Enhancing Scholarship Management
Schedule a Demo View Interactive Tour Enhancing Scholarship Management Introduction to the Scholarship Landscape and Key Insights The recent findings from Netforum’s
Navigating the complexities of grant management can be a daunting task for grant providers. Recognizing the need for a streamlined and efficient approach, Reviewr, the leading grant management software, bridge the gap between technology and best practices in grant administration.
Through its innovative software solutions and deep industry knowledge, Reviewr empowers organizations to manage grants in the best possible way. This blog post delves into the insights shared in Reviewr’s recent webinar, “The Ultimate Playbook to Managing Grants,” offering valuable advice on optimizing application processes, ensuring data security, and fairness in selection.
Whether you’re new to grant management or looking to refine your process, this post will help you explore how Reviewr is revolutionizing the way grants are managed.
The first step in the Ultimate Playbook to Managing Grants lies in meticulous planning and preparation. This stage is critical, setting the tone for the entire process and ensuring that every subsequent step aligns with your organization’s goals and objectives. Reviewr, a leader in grant management software, emphasizes the importance of this foundational step and offers insights into making the planning phase as effective as possible.
Define Your Objectives
Target Audience Analysis
Budget Planning
Grant Criteria Development
Timeline Establishment
Utilizing the Right Tools
Preparing for Challenges
Outreach
Newsletters
Email Campaigns
Social Media Campaign
Website
Partnership and Sponsorships
Utilizing Technology
Select a Platform, and use a tool like Reviewr to manage submissions and the review process efficiently. Here are key elements your grant management software should include.
Streamlined Submission Platform:
Safeguarding Applicant Information
It’s essential that grants are managed through dedicated and proven grant management software. Not only do these platforms save grant managers hundreds of hours in management energy, but they also include dedicated features to ensure an engaging experience for all parties involved as well as mechanisms for grant compliance. grants are high-impact programs and should be treated as such. Grant programs should never utilize tools that were not developed to manage the sensitive nature of grants such as online form and survey tools, emails, spreadsheets, file-sharing sites, etc.
Data Encryption
Compliance with global standards
Audits and Certification
Reference collection
Often an afterthought, yet critical to get right, is the collection of references. When an external variable such as references is added to the grant application and selection process we must ensure this too follows both proper protocol for data security, but also best practices.
Avoid reference letters:
Leverage reference templates:
Use Reviewrs automated reference collection process:
Impartial Review Distribution
All human variables that may lend themselves to bias must be removed from the grant management equation. This includes how grant applications are assigned to review committees. While many scholarship programs are committee based with all members reviewing all scholarships, may opt to deploy a process where not all committee members review all submissions.
Centralized Communication and Workflow Management
Enhanced Data Management and Reporting
Customer Support and Resources
Often times less is more when it comes to grant applications. Best practices indicate a simply online submission workflow with a low barrier for applicants that leads into an initial review and vetting process. From here, grant applicants will be narrowed down where if any additional information is needed that grant maker can reach out to the grantee within Reviewr to collect additional information.
The grant selection process is a crucial phase that demands fairness, transparency, and objectivity as guiding principles. It is essential to establish a rigorous and unbiased selection mechanism to ensure that every applicant receives equal consideration, based solely on their qualifications and alignment with the grant’s objectives.
Reviewr has developed grant management software that upholds these principles at every step of the selection process. The software incorporates advanced features that safeguard against bias and streamline the review workflow, thus enhancing the program’s credibility.
Promoting Objective Reviews
A fair selection process is fundamental to maintaining the integrity and reputation of your grant program. It involves implementing strategies that minimize personal bias and ensure a level playing field for all applicants. This is not just about ethical responsibility; it’s also about identifying truly deserving candidates who best match the grant’s goals.
Blind (Personal Identifiable Information) PII from the evaluation team
Blind “non-critical” information
Random distribution of applications to review teams
Manage Review Team workloads
Structured Review Phases
Dedicated scholarship management software
Quantitative Selections
The last piece to a compliant, fair, non-biased, and equitable grant management process is leveraging scoring rubrics for a quantitative selection. By using scoresheets we can avoid comparison bias amongst applicants and let the merits of their entry and scoresheet tell the story.
The purpose of this scorecard is to quickly identify applications that meet basic eligibility criteria and demonstrate a fundamental alignment with the grantmaker’s mission and priorities. This stage is designed to be low-barrier, focusing on essential organizational and project-related information.
Criterion | Yes/No |
---|---|
Organization Type Eligibility | Yes / No |
Completeness of Application | Yes / No |
Alignment with Grantmaker’s Mission | Yes / No |
Project Feasibility (based on summary) | Yes / No |
Budget Request Within Funding Range | Yes / No |
Scoring: Applications that receive “Yes” in all the above criteria pass to the detailed review phase.
After initial vetting, this rubric is used for a deeper evaluation of the applications. Each criterion is scored on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 indicates poor alignment/quality and 5 indicates excellent alignment/quality. Note: consider weighting these questions based on your organizations priorities.
Criterion | Description | Max Points |
---|---|---|
Organization’s Mission and History | Alignment with grant objectives, track record of impact. | 5 |
Project Innovation and Impact | Novelty of the project and potential for significant impact. | 5 |
Alignment with Mission | How well the project supports the grantmaker’s mission and vision. | 5 |
Detailed Budget Justification | Clarity and justification of the budget, cost-effectiveness. | 5 |
Evaluation and Success Metrics | Clarity of success metrics and evaluation plan. | 5 |
Sustainability Plan | Viability of long-term project funding and resources. | 5 |
Quality of Supporting Documents | Relevance and strength of supplementary materials. | 5 |
Scoring: A maximum of 35 points. Applications scoring above a predetermined threshold (e.g., 70% of the total possible points) proceed to the final interview phase.
For the last phase, the scorecard evaluates the applicant’s presentation and responses during the interview, focusing on their ability to articulate the project’s value, feasibility, and alignment with the grantmaker’s goals.
Criterion | Description | Max Points |
---|---|---|
Clarity and Conciseness | Ability to clearly and succinctly describe the project and its impact. | 10 |
Passion and Commitment | Demonstration of passion for the project and commitment to its success. | 10 |
Understanding of Grantmaker’s Goals | Depth of understanding of how the project aligns with the grantmaker’s goals. | 10 |
Responsiveness to Questions | Effectiveness in addressing questions and providing relevant information. | 10 |
Potential for Partnership | Potential for a strong, collaborative partnership with the grantmaker. | 10 |
Schedule a Demo View Interactive Tour Enhancing Scholarship Management Introduction to the Scholarship Landscape and Key Insights The recent findings from Netforum’s
Schedule a Demo View Interactive Tour The New Frontier of Member Engagement and Recognition Netforum’s “Association Trends Study 2024” presents several