April 22, 2025
The Impact Issue #58: Transform Your Grant Tracking Process!
Learn how to streamline your grant tracking process, save hours each week, and boost efficiency with AI tips, expert strategies, and powerful tools.
Hey there!
This week’s edition of The Impact is all about efficient grant tracking.
We’ll share tips, actionable insights, and resources to help you streamline and scale your workflow.
Take a deep breath and buckle in.
Don’t Miss Out!
Can AI really save you time, sharpen your storytelling, and support your strategy—or is it just more noise?
Join Meredith Noble and Instrumentl on April 29th as we cut through the hype and show how grant professionals are using AI to enhance—not replace—their process, ethics, and voice.
From practical use cases to prompt strategies and what’s actually worth paying for, you’ll learn how to put AI to work without compromising your mission or your message.
You’ll walk away with:
- 9+ tested AI use cases for grant professionals—from brainstorming new funders to identifying narrative gaps—that are already saving teams hours a week
- A 3-question readiness checklist to help you assess if your team, systems, and strategy are ready for AI integration
- The #1 AI myth most grant writers fall for (and how to avoid wasting time or money chasing shiny tools)
Whether you’re skeptical, excited, or somewhere in between, this session will help you harness AI as a practical partner in your grantwriting process.
➡️ Register today to claim your free spot!
Pitfalls and Pointers
⚠️ Pitfall: Relying on Manual Grant Spreadsheets to Track Your Grants
Grant spreadsheets may be familiar and free, but they can quickly become unruly—especially as you scale your operations.
You have to manually set them up, input data, and complete reporting. You also have to battle with version control if you share your spreadsheet with others. This can leave you uncertain about the latest status of your grants and potentially lead to missed deadlines and reporting requirements.
💡 Pointer: Simplify Your Tracking With Software Solutions
Grant management software can drive efficiencies in the way you work, saving you time and resources.
Here’s how investing in a software solution can yield dividends:
- Automation: Grant management software can automate previously manual processes, including adding new grants to your tracker, reminding you of upcoming deadlines, and more.
- Advanced reporting: Many software solutions provide data and analytics, offering insights into your grant pipeline with the click of a button. These can be taken to the next level with software integrations to help customize your reporting needs.
- Scalability: When you’re working on the same platform, it’s easy to collaborate with your teams. You can scale your operations, view your entire grant pipeline, and identify new opportunities that fit into your funding strategy. You’ll never have to worry about version control again!
👉 Ditch the spreadsheet and explore the benefits of grant management software in your grant tracking!
Tech You Should Know
What:
Givzey offers an intelligent gift documentation solution, allowing fundraisers to capture gifts, provide gift documentation, and more. It enhances the donor experience, increasing the speed at which fundraisers can get gift agreements in front of donors.
How Nonprofits Can Use It:
- Book gifts faster: With industry-standard templates available, nonprofits can generate a gift agreement and get their donors to virtually sign the documents faster.
- Generate gift documentation: Nonprofits can automatically generate gift documentation, sending receipts to donors immediately for tax purposes.
- Eliminate manual processes: Nonprofits can automate many fundraising tasks, including generating documents, sending automated pledge reminders, intelligent invoicing, and gift fulfillment.
Keep in Mind:
Givezey is an investment, but if your nonprofit struggles with gift documentation, it may be worth checking out. You can process everything you need in a centralized location.
🎉 Check out what Givzey can offer you and schedule a demo!
Expert Perspectives
🏆 The Instrumentl Team on Smarter Grant Tracking
We all wish there were more hours in the day, but what if there was a way to get back time?
The Instrumentl team and grant writing experts shared how they’ve been able to save up to 15 hours per week while managing dynamic grant portfolios.
Here’s their expert advice:
- Create a standard workflow—and communicate it with your team. Everyone should be using a clear organizational system to prevent double work from happening. Grant professional Sarah Lange, Principal & Founder, reinforces the importance of organization. “If you don't already have systems in place to keep you organized, invest the time and energy (and money!) to set them up. This will make your grant writing efforts infinitely more efficient!”
- Set deadlines well ahead of time. You don’t want to make your poor planning someone else’s problem, so ensure you have clear deadlines and give your team plenty of notice for when they have to complete their tasks by. Matt Hugg, CEO of NonprofitCourses, emphasizes this point: “A dedicated calendar is an essential proposal writing tool, even if it's as simple as setting up a specific, shared Google Calendar for the job. Then "backdate," which is a process of starting with the submission date, then going backwards from there with specific deadlines for each part of each proposal.”
- Document important information. Not everyone can be in every call or email thread, so make sure that you keep notes about your interactions, funding opportunities, and more. Include the who, what, and why so your team can understand the full context. That way, they won’t have to waste time tracking the information down later. Arnisha Johnson, Owner and Lead Strategist of Manifesting on More, offers her foolproof advice. “It's important to stay on top of all these things and in a well-organized manner. Otherwise, deadlines, documents meant to upload, follow-ups required, or even late reports can cause missed opportunity for grants.”
⏳ Keep reading to learn more ways to save time with advanced grant tracking!
A Gift for You
Grant spreadsheets are a thing of the past. There are so many great tools and resources available to help you track your grants more effectively.
We put together this free guide—How to Break Free From Grant Spreadsheets: 5 Simple Steps—to help you transition from your manual processes and learn how grant management systems can automate tasks and drive efficiencies.
Opportunities Spotlight
🎤 Levitt AMP [Your City] Grant
Who It’s For: Nonprofits looking to integrate the power of music in their communities
Next Deadline: June 30, 2025
Grant Amount: $30,000
The Details:
The Mortimer & Mimi Levitt Foundation understands how music can bring communities together. They help strengthen the social fabric of America one city at a time, and their three-year grants help bring live free concerts to public spaces.
🌟 AAUW: Community Action Grants - Project Support
Who It’s For: Nonprofits focused on women's and girl’s education and equity with priority to STEM programs
Next Deadline: November 22, 2025
Grant Amount: Up to $10,000
The Details:
The Community Action Fund helps girls and women in grades K-12 imagine a more equitable future. With a focus on STEM programs, they help fund projects that educate the next generation of women leaders.
🔍 These opportunities don’t resonate? Not a problem. Explore even more grant opportunities here!
Networking Nook
💻 Webinar: Double Your Grants: How to Engage the Right Funders
April 23 | 1:00 p.m. CT
What if you could double your grant opportunities—without doubling your workload?
In this hands-on workshop, you’ll learn how to uncover more aligned funders, evaluate them quickly, and connect with them more strategically. You’ll walk through a series of interactive exercises to identify what you need to fund, who’s most likely to fund it, and how to make that connection count.
This workshop is CFRE certified – 1.0 hour (Category 1.B).
Don’t Miss Out!
💻 Webinar: Grant Writing: What the Pros Know
May 6 | 2:00-3:15 p.m. ET
Get a refresher on grant writing with this webinar from Funding for Good. You’ll learn what you should include, what you should avoid, and more to help you win more grants. This webinar is open to grant professionals of all levels.
Don’t Miss Out!
To check out more recent and upcoming live events, go here.
In Case You Missed It
📑 Article: Common Challenges and Pitfalls in Grant Management
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or just starting, the grant management process can be complex. This article shares common challenges and how you can overcome them.
📼 Video: Connecting Project Goals, SMART Objectives, and Grant Research Keywords ft. Dr. Bev Browning
Seasoned grant processional Dr. Bev Browning shares her tips on creating strong goals, what to avoid, and how your goals can influence the keywords you use to find new funding opportunities.
Optimize Your Grant Tracking
We’re all looking for ways to work smarter, not harder—and to make our resources stretch further. Thankfully, Instrumentl can help, saving you hours of work each week.
We offer a centralized location for your end-to-end grant management needs. Whether you’re tracking upcoming deadlines, proposals, or reporting requirements, you can do it all in Instrumentl.
100% Free Grant Writing Resources Straight to Your Inbox
