Blackbaud to manage all of our online grant applications and to provide reporting information for accounting as well as program staff.
The system has provided access both for staff and grantees, better management, the ability to pull data from the grants using classifications and drop down menus. The Improvement is so significant it would be difficult to list how transferring to an online Grant Management System has benefited our organization.
- Very versatile.
- Allows as many applications as needed for multiple types of Grants including single stage and allowing for a letter of interest followed up by a second stage application.
- Allows all corresponds to be maintained in one location within the grant application
- Provides access to contact information, payment information, refunds, etc.
- Modules allow for as many specialized fields as needed.
- Internal and external reviews allow grant review without additional licenses.
- While comprehensive application creation can be difficult and confusing
- Cost can be high with additional modules
- I highly recommend new users complete the online training courses available on Blackbaud before creating applications, reports, and templates for correspondence.
- Not sure about current modules but in the past did not transfer well to accounting software.
- Better spell check
- Better formatting for application forms to make them pretty
June 19, 2018
Blackbaud Grantmaking Review
Used by all staff. It is a tool that helps us manage our grantmaking activities.
- Grant application information
- Grant review and approval process
- Grant monitoring
- Grant payments
- Track outcomes
- Document manager
- Contact management
- Document manager needs folder structure
- You must check out a document to update and then re-post the document to the document manager when completed. Often you mail merge a document using Blackbaud Grantmaking, but to tweak it you need to save it elsewhere and the upload to the document manager.
- There is no notification given if 2 users are updating the same record except when the 2nd user tries to save their work.
- Portal for grant seekers could be more user friendly.
- Connecting the Blackbaud Grantmaking email to Outlook would help. Blackbaud has made improvements in this area. If I send an email from Blackbaud Grantmaking it does not show up in my Outlook sent messages.
Our foundation uses Blackbaud Grantmaking to manage our charitable grants throughout the entire process from application to review to award and reporting. As Grants Manager, I consider myself the "power user" of Blackbaud Grantmaking. In addition, our two program officers and an admin assistant use Blackbaud Grantmaking. Using Blackbaud Grantmaking has enabled our foundation to transition from hard copy applications to a paperless process and also to paperless Board of Directors meetings through use of PDFs from Blackbaud Grantmaking for use on their iPads. I also use the tools in Blackbaud Grantmaking to create custom dashboards for each user which has been very helpful for the program officers to see only the requests/grants that are their responsibility. The Blackbaud Grantmaking tools also help me in creating informative reports and graphics using the data reported from our grantees.
- Our foundation's program officers find the Blackbaud Grantmaking customizable dashboards very useful in focusing on the grants under their portfolio and filtering out other grants.
- Our foundation uses the Blackbaud Grantmaking document management tools to create large PDFs for use in Board of Directors meetings so that the meetings are paperless and the members use only their iPads.
- Our foundation uses the Blackbaud Grantmaking charting tools to create informative reports using the data reported to us by our grantees.
- It would be great if Blackbaud Grantmaking could seamlessly integrate with Microsoft Outlook so that contacts, email correspondence and calendar items are all updated with the same data and therefore eliminate the need for duplicate entry. For example, a grant requirement due date would automatically be added to the associated user's calendar.
- It would be great if Blackbaud Grantmaking could seamlessly integrate with the foundation's accounting software, Quickbooks. Currently, we have to make entries into Blackbaud Grantmaking and then duplicate those entries into the accounting software.
- Blackbaud Grantmaking is also missing functionality when it comes to online applications related to requests that are already in Blackbaud Grantmaking. For instance, our foundation creates a request in Blackbaud Grantmaking before we actually receive an application from the grantee. We assign a status of "Anticipated" to those requests and the program officers often record activities (site visits, meetings, phone calls) and attach documents (emails, general info) to the request before inviting an application from the grantee. When the grantee eventually submits an application, Blackbaud Grantmaking doesn't allow us to attach the application to the existing request and instead creates a new requests. We then are forced to manually transfer and/or recreate all the activities and documents from the existing request to the new request. Then we delete the existing request. This missing functionality creates extra work for me.
February 12, 2018
Faithful user since 2007
My organization uses Blackbaud Grantmaking for the full lifecycle management of our contracts/grants. The system is used by 20 programmatic staff, out of 50 total staff. There are some gaps, in terms of utilizing an automated workflow, but for standard grant/contract agreements the system design is great.
1. Invitation to Apply Process
i. Utilize an invitation only process
ii. Receive applications via the online application module
-Submit the online application checklist to trigger the development of the application (internal process outside of Blackbaud Grantmaking)
-Develop and test the online application, then issue to the contract manager for distribution to potential partners
-Download the completed application, confirm the correct coding and files
-Review the narrative request, budget and related attachments
iii. Track status of pending applications
2. Develop the Contract/Agreement
i. Generate the contract template from Blackbaud Grantmaking and it prepopulates: -Contact information of the partner, -Payment schedule, -Requirement schedule, -Coding (budget, geographic, service area, etc.)
ii. Use the Document Template Manager to ensure that the legal language of the contract remains consistent, unless a ‘redlined’ contract with proposed changes is indicated
iii. Review, finalize and print the contract for signatures
3. Manage Contract Requirements
i. Input full schedule of contract deliverables into BG
ii. Utilize the online reporting feature to allow service providers/grantees to submit their reports via the online portal
iii. Track status of receipt and approvals
iv. Tie attachments and narrative reports to the request record
v. Upload subsequent analysis of the progress of the project to BG
4. Manage Contract Payments
i. Input full schedule of payments into BG
ii. Track status of payments and approvals
iii. Generate the payment cover sheet from BG and it prepopulates: -Payment schedule, -Actual payments processed, -Contingent requirement(s), -Coding (budget, geographic, service area, etc.)
iv. Copy of the check is manually uploaded to payment tab in BG
5. Closeout
i. Determine final payout (or need of a credit memo to deobligate the remaining balance)
ii. Confirm that all requirements have been fulfilled and corresponding analysis has been uploaded
iii. Generate the form from BG and submit to Finance
iv. Update BG and mark the record ‘Completed’
- Online application and reporting - having an online portal for submission of applications and reports from our partners is extremely helpful and minimizes confusion
- Direct link between contract/grant requirements and payments - all of our payments are tied to deliverables and we want to easily confirm that they have been fulfilled
- Widespread usage - I know a number of other Foundations that use the system and can easily share tips and tricks. I also find the customer service to be extremely helpful.
- We're awaiting the functionality regarding an automated workflow. Staff would like to be automatically guided to the next step.
- The version control for documents is tricky and I recommend staff not use it. If they need a shared space to finalize the scope of work for a project, etc. we use SharePoint, then upload the final version to Blackbaud Grantmaking.
- For a casual user, the layout and way that records are connected can be confusing. We recommend having a power user planted in every program area, to guide those on their team that have access, but get frustrated with simple tasks.
February 12, 2018
Using Blackbaud Grantmaking at a Family Foundation
I use Blackbaud Grantmaking (BG) to manage and track our grantmaking process from proposal invitation to close-out, including document/email generation, internal workflow management, board reports, and deliverable follow-up. I'm able to track the status of every application and grant. Our program assistants use BG to update the program directors on their grants, find contacts, and generate documents. Our program directors look up various types of information in BG.
- Easy to create and modify coding as your processes or programs change over time
- Connects to GuideStar for tax-exempt status confirmation; the update info feeds directly into the database
- Very convenient and easy to use OFAC and other terrorist watchlist checking
- Needs to be browser agnostic - full functionality in any browser on any system
- End reliance on Silverlight - needs to be a browser-based product you can use from any device with an internet connection
- Ability to add attachments to emails generated from templates
- More robust reporting functionality - I notice that some fields are not available for searching
January 31, 2018
How Blackbaud Grantmaking Can Be a Gift to You
Blackbaud Grantmaking is only used in our grants department and one fund area as limited access to it. It addresses the problems of reaching out to grantees who are getting grants, and forgetting to report on the grants they have made. It aids the Finance department when it audit time as the software used allows a 990 format that is quick and easy to process.
- We like to create our own numbering system and Blackbaud Grantmaking allows us that flexibility. When we were having issues with items being in numerical order the tech support was amazing.
- Creating your own forms is very important for us. We have several different donors and we have a grant application form and a report form for each one. They are easy to create as well as update and access.
- Alternative ways to hunt for information. I can access a grant by the organization name, project name, grant number or even the name of the person who submitted the grant application. This is critical in a case where the program officer has a nickname for the grant (you can include that as well in the profile) and can't remember anything else.
- For months I have had a report that cannot be opened because of some kind of error. Support has tried but it is something that remains on my system despite efforts to remove and open it. I know it is there so I work around it because Blackbaud Grantmaking has so much more to offer
- We cannot always help grantees get back the information they have saved on their applications. Many get frustrated when having to start over because they expected the grants administrator to be able to see what they have already submitted. While it protects the information of the grantee so that it cannot be changed by the grant maker, it create considerable difficulty for busy grantees who must start over again
- I am not sure about this, that it does or doesn't exits, but it would be great to be able to download signed grant agreements into the system. I believe can add reports that were not submitted online but I have never been trained how to do it.
- I would love the ability to scan signed checks into Blackbaud Grantmaking so that I can reference them. Checks do not go out from my Blackbaud Grantmaking account but from our finance department.
January 30, 2018
Blackbaud Grantmaking for Multiple Funding Sources
Blackbaud Grantmaking is used by our Philanthropic Services department to manage the grantmaking activities of our foundation clients. We use Blackbaud Grantmaking to:
- Manage the processing of all grant applications (using the IGAM module);
- Manage written and email communications with applicants and grantees;
- Track and schedule and record payments;
- Set reminders for critical tasks;
- Generate custom reports for our clients.
- Custom reporting: in addition to providing many standard reports, Blackbaud Grantmaking makes it very easy to create and save custom reports. Writing effective queries is simple and requires no knowledge of SQL (though you have an option to write SQL queries if you prefer).
- Robust template system: Blackbaud Grantmaking's Document Template Manager greatly facilitates our written communications with applicants. Approval/decline letters, check letters, and proposal summaries are just a few of the documents we generate on a daily basis, and unlike some other systems we've used, you don't have to export the data from Blackbaud Grantmaking before using it in a mail merge document. The Document Template Manager integrates with Microsoft Word.
- Managing multiple funding sources: We have over a dozen foundation clients who have supported hundreds of organizations over the years. Blackbaud Grantmaking makes it very simple to keep the client data separated, even when multiple clients are contributing to the same organizations.
- Blackbaud Grantmaking is a budget-friendly document management system. We have documents associated with organizations (e.g., IRS letters), individual grant requests (applications, budgets, approval letters, etc.), requirements (grant evaluations and reports), and payments (check letters) and it is very easy to save and search for these documents when they are needed. Blackbaud Grantmaking makes is easy to keep everything where it belongs (and move documents when you misfile them).
- The existing portal for applicants to submit online applications (IGAM) is too confusing for them. Instead of logging in through one link, they must use follow one link to begin a new application and a second link to view or resume working on their in-progress applications.
- Submitting progress reports and grant evaluations through IGAM is also very limited in its usefulness. Users can only upload attachments of completed forms. Ideally, Blackbaud Grantmaking would allow users to create online forms for grantees to fill out. Responses could then populate fields in a database table that could, in turn, be used in conjunction with the report generator and document templates.