24 Useful Grants Management Systems For Your Organization

So you want to know more about grants management systems? You’re not alone! There are many who want the same, and this post is for you!

Grants are significant development catalysts. The reason why your work is very important, as there can be no development without grants. Additionally, effective grants management refers to the systems and strategies used by organizations to handle grants.

Grants management systems are very important to grants management, as they help you put some order to the whole process. From pre-award research to post-award grant closeout, it covers all aspects of a grant’s lifespan.

To some, it is a system of tracking, and an investment in innovation, that will shape our nation’s future and well-being.

So, as an individual or organization, why do you need a grants management system?

Grant management, which some funders refer to as a management plan, is primarily comprised of all the administrative tasks you must carry out throughout the grant’s duration. When you manage a grant, you have to make sure you fulfill all the commitments you made in your proposal. To do this, you must adhere to the grant’s terms, complete all required deliverables, and submit required reports.

Grant administration, however, entails more than just making sure that all grant requirements are satisfied on time and under budget. A strong grant management program is a prerequisite for successful organizations, and it begins long before any grants are given out. Strategic planning, good grant design, program creation, accurate tracking, and having the resources to handle the process efficiently are all part of grant management.

Grant management entails collaborating with all of your organization’s major players to create a plan for obtaining funding, discover funding opportunities, carry out specific grant awards, assess successful projects, and streamline future proposals. Working across departments, you will deal with everyone from the CEO to those who carry out the project’s specifics to the financial team that keeps track of the money in your capacity as a grant manager.

Which Grant Types Need Grant Management?

Each and every form of grant requires grant management, including the following:

• Start-up Grants: These help with startup expenses for new projects or businesses.
• Grants for capital projects: These are typically used for equipment, buildings, or facilities.
• General operating grants: Also referred to as unrestricted support, are given to organizations to support general operations rather than a particular program or initiative. They might be used to pay personnel and purchase equipment.
• Programs or Projects Grants: These are specialized plans that are essential to achieving your main goals.
• Planning Grants: Unlike grants for programs, these assist you in outlining your goals and often lead to a project that will help you implement your plan.
• Technical assistance grants: are used to make your organization more efficient in a variety of areas, including fundraising, strategic communication, financial administration, and assessment.

What Is Grant Management?

Grant management is the process of overseeing the awarding and use of grant money. It includes tasks such as developing grant proposals, awarding grants, overseeing grant recipients, and ensuring that grant funds are used in compliance with grant agreements. The goal of grant management is to ensure that grants are awarded efficiently and used effectively.

But, why is all this necessary? Because as the government searches for ways to cut spending in fiscal budgets, its impact is being felt across different areas of human life, hence the need for the creation of alternative funding in those areas. Organizations and bodies have come to the fore to help lighten the load through grants and other financial aid packages, that are all meant to improve the quality of human life.

Consequently, gaining access to alternative funding requires an adept knowledge of the funding processes, and this necessitates a thorough understanding of how grants work. So it’s not so much about the fund as it is about how it’s accessed and used to have the desired result.

3 Grant Process Stages

Three types of organizations commonly offer grants: foundations, companies, and government bodies. Although each has unique goals, specifications, and reporting demands, the grant application process is the same for all of them. The basic stages of any grant application are as follows:

• Pre-award Phase: Establishing or reviewing your grant application and implementation procedure, documenting your bids, and determining the categories of funding sources that will support your strategy and initiatives.
• Award Phase: You will be informed and made aware of the grants you have been awarded.
• Post-award phase: this stage has to do with the Implementation and tracking of funds.
  No matter how a grant is written, it is crucial that you carry out the procedure ethically. First of all, acting morally is beneficial to your company. You’ll be seen as a trustworthy, valuable partner in your neighborhood. Furthermore, if you compromise on ethics, you run the danger of losing whatever grants you already have as well as any awards in the future.

Grants Management System

The grants management system is a technical intervention that allows the grant management system to be automated in order to ensure smart and effective management of money and grants. As a consequence, you’ll be able to make the best decision and achieve the best results.

Grant management solutions also make grant information easily accessible to you. But, how does it accomplish this? Let us paint a scenario that might shed more light on this!

Just Imagine This!

We assume that you have maybe 3 or more social media accounts. So, imagine that you get a mobile application that harmonizes all your social accounts, so that messages and notifications coming from all your accounts come to a central dashboard. And that you can see all your messages and other activities from the dashboard of this mobile application, without having to log on to individual social media platforms to handle your social engagements.

Think about it! It’d mean that you can reply to WhatsApp messages, engage on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and even TikTok from a single dashboard. Now, imagine that this application even automatically helps with your engagements, by generating responses to messages, and reminding you of looming application deadlines.

Just how much do you think something like this will help you? That’s exactly how grants management systems help you as a grant manager.

It simplifies the entire grant application procedure by helping to put all your grant applications on a central dashboard. Grants management systems will also remind you of grant application deadlines, and some even help you generate automatic responses to messages from grant providers. So, it essentially means that grants management systems make your grant applications easier. You also get better results, since you get more grants and never miss deadlines or important messages from your grant providers.

What Can Good Grant Management Systems Do For You

A good grants management system must be able to do all or almost all the following:

Registration Interface For Various Grants

This is the point at which you register your interest in various grants via your grants management system. A good grants management system must have this feature because that is the only way it can put all your grants on a central dashboard. Remember that it is important to register for grants through your grants management system, so that it can keep track of all applications and give you the best result in the long run.

Documentation Option

A good grants management system must have a documents upload and storage feature. This would allow for the easy uploading of important documents whenever you are starting a new grants application.

Grant Proposal Evaluation

If you find a good grants management system that cannot evaluate grant opportunities and quickly tell you which ones will likely be suited to you, it’s best that you run. Because such a system will simply waste your time.

Monitoring Grants Awarded

Your grants management system must be able to arrange your grants according to their separate categories. Awarded grants should not appear in the same section where you have ‘in process’ grants. This helps you to know what has already landed in your lap as against what is yet to.

Statistics And Analytics

You’d agree that it wouldn’t hurt to know how many grants you got as against the number you actually applied for. Your grants management system should be able to do this, as it helps you keep track of your progress or otherwise, so that you can realistically measure your results over time.

Grant Spending Tracker

Ideally, you will want to know if you are using the grant funds appropriately. And your grants management system should provide some help in this regard.

The Benefits Of Grants Management System

Grant management is an extremely important part of any grant-funded organization. By implementing good grant management practices, your organization can ensure that funds are used efficiently and in compliance with grant requirements. Grant management can also offer a number of benefits to your organization, including:

• Improved communication and coordination among team members
• Faster and more accurate reporting
• Better accountability and tracking of funds
• Reduced administrative burden
• Improved program efficiency

By taking advantage of the many benefits of grant management, your organization can run a smoother, more efficient operation.

READ ALSO: 8 Sure Lung Cancer Grants For Patients

The Challenges Of Grant Management

Managing a grant can be a daunting task. There are numerous challenges that come with the territory, such as ensuring that funds are used efficiently and effectively, maintaining compliance with grant requirements, and reporting back to funding agencies.

One of the most important things to remember is that communication is key. Keep all stakeholders (grant recipients, funding agencies, etc.) in the loop as much as possible so that everyone is on the same page and any issues can be addressed quickly.

It’s also important to build good relationships with funding agencies—the better the relationship, the more likely it is that you’ll be awarded future grants.

Grant Management Software Programs

A big part of grant management is tracking your progress on each grant. This can be difficult to do if you’re not using the right tools. That’s why so many organizations are turning to grants management systems in form of grants management software programs.

This software programs makes it easy to track your spending, keep track of your submissions, and compile reports on your progress. It can also help you stay organized and on top of deadlines. So, if you’re looking for a more efficient way to manage your grants, then be sure to check out our list of the best 24 grant management software programs for you today.

Source: www.capterra.com

Conclusion

Grant management is a process that helps organizations manage their grants more effectively. It can help reduce the amount of time and money spent on grants, and it can also help improve communication and collaboration among team members. But, while there are many benefits to using grant management systems, there are also some challenges that come with it. However, with the right tools and resources, these challenges can be overcome.

So, good luck with those applications then!