Bloomerang CRM allows you to track your grants at every stage, from application to award. Use notes workflows to track application deadlines, requirements, and records related to each grant your organization is applying for. This article also covers how to use appeals, pledges, and reports to track deadlines and payments.
Finally, build dynamic reports to track deadlines and reporting requirements for open grants.
Track Grant Application Process, Requirements, and Deadlines
You can use notes to track the application status of your grants. First, create custom fields to track essential details like grant status, ask amount, and application date.
Create Note Custom Fields
Use custom fields in notes to track information about your grant applications. To create custom fields for notes:
Click Settings.
Click Custom Data.
In the Notes tile, click Select.
Click New Category.
Name the category Grants.
Click Save.
In the Grants category, click New Field.
Field Name | What kind of data goes in this field? | How do you enter data in this field? |
Grant Status | Text | Pick 1 Value From a List Example Values:
|
Area of Support | Text | Pick Multiple Values From a List |
Single or Multi-Year Grant | Text | Pick 1 Value From a List Example Values:
|
Grant Source | Text | Pick 1 Value From a List Example Values:
|
Grant Ask Amount | Currency | Type it In |
Grant Application Due Date | Date | Type it In |
Grant Application Submitted Date | Date | Type it In |
Amount Awarded | Currency | Type it In |
Next Progress Report Due Date | Date | Type it In |
Next Progress Report Submitted Date | Date | Type it In |
Final Report Due Date | Date | Type it In |
Final Report Submitted Date | Date | Type it In |
Grant Owner | Text | Pick 1 Value From a List |
Create an Organization Record for the Grant Funder
To get started, create a constituent for each organization that you are seeking a grant from.
Create a Grant Tracking Note on an Organization’s Profile
Add a separate note for each grant that you are applying for at a particular organization. Then complete at least these fields:
Date — Today’s Date
Application Due Date — When the grant application is due.
Note — Type a brief description of the grant.
Grant Status
Ask Amount — If known.
Attachments — Upload files or add links to helpful information.
Grant Owner — Who is responsible for this grant application?
Add any other applicable information to the note.
Tip: You can attach a copy of the grant application to the Note.
Update Grant Status
At each stage of the application process, open the grant's note and update it. For example, after you submit the application, you would:
Change Grant Status to Pending Decision.
Complete the Grant Application Submitted Date field.
Update the Ask Amount.
(optional) Attach a copy of the submitted application to the note.
When you receive an award letter for a grant, update the note again:
Change Grant Status to Awarded.
Complete the Amount Awarded field.
Complete the Next Progress Report Due Date field.
Attach a copy of the award letter to the note.
If the grant is declined:
Change Grant Status to Declined.
Set Amount Awarded to 0.
Remove any additional deadlines on the note.
Create Upcoming and Open Grants Reports
Create an Upcoming Items Due Report
This report shows open grant applications with deadlines in a specific date range in the future.
When this report arrives in your inbox, it means that there are outstanding items due for open grants, or your records need to be updated in Bloomerang CRM.
Create a new Notes report from scratch.
Include these filters:
Grant Application Due Date date is in the next 60 days AND Grant Application Submitted Date is empty
OR:
Next Progress Report Due Date is in the next 60 days AND Next Progress Report Submitted Date is empty
OR:
Final Report Due Date is in the next 60 days AND Final Report Submitted Date is empty
Exclude these filters:
Grant Status is Disqualified, Denied, or Complete
Add these Notes fields as columns:
Grant Status (group and sort by this column)
Grant Owner
Area of Impact
Grant Source
Grant Ask Amount
Grant Application Due Date
Grant Submitted Date
Amount Awarded
Next Progress Report Due Date
Next Progress Report Submitted Date
Final Progress Report Due Date
Final Progress Report Submitted Date
On the Details tab, enter the name “Upcoming Items Due - Grants.”
(Optional) Enter a Description.
(Optional) From the Folder list, select a folder for this report.
To save the report, click Save And and one of these options:
Keep Editing — Save the report and keep working.
Export to Excel — Save the report and download a spreadsheet.
Schedule Report — To schedule a report to automatically run once, daily, weekly, or monthly. For more information, view Scheduled Reports.
Go to Report List — Save the report and go to the Reports list.
Tip: Schedule this report to run weekly. The purpose of this report is to notify you of any outstanding items due related to a grant application, with ample time to meet deadlines. In the scheduling settings, select the setting to not send an email if there are no results in the report.
Create an Open Grants Report
This report shows all open grants and their details.
Tip: Schedule this report to run monthly and be sent to your team’s inbox, so that relationship managers and grant owners can stay up to date on the status of their grants.
Create a new Notes report from scratch.
Include these filters:
Grant Status:
Research
Letter of Inquiry
Working on Application
Pending Decision
Awarded
Reporting
Add these Notes fields as columns:
Grant Status (group by this column)
Grant Owner
Area of Support
Single or Multi-Year Grant
Grant Source
Grant Ask Amount
Grant Application Due Date
Grant Submitted Date
Amount Awarded
Next Progress Report Due Date
Next Progress Report Submitted Date
Final Progress Report Due Date
Final Progress Report Submitted Date
Add the constituent column Relationship Manager.
On the Details tab, enter the name “Open Grants.”
(Optional) Enter a Description.
(Optional) From the Folder list, select a folder for this report.
To save the report, click Save And and one of these options:
Keep Editing — Save the report and keep working.
Export to Excel — Save the report and download a spreadsheet.
Schedule Report — To schedule a report to automatically run once, daily, weekly, or monthly. For more information, view Scheduled Reports.
Go to Report List — Save the report and go to the Reports list.
Track Grant Pledges and Payments
Appeals represent what compelled a donor or funder to make a gift to your organization. By creating an appeal to track grants, your organization can easily identify which transactions are related to awarded grants. You can use appeals to:
Identify pledges as grant awards. To learn more, see Use Pledges to Track Awarded Grants.
Report on received grant revenue by adding pledge payments.
Report on projected revenue related to outstanding grants.
Create A Grant Appeal
Create an appeal for grants:
Click on Settings.
Click Custom Data.
Click Appeals.
Select New.
Enter an appropriate name for the appeal, such as “Grants.”
Click Save.
Use Pledges to Track Awarded Grants
When you receive a grant award, create a pledge on the granting organization’s timeline with the “Grants” appeal. When you receive a payment from the funder towards the grant, apply the money to the pledge as a pledge payment. Because the pledge already has the Grants appeal, the pledge payments will also inherit that appeal.
From the organization’s timeline:
Enter the following information:
Date — The date on which the grant was awarded (or the date on which you were notified of the award).
Amount — The total amount of the grant award.
Fund — Based on how the organization will use the grant.
(optional) Campaign.
Appeal — Select the Grants appeal.
Method — Select EFT, Credit Card, or None.
Click Schedule.
If the award will be paid in multiple installments, enter this information:
First Installment Date — The date on which you will receive the first payment.
Frequency — Determined on a case-by-case basis.
First Installment Amount — The amount of the first payment.
Number of Installments.
If the award will be paid in a single payment, enter this information:
First Installment Date — The date on which you will receive the award.
Frequency — Custom
First Installment Amount — The total amount awarded.
Number of Installments — 1.
Create Outstanding Grant Pledges Reports
Use reports to track your grant pledges and payments. Important grant reports include:
Open Grants
Upcoming Grant Items Due
Outstanding Grant Pledges
To learn more about creating and customizing reports, read:
This report shows all outstanding grant pledges and their respective payment details, such as pledge status, payment history, next installment details, and balance information.
Create a new Transaction report from scratch.
Include these filters:
Appeal is “Grants” AND Pledges and Pledge Payments
Add one of these two filters (but not both):
Pledge Status is “In Good Standing"
Pledge Status is “In Arrears”
Add these Pledges and Pledge Payments columns:
Pledge Status
Amount Paid
Pledge Balance
Next Installment Date
Next Installment Amount
Amount in Arrears
Days in Arrears
Add these additional columns:
Projected Revenue This Fiscal Year
Projected Revenue Next Fiscal Year
(optional) Delete these columns:
Type
Fund
Campaign
Appeal
Click the Pledge Status column.
Click Group By This Column.
On the Details tab, enter the name “Outstanding Grant Pledges.”
(Optional) Enter a Description.
(Optional) From the Folder list, select a folder for this report.
To save the report, click Save And and one of these options:
Keep Editing — Save the report and keep working.
Export to Excel — Save the report and download a spreadsheet.
Schedule Report — To schedule a report to automatically run once, daily, weekly, or monthly. For more information, view Scheduled Reports.
Go to Report List — Save the report and go to the Reports list.