Learn how to set up your Alpine database using Tags, Campaigns, and Dashboard Widgets to manage your grant pipeline.
How to Organize Your Grants in Humanitru
Humanitru simplifies how you organize and manage your grants from beginning to end.
Before you begin setting up your workflows there are a few things you’ll need to know.
First and foremost if you haven’t already given your Customer Success Manager your grant data (commonly a spreadsheet) you’ll need to do that first so that we can upload that information into your database. Once all of your grant data has been uploaded you’ll need to start building out various campaigns and tags that you’ll be using to track the various stages of your grant-based outreach.
Below you’ll find suggestions of how to name your campaigns and tags, as well as how to move them through your pipeline.
We also give you suggestions on how to set up reports that can be used to see what stage your grants are in so that you know what you need to do next. Finally, we conclude with how to set up various dashboard widgets you can use as a grants-based task manager.
Creating a Grant Pipeline
When you first choose to apply for a grant, there’s a lot of information to keep track of in order to be successful in your application. This is called your Grant Pipeline and is super simple to set up in Humanitru. You can assign tasks, set actions, track due dates, remind team members of upcoming requirements, and more. Here is a quick video on how to create a campaign and a quick video here on how to create a new tag.
Here are five simple steps to get you started using our Campaign Interface.
1. Add Your New Campaign Category: Grant Status
Within that Campaign Catagory add a Campaign titled: “1. Application Due”
- Use the Note action type and add the “Application Due” campaign.
- Should be unverified action (future date) until the application is submitted
- Can add a “Program Area” campaign and/or “Grant Probability” campaign to this action
2. Add a Campaign titled: “2. Application Submitted”
- Use the Note action type and add the “Application Submitted” campaign.
- Can attach the application file to the action type
- Can add a “Program Area” campaign and/or “Grant Probability” campaign to this action
3. Add a Campaign titled: “3. Awarded”
- Use the Donation action type and add the “Awarded” campaign.
- Can attach the application file to the action type
- Can add a “Program Area” campaign
4. Add a Campaign titled: “4. Declined”
- Use the Note action type and add the “Declined” campaign.
- Add a Note action type with “Application Due” campaign if you have the next date application due date. This should be unverified action (future date) until the application is submitted
5. Add a Campaign titled: “5. Report Due”
- Use Note action type and add the “Report Due” campaign.
- This should be unverified action (future date) until the report is submitted
- You can attach the report as a doc to this Note action.
You can keep track of the various grants you’re applying for based on the program area. This information helps you prioritize your grants based on their importance to your organization.
Add a New Campaign Category titled: "Grant Program Area"
- Grant Program Area: this is unique to each nonprofit organization and can be set up to your specific needs.
Tagging Your Grant
Humanitru allows you to add even more detail to your grant organization with tags. These tags allow you to track prospecting status as well as the constituent type (aka funder). The idea is to allow you to build up your grant pipeline years in advance. It also helps you reassess your grant management at regular intervals so you stay on track.
Add your New Tag Group titled: "Grant Prospecting Status"
Then Add The Following Tags:
- 1. Prospect
- 2. Researching
- 3. In Pipeline
- 4. Not applying in 2021
- 5a.Prospect 2022
- 5b. Prospect 2023
- 5c.Prospect 2024
Add your New Tag Group titled: "Constituent Type"
Then Add The Following Tag:
- Funder
Add your New Tag Group titled: "Grant Owner"
Then Add The Following Tag:
- Tag Name will = the staff member responsible for their management
Reporting on Your Grants
If you want to show your grant pipeline, progress, and plans to board members, donors, or anyone who doesn’t have immediate access to Humanitru’s dashboard, that’s what our reports are for. We offer a variety of customizable and downloadable reports that you can use to keep track of every grant, your progress, and current status.
- Prospecting: These are grants that you are still researching and have not submitted an application for or added to your pipeline.
- Application Due: This report helps you keep track of when each grant application is due.
- Pending: These are grants that already have a submitted application but have not been awarded or denied.
- Awarded: These are grants that you have won.
- Report Due: Keep track of what grant reports are due and when.
Keeping Track of Your Grants via Dashboard Widgets
To keep track of where your grants are in the pipeline and to track due dates, notes, and actions, Humanitru offers the ability to keep track of your grants within your dashboard with specially crafted widgets. These widgets help you keep an eye on some of the most important aspects of your grant—specifically upcoming actions and past actions taken as well as grants in process.
Helpful widgets fall into three categories: list widgets, entity widgets, and reports widget.
List Widget
- Upcoming, unverified donation, and note action types listed by action date and input by all.
- Past, unverified donation, and note action types listed by action date and input by all.
- You can also create a list widget to show grants-based revenue trends over the years, or months using the “Entity Filter” dropdown options.
Reports Widget
- Pin all of the saved reports (detailed above) to your dashboard for easier access.
Entity Widget
- Category: Grant Pipeline
Using Notifications
Lastly, you can set notifications within Humanitru to help you keep track of when you’re awarded a grant. Basically, when the action type in the grant pipeline “Awarded Campaign” is changed, you can notify everyone on your grant team of the award. From there, you can make your plans for organizing funds and using the grant.
Setting Up the Notification In Alpine:
- Click on “Settings”
- In “Notifications” click on “+ New Notification”
- Use the dropdown to select the recipient
- Check your channel preference
- In “Action Type” use the dropdown and select “Notes”
- In “Campaign” type in the word “Awarded”
- Click the green “Save” icon
