Choosing the right grant management software can make or break your fundraising strategy. With so many options available, finding the one that offers the best features and value for your organization is crucial.
In this article, we compare Amplifund and Instrumentl—two strong contenders in the grant management software game. To help you determine which platform best fits your needs and budget, we’ll evaluate key factors such as:
Pricing
Features
User reviews
Overall value
By the end, you’ll be equipped to make an informed decision to streamline your grant process and level up your fundraising efforts!
What Are Some of Amplifund’s Key Features?
To determine if Amplifund is the right fit for your grant management needs, it’s essential to understand its key features.
In this section, we explore how Amplifund helps with:
Finding new RFPs and funders
Tracking prospect research and submissions
Collaborating and reporting
Finding New RFPs and Funders
One of the biggest challenges of grant management comes at the beginning of the grant lifecycle: finding good-fit grant opportunities.
While the bulk of Amplifund’s functionality focuses on post-award management, the platform still offers a handful of features that are designed to help grant seekers find funding.
Amplifund’s grant database features over 4,000 federal, state, municipal and local government grant opportunities, making it a good fit for organizations looking specifically for government grants.
If you’re not in the market for government grants, you can peruse the 200,000+ independent, community and corporate/foundation grantmakers that are also in the database. However, be aware that Amplifund doesn’t necessarily share active grants from these grantmakers, meaning that you’ll have to do your own research to determine if they offer opportunities that are a good fit for you.
Tracking Prospect Research and Submissions
Amplifund offers comprehensive tools to streamline and enhance the tracking of grant prospects and awards:
Budget and Performance Plan Development: Users can develop detailed budgets and performance plans as part of the application process, ensuring all financial and project details are well-documented and aligned with funder requirements.
Automated Reminders: AmpliFund keeps the submission process on track with automated reminders for upcoming deadlines and tasks, which can integrate with common calendar applications like Google or Outlook. This helps grant professionals avoid missing critical deadlines and maintain an organized submission workflow.
Centralized Documentation: AmpliFund offers a centralized location for storing all necessary documentation related to grant submissions, ensuring easy access and file management. This makes it easy for you and your team to reference past submissions and retrieve important documents when needed.
Collaboration and Reporting
Last but not least, Amplifund offers collaboration and reporting tools to help streamline your grant management efforts.
Collaboration Tools:
Amplifund provides a suite of collaboration tools that facilitate seamless communication and teamwork throughout the grant management lifecycle, including:
Internal Approval Processes: Amplifund allows teams to review, evaluate, and approve grant opportunities internally before submission. This ensures that all necessary stakeholders are involved and that each submission meets organizational standards.
Task Assignments and Notifications: Users can assign tasks to team members and set up automated notifications to remind them of upcoming deadlines. This feature helps keep everyone on the same page so that no task is overlooked.
Reporting Features:
Amplifund doesn’t overlook the post-award phase of the grant lifecycle; this platform’s reporting capabilities are designed to provide detailed insights into grant performance and compliance. Notable features include:
Standard and Custom Reports: Users can access various pre-built reports covering different parts of the grant lifecycle. Additionally, Amplifund allows users to create custom reports tailored to specific organizational needs.
Customized Dashboards: Users can create customized dashboards to generate real-time insights and visualize key performance indicators. These dashboards can be utilized to track progress against goals and identify areas for improvement in your funding strategy.
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Amplifund offers several pricing tiers designed to cater to various organizational needs but requires that potential users reach out to their sales team for an exact quote.
Grant Seeker Core: This plan starts at approximately $5,000 annually. It is designed for organizations seeking a robust solution for managing grant applications and tracking compliance.
Grant Maker Core: This plan costs around $6,000 annually and offers more advanced features for organizations that manage grant distribution.
Advanced/Enterprise Plans: For organizations with more complex needs, Amplifund offers advanced or enterprise-level plans. These plans are custom-priced based on the organization's specific requirements and scale.
These plans are on the pricier side, which might be beyond the budget of some nonprofits. While Amplifund offers extensive management features, it’s important to weigh the cost against your organization’s needs and budget constraints. This will help you determine if Amplifund’s capabilities justify the significant investment.
One of the best ways to gain insights into any grant management platform is to look at reviews from real users.
Overall, we found that Amplifund receives mixed reviews, with many users appreciating Amplifund’s comprehensive grant management capabilities.
However, some users have pointed out significant drawbacks relating to the learning curve and lack of responsive tech support.
Overall, while Amplifund offers many robust features for grant management, it’s important to consider the positive aspects as well as reported drawbacks when deciding if it’s the right fit for your organization.
Is There a Better Amplifund Alternative? Instrumentl Examined
Now that we’ve examined Amplifund’s key features and pricing, it’s time to see if there’s a better alternative.
Spoiler alert—we think there is! And it’s Instrumentl.
While we may be a bit biased, we are going to break down Instrumentl’s top features just like we did with Amplifund to show you why we think it’s the superior grant management solution.
Boasting 400,000+ funders, 15,000+ active RFPs, and 150+ new opportunities every week, Instrumentl’s database helps you find more funding in less time.
Here’s how Dr. Bev Browning, author of Grant Writing for Dummies, described her experience using Instrumentl:
“I started using Instrumentl and thought - oh my gosh, this is a miracle! This is going to save me weeks! It just does everything for me. I insert the keywords, set up a project, and it magically shows me the most relevant funding matches.”
Instrumentl’s Smart Matching feature proactively scours its extensive database for funding opportunities that align with your projects and needs, saving you valuable time and energy. Smart Matching elevates Instrumentl from a passive grant discovery tool to an active partner in your grant-seeking process.
Instrumentl also provides comprehensive 990 Snapshots to help you evaluate the suitability of potential funders even more effectively.
With just the click of a button, you’ll have access to key insights into a funder’s giving history, making it easy to prioritize grants with the highest likelihood of success.
Tracking Prospect Research and Submissions
Instrumentl isn’t just a grants database—it also provides tracking features that let you manage your grant pipeline throughout all stages of the grant lifecycle.
With the Grant Tracker, you can manage the status of your grants—whether you’re researching, planning, or already awarded—all in one place.
Instrumentl’s Grant Calendar also helps you and your team stay on track by showing upcoming deadlines and task due dates. Never miss an application deadline again!
Instrumentl’s tracking and management features are super easy to use and provide everything you need to keep all your applications organized and in one centralized location.
Jo F., Development Associate at HOME WORKS! shares,
“I love the grant tracker, it is very intuitive and easy to use! I use it every day. The calendar feature is also excellent and very useful… I have a busy role, and I have to use my time effectively - Instrumentl helps me to do that.”
Collaboration and Reporting
Instrumentl’s robust collaboration capabilities make it stand out among other grant management platforms, including Amplifund.
Instrumentl allows users to work seamlessly with their teams so that they can collaborate effortlessly through every step in the process. You can even delegate tasks to your colleagues to maximize efficiency and keep everyone on the same page.
Instrumentl also simplifies reporting by offering the option to export data into CSV and PDF formats, which frees up valuable time and makes it easy to keep stakeholders in the loop.
Check out what Beth Kander-Dauphin, Chief Strategist Officer at the Goldring/Woldenberg Institute of Southern Jewish Life, had to say about Instrumentl’s solutions:
“I love the fact that Instrumentl is like a one-stop shop where I can research and track grants all in one place. I feel like 90% of my work is concentrated in one platform and this has been a huge help for me.”
While Amplifund is impressive, we are confident that when it comes to ensuring the best ROI, Instrumentl provides far more features—and a better bang for your buck.
Instrumentl offers robust collaboration tools, enabling teams to work together effectively on grant proposals. Its Smart Matching feature enhances grant discovery by aligning opportunities with specific project criteria. To top it off, its simplified reporting functions allow you to showcase your progress to key stakeholders effortlessly.
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