Automate the busywork: How to reclaim time in your grant cycle

From managing compliance to reviewing reports and chasing deadlines, grantmakers are constantly wearing multiple hats. And with so much administrative burden, it’s easy for the work of connecting with grantees, sharing stories and more, to get lost in the shuffle.

That’s where automation comes in.

When grantmakers automate busywork, they can reclaim time for the heart of grantmaking, freeing up capacity for deeper human connection and smarter decision-making. 

In this article, we’ll cover exactly how automation elevates human work and the five ways grantmakers can use Good Grants to automate admin tasks. 

How does automation elevate human work?

When used thoughtfully, automation can take care of repetitive, low-value tasks from a grantmaker’s plate. In turn, grantmakers can spend more time on:

Strategy: Without being bogged down by repetitive administrative tasks related to grant cycle management, grantmakers have more time to spot trends, evaluate programs more effectively and focus on long-term planning instead of short-term, reactive responses.

Grantee support: With less time spent on mundane tasks, grantmakers can respond faster to grantee questions, spend more time checking in, offering feedback and creating trust.

Storytelling: In the absence of being bogged down by compliance and reporting, grantmakers can spend more time collecting testimonials and success stories and turning hard data into impactful narratives.

5 Grantmaking tasks to automate today

While there are plenty of tasks grantmakers can automate, there are a few crucial ones that can free up hours of time almost instantly. 

Grantmakers can automate:

1. Application movement

With Good Grants’ automated grants management system, grantmakers can configure a multi-stage workflow that automatically moves applications through the grant lifecycle, including application approval, nomination acceptance, in-depth review rounds and more.

2. Emails

Good Grants allows you to set up and schedule emails automatically to inform applicants about deadlines and shortlisting, advise on review dates and much more.

3. Custom notifications

Send email notifications to program participants automatically based on triggered events, like when an application is submitted or if an application isn’t eligible — right within Good Grants.

Plus, pre-configure automatic notifications to grantees or members of the grantmaking team to help everyone comply with reporting schedules and payment requests.

4. Eligibility screening

If your program is large, an eligibility screener can be an incredible timesaver. Instead of spending hours looking at applications that don’t meet requirements, Good Grants’ eligibility screener diverts ineligible applications immediately and automatically based on your unique criteria.

5. Application organisation and archival 

Instead of manually organising applications, Good Grants’ archiving tools allow grantmakers to store past applications and copy full configurations to create a new season.

Additionally, the platform automatically identifies duplicate applications, allowing you to maintain clean and accurate data.

Focus on your mission, not busy work — with Good Grants

Grantmakers are busy and need all the help they can get. With Good Grants, a grant management software designed specifically for grantmakers, foundations can get back hours of time to focus on what matters most: creating lasting relationships and impact.