Fluxx | Technology news for grantmakers

Season three of Untapped Philanthropy kicks off with new co-host, Neon One’s Director of Corporate Brand, Tim Sarrantonio, and a guest who came to philanthropy by way of technology: Michael Thatcher. 

Michael currently serves as the President and CEO of Charity Navigator, but prior to making the nonprofit jump, he spent 15 years at Microsoft in a number of roles, eventually becoming CTO for public sector accounts in Africa, the Middle East, and Greater Asia. Much of his work grappled with social and economic change imperatives and explored how regions could use technology as a lever for change. He often worked with the local nonprofits and NGOs and therefore was acutely aware of data that was (or wasn’t) leveraged within these teams.

Together Michael, Fluxx CDO and co-founder, Kerrin Mitchell, and Tim, kick off season three by delving into the Philanthropy Data Commons, how nonprofits can leverage their Charity Navigator rating to be more discoverable for donors, and explore what data means to both sides of the giving coin. 

As a grants manager, you’ve always understood the importance of data, even if you don’t always consider yourself a tech guru. As the quarterback of the grantmaking process, you regularly collect critical pieces of information and synthesize it for future use. You’ve always known you needed data. But until recently, deep dives into the world of data were rarely expected from you due to a perceived lack of expertise, time, or mandate from leadership.

We know that Grants Management Systems (GMS) help grantmakers accelerate their impact, improve relationships with grantees, and unlock the power of data for reporting and decision making.

We also know that many organizations are stuck in outdated systems—or are manually tracking everything through an ad hoc process using email and spreadsheets—which means that too many grants professionals are spending countless hours tracking down information, searching through disparate documents, and manually moving the work forward.

To help Grants Administrators and Grants Managers advocate for new technology, we teamed up with our friends at Grantbook to build a simple guide.

So much has to go into a robust grants management solution in order for teams to successfully understand and leverage their data, and streamline their work. One of the most important factors is if platform administrators can control who sees what, and when. Why? Because grantmaking “takes a village.” It’s a team effort that relies heavily on each player, and when process confusion exists in your workflow, grantees have to wait longer for funds or basic information. Here’s what you want to do:

According to a recent report of over 2,500 reviews of foundations on GrantAdvisor.org, grant application management consumes 20-30% of grantmakers' time. What are the top sources of pain? Not being able to see the full application, the time taken to apply is disproportionate to the funding awarded, and the inability to save the application and work on it later.

Another fantastic year of Untapped philanthropy has come to a close! This year, the conversations felt charged, and the industry leaders we spoke with all seemed eager to support progress for our industry. And while our podcast tries to cover a few key topics equally — the future of philanthropy, technology, policy, and capacity building efforts for grantees — this season our conversations seemed to always come back to trust-based philanthropy. 

We explored how we might implement trust-based philanthropy, learned from the leaders who worked to define this movement for funders, and took an honest look at the prevailing power imbalances of nonprofits and foundations. These conversations left us feeling inspired and ready to make a change too. 

Untapped Season Finale: A new host + fresh topics: what's next for season 3 of Untapped Philanthropy

Fluxx’s Community Manager Shawn Garrison met with Art Johnstone and Michael Turner, the President and Vice President of Client Services at EMPH Partners.

About EMPH Partners

EMPH, which stands for the Emergency Management and Public Health Partners team is comprised of experts with nearly five decades of combined experience building and utilizing systems to manage grant funding, including experience using Fluxx Grantmaker to manage thousands grants, and tens of millions in grant funding.

Their particular area of expertise is working with partners to manage Federal pass-through grant funding, using Fluxx Grantmaker to offer sub-awards that meet the specific purposes and due diligence needs of each particular Federal grant program.

Fluxx Named the Leading Grants Management Software Solution

On the heels of a wildly successful (and in-person) annual conference, the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) has released the results of their comprehensive survey on trends and insights into how technology is shaping philanthropy. The 2022 TAG State of Philanthropy Tech Report is now available, taking responses from 277 organizations across North America, the EU and the U.K. 

Someone once told us that a software implementation was akin to building a house. Sure, anyone can put up four walls, a few doors, and a roof and call it a house, but then it’s no more than just a shell. Building a house requires planning, layout, experts in multiple areas, and feng shui (if you’re into that sort of thing).