SOC 2 certification: Why grant managers shouldn’t just take a vendor’s word for it

Article written by Dan Whitty, Senior Information Security Manager at Good Grants.

Plenty of platforms will tell you they take data security seriously. SOC 2 certification means an independent auditor has actually put that claim to the test.

When you’re narrowing down your shortlist, the final choice can hinge on a single factor. Two contenders, both with sleek websites. Both promise enterprise-grade security. Both lean on buzzwords like “best-in-class” and “industry-leading.” Look closer, and you’ll find one of them wrote those glowing reviews about themselves. The other invited an independent audito, someone with nothing to gain either way, to spend months stress-testing their systems before reaching the same verdict.

When it comes to protecting your applicants’ sensitive data, which of those platforms would you rather rely on? That’s the real value of SOC 2 certification: it’s the security world’s way of saying: Don’t just trust, verify.

Breaking down what SOC 2 actually means

SOC stands for System and Organization Controls, a framework established by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). The SOC 2 standard was built with technology and cloud service companies in mind, and it zeroes in on how well a platform safeguards the data it holds on its customers’ behalf.

For grant managers, that data carries real weight: applicant identities and contact information, financial records, assessment scores, evaluator commentary, funding outcomes. Protecting it isn’t optional — it’s a core responsibility of any SaaS platform operating in this space.

Type 1 vs Type 2: Snapshot versus sustained proof

It’s a distinction that often gets glossed over, but it matters a great deal.

A SOC 2 Type 1 report confirms that, at a single moment in time, a platform had the right security controls in place. Imagine a health inspector dropping into a restaurant kitchen for one visit and finding everything up to standard — the gear is clean, the storage is correct, the boxes are ticked.

A SOC 2 Type 2 report goes much further. It confirms that over a sustained period — usually anywhere from six to twelve months — those same controls were consistently operating as intended, with an independent auditor watching throughout.

Type 2 is the gold standard, and it’s what informed buyers will want to see. It separates platforms that built something secure from those that have proven they keep it that way, every single day, with no one looking over their shoulder to remind them.

Questions worth asking any software vendor

If you’re assessing grant management platforms and a vendor claims SOC 2 compliance, here’s what to dig into:

• Type 1 or Type 2? Type 2 carries far more weight. If a vendor only holds a Type 1 report, ask them when they plan to complete Type 2.
• When was it issued? SOC 2 certifications are typically renewed each year. An older report tells you far less about what the platform looks like today.
• Will they share it? Any vendor confident in their security posture should be willing to provide the report — or at least a summary — to serious prospects. Hesitation here is worth noting.

Good Grants and SOC 2

We’ve been through the process, passed the scrutiny, and we’re going through it all again. Good Grants holds SOC 2 Type 2 certification, and our second consecutive audit is currently underway. Because for us, a single independent review was never going to be sufficient.

Visit our Security centre to learn more.