Supporting the Full Lifecycle of Trusts and Foundations Fundraising with GoodCRM
Fundraising from Trusts and Foundations is a time-consuming process, with many stages to navigate and keep on top of. From identifying opportunities and submitting applications to tracking deadlines for applications and impact reports, the journey of a grant requires pro-active management—especially if you have a team working across several projects. This is where GoodCRM steps in.
GoodCRM’s Trusts and Foundations fundraising CRM is designed to support every stage of the grant lifecycle—from application right through to funding report management. It’s not just about managing a pipeline of funding opportunities; it’s about ensuring that every step of the process is supported by one solution. In this blog, we’ll explore how GoodCRM helps charities manage the entire grant lifecycle, enabling teams to work more effectively, build stronger relationships with funders, and demonstrate real impact.
1. Managing the Full Grant Lifecycle with GoodCRM
The journey of a grant starts long before you submit an application and doesn’t end when you receive funding. In fact, much of the true value of a grant is realised in how you manage it—tracking the progress of applications, managing deadlines, and reporting on the impact of the funds. GoodCRM supports the entire lifecycle of a grant: from initial research, through to managing the fund’s impact and reporting to your funders.
Pipeline Management: GoodCRM allows you to manage your funding opportunities with ease. You can track every potential and active grant in your pipeline, ensuring that you never miss an important deadline and are always prepared for the next steps. This includes setting specific application deadlines, follow-ups, and tracking each funder's decision-making process.
Kanban Board: The Kanban board in GoodCRM helps visualise where each application is in the process, allowing you to drag and drop items from one stage to another. This helps you manage multiple applications efficiently and track progress at a glance—whether you’re drafting proposals, awaiting decisions, or working on reporting.
2. Collaborative and Streamlined Application Management
Using GoodCRM to manage your funding applications helps you collaborate effectively with your team and other departments, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. You can assign applications to team members, link them to specific projects in the Programmes, Projects, and Events section, and manage each application’s status with full visibility.
Assigning and Managing Applications: A team member can be assigned to a specific application, as the ‘owner’ responsible for this piece of work. If you need something more sophisticated, these can be customised to suit the needs of your organisation. All GoodCRM forms can be edited this way so that they only contain the fields relevant to your organisation.
Linking Applications to Projects: GoodCRM allows you to link each application to specific projects and fundraising targets, providing a clear view of how each funding opportunity fits into your charity’s broader goals.
3. From Application to Grant Award: Tracking and Reporting Grant Amounts
Once you’ve secured funding, the next step is to manage and report on those funds. GoodCRM makes it easy to allocate and track funds across different projects and years, ensuring that each aspect of your project receives the appropriate funding.
Split Grant Amounts: Large grants often need to be divided across multiple campaigns, initiatives, or years. GoodCRM’s grant management software allows you to split grant amounts between various categories, giving you a more detailed view of your funding. Whether you need to allocate money for long-term projects or specific campaigns, GoodCRM makes it simple.
Budget and Target Management: By linking grants to specific campaigns and projects, you can keep on top of fundraising targets and project budgets. Applications marked as successful will automatically update the campaign target on your Fundraising Suite dashboard.
4. Data Collection and Analysis for Informed Decision-Making
Beyond application and fund tracking, GoodCRM also helps you collect data throughout the entire process. With built-in statistics in the Segments section, GoodCRM offers detailed insights that help your team make data-driven reports and improve future fundraising efforts.
Tracking Funded Activities with Custom Records and Workflows: GoodCRM allows you to create custom records and set up workflows that capture detailed information. This enables you to record specific activities and monitor progress directly within the CRM. With this information easily accessible, you can generate comprehensive reports to demonstrate to funders how their grants have been used and the outcomes they’ve achieved.
5. Grant Management and Relationships
GoodCRM helps you maintain and strengthen relationships with your funders by giving you the tools to track interactions and manage key details.
Tagging and Categorising Funders: You can tag funders to categorise them based on their funding interests, priorities, or relationship status, making it easier to sort and filter your records.
Tracking Donors and Funders: The CRM allows you to pull detailed reports on who is currently funding your charity, and identify which people are linked to each funder. This means you can always stay on top of active funding sources and key contacts.
Saving Notes on Funders’ Profiles: Additionally, you can save notes on individual funder profiles—whether it’s from a phone conversation, a meeting at an event, or follow-up discussions. This centralised information ensures that every team member has access to important insights.
Email Capture Feature: The email capture feature further supports relationship management by automatically recording email threads with funders, so your team can see all communication history and keep the conversation flowing seamlessly. This consolidated view of interactions helps foster more personalised engagement and ensures everyone in your organisation is aligned in their approach to each funder.
Supporting the Entire Grant Lifecycle with GoodCRM
GoodCRM is not just about managing your funding pipeline—it’s about supporting every stage of the grant lifecycle, from application submission through to final reporting and relationship management. By streamlining your application management, tracking grants effectively, collecting data, and simplifying reporting, GoodCRM empowers your charity to make the most of every grant and build stronger relationships with your funders.
If you’re ready to manage the entire lifecycle of your Trust and Foundation grants more effectively, GoodCRM is here to support you every step of the way. Let us show you around the system, by booking a Discovery call!