The City of Dayton, Ohio received federal funding through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to support local nonprofits driving community recovery and revitalization efforts.
With millions in funding available, the City needed to stand up a complete grant management infrastructure—one capable of handling a high volume of applicants, ensuring compliance with federal requirements, and tracking impact over a multi-year period.
Lacking an existing system to support these needs, Dayton turned to Reviewr, an end-to-end grant management software designed to securely collect, manage, review, and report on grant programs of all sizes and durations.
Before implementing Reviewr, the City of Dayton faced significant logistical and operational hurdles. Unlike established grantmaking organizations, the City did not have a pre-existing system or process for managing funding initiatives at this scale.
The program required:
Without a centralized system, the City risked delays, compliance issues, and inefficiencies that could undermine transparency and accountability for federal funds.
To meet the scale and complexity of the ARPA-funded initiative, the City of Dayton implemented Reviewr as a comprehensive, secure platform for every stage of the grant lifecycle—from application intake to long-term impact tracking.
1. Secure and Scalable Application Intake
Reviewr enabled the City to launch a branded, secure online portal where nonprofit applicants could submit funding requests, supporting documents, and organizational data. Reviewrs grant application infrastructure ensured compliance with federal data-handling standards while simplifying submission for applicants of all technical levels.
2. Centralized Workflow Management
Program administrators gained a single dashboard to monitor application progress, communicate with applicants, and assign submissions to reviewers. Reviewr’s automation tools eliminated manual tracking spreadsheets and reduced administrative workload.
3. Transparent and Compliant Review Process
Dayton utilized Reviewr’s online review and scoring system to ensure a fair, standardized evaluation process. Submissions were organized and presented to reviewers in an unbiased format, complete with scoring rubrics and automated normalization to mitigate evaluator bias.
4. Long-Term Impact Reporting
With Reviewr’s multi-phase program management, grantees now submit ongoing monthly reports and updates for nearly five years. These reports capture key performance metrics, financial utilization, and qualitative impact stories—all within the same system, giving the City continuous visibility into community outcomes.
Through Reviewr, the City of Dayton transformed what could have been a complex, manual administrative process into a secure, transparent, and efficient grant management operation.
By leveraging Reviewr’s end-to-end functionality, the City not only distributed ARPA funds effectively but also created a long-term data foundation to track community outcomes and ensure every dollar was tied to measurable impact.
Today, the City continues to manage its multi-year grant program within Reviewr, maintaining compliance, efficiency, and transparency for the community it serves.
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