How the LA LGBT Center Transformed Grant Management with Instrumentl

For the Los Angeles LGBT Center, the introduction of Instrumentl helped revolutionize the team’s approach to grant management, enhancing efficiency, boosting productivity, and driving mission impact.

At the helm of foundation and institutional relations at the Center is Mitch Carr, who manages a $5 million grant portfolio and leads efforts to bring in private and corporate funding. We sat down with Mitch, the Center’s Manager for Foundation and Institutional Relations, to hear more about Instrumentl’s role in transforming their grant processes.

The LGBT Center serves as a lifeline, providing healthcare, housing, cultural, and educational services to diverse LGBTQ+ communities across Los Angeles.

With 10 locations throughout LA, the Center stands as the world’s largest nonprofit dedicated to LGBTQ+ services, reaching 35,000 clients annually. As a pillar of support in the community, it is essential that the Center's operations, including grant management, run efficiently.

Mitch began as a grant writer at the Center and was quickly promoted to the manager role. In this position, he was tasked with managing their $5 million funding portfolio to help advance their mission.

As Mitch took on more responsibilities, he encountered increasing challenges in managing a growing array of deadlines, documentation, and funder relations. The Center initially relied on color-coded Excel spreadsheets to track grant deadlines and submissions. While effective for basic organization, this manual system posed limitations.

As Mitch explained:
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“Before Instrumentl, we had an Excel sheet that had all of our deadlines and it was color coordinated—it worked but it was not efficient and it felt like old technology and it took hours to update stuff that could take minutes.”

This outdated system made it difficult to respond quickly to new opportunities, consuming valuable time that could have been spent on strategic planning and deepening funder relationships.

Recognizing these limitations, Mitch sought a modern, centralized system that could save time and increase focus on high-priority opportunities. You can probably guess what comes next; Mitch started a free 14-day trial with Instrumentl.

In December 2023, Mitch introduced Instrumentl to the Center’s grant team, a move that would transform their grant management approach. Instrumentl’s platform provided intuitive tracking tools and automated reminders, significantly reducing the manual work needed for grant management.

According to Mitch:
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“What was taking two hours to four hours a week now takes less than 30 minutes.”

After onboarding two new team members, Mitch noted how quickly they adapted to the system, demonstrating initiative and managing tasks with minimal oversight. By keeping their work more organized, they were able to save tons of time.

This efficiency boost allowed the team to focus on crafting stronger proposals and expanding the Center’s reach with new prospects. Instrumentl’s streamlined RFP identification helped them quickly align with well-suited opportunities.

One such opportunity was a major grant proposal to address homelessness, resulting in a $500,000 award. Mitch highlighted this as a standout achievement, sharing:
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“We were one of two nonprofits in the United States to be awarded that [$500,000].”

Since using Instrumentl, Mitch and his team have been able to strengthen relationships with existing funders while raising the Center’s profile among potential partners.

Most roles come with a certain level of administrative overhead, from routine data entry to tracking project milestones. While these tasks are necessary for smooth operations, they can become time-consuming and detract from high-value activities. Instrumentl’s streamlined system reduced this administrative burden, freeing up time for Mitch and his team to focus on more meaningful tasks, such as engaging with funders and refining proposals to better support the Center’s mission.

Adopting an automated grant management platform like Instrumentl does more than streamline processes; it can have a profound effect on team morale, retention, and overall productivity.

In the future, Mitch plans to leverage Instrumentl to further expand the Center’s funding portfolio, prioritizing deepening impact rather than simply meeting financial goals. Mitch shared his vision for a stronger, more sustainable grant strategy that amplifies the Center’s services:
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“The thing I’m most excited for in the next 12 months is deepening the impact and deepening the relationships with our funders.”

With dedicated space for funder notes and details, Instrumentl is the perfect place to track funder information. This information can be utilized to record the Center’s relationships with certain funders over time.

Mitch’s journey with Instrumentl offers valuable insights for nonprofits seeking to enhance their grant management processes. By aligning the right technology with organizational goals, he has maximized efficiency and driven team empowerment.

For nonprofit professionals who are extremely passionate about getting their cause funded (as most are), it can be easy to get caught up in chasing the money. Mitch’s advice? Focus on the broader mission impact rather than immediate financial gain. As Mitch puts it, “Think about your organization’s impact first, rather than a financial reward.”

For organizations seeking to amplify their impact, Instrumentl provides more than just a solution—it offers a pathway to sustainable success.