Grantmakers: Grantees' Results Are Your Results

By Andy Cummings, Director of Business Development
Apr 18, 2016 7:20 PM ET

Grantmakers; Grantees' Results Are Your Results

According to NFF’s 2015 State of the Nonprofit Sector Survey, 53% of nonprofits are reporting 3 months or less of cash-on-hand. Further, many of these nonprofit partners feel that they don’t receive enough support from their funders on how to use data to measure and improve their programs.This means that ultimately, the foundations and grantmakers aren’t achieving their full potential impact because grantee’s results ARE the foundation’s results. So how can grant managers better support grantees?

We have seen first-hand working with many of world’s leading brands that implementing new technology has a huge positive impact on grantees. Today grantees need to be able to access the application system from any device, at any time with the ability to pick up where they left off in the application process if they need to stop mid-way. From ease of use and increased transparency to saving grantees time and effort, a cloud based solution makes grantees lives easier. Versaic delivers a streamlined grants management solution that ensures every group seeking support from your organization is treated fairly and consistently.

Supporting grantees means respecting their time and making things as accessible as possible. We hear from our clients all the time, that prior to implementing Versaic they faced many challenges with their grants management system. In particular, dissatisfaction from grantees was a huge obstacle they faced with their previous system.

A typical statement prior to implementing Versaic, “My grantees are totally frustrated with our system. They have trouble getting proposals submitted, there’s no support from the vendor and they can’t access any information about their proposal once it’s submitted.”

Our clients use the Versaic system to build engagement with their grantees and community partners. Versaic provides a fully branded portal that clearly outlines a client’s criteria and makes the process transparent for prospective grantees. At any time in the process, a prospective grantee can access information about their proposal, which cuts down on the number of follow up calls about status. If submitters need help navigating the system, our support team fields questions and provides support.

In addition, through our Impact Reporting, we help grantees do a better job of understanding and communicating the impact they are creating with the grants they receive.

For instance, client Starwood Hotels enhances partnerships with grantees based on clear communication, goal setting and progress tracking to drive success. Final reports on all grants enable Starwood to communicate impact. Versaic’s Impact Reporting enables Starwood to increase touch points with grantees and track impact by automatically requesting post-grant follow up information from approved nonprofits.

Starwood recently received the following praise from a grantee, “I have seen several other grant intake systems and this one is the best I have encountered.”

We are hearing Grantmakers across all strategic giving areas seem to be struggling to determine outcomes. Impact reporting allows grantees to demonstrate the impact they are having. In turn we have found this feature allows grantees to get increased funds in support of their cause.

Our clients have found that by putting the strategies and structure in place to provide grantees with significant support, their overall program is far more successful. They are able to create a greater impact in their areas of focus and have a much more powerful narrative to share with their communities when grantees are accomplishing their goals and working toward social change.

Versaic streamlines the full grants lifecycle from initial request through process management and reporting. Most Versaic clients cut their grants processing time by more than 90% while increasing touch points with grantees!  Contact us at info@versaic.com or 877-712-9495 to learn how Versaic can make your grant management program more efficient and effective for all involved.