Fluxx | Technology news for grantmakers

Our own Shawn Garrison recently sat with Charles Jun, Operations Manager at The Lenfest Institute for Journalism to talk about their experience with Fluxx.

The Lenfest Institute for Journalism was started by Gerry Lenfest, a media executive and entrepreneur who embraced the necessity of local journalism in the community. While an important part of shaping an objective narrative of democracy in our society, local journalism has seen significant challenges to thrive in the modern world. In response, Jerry founded The Lenfest Institute, which is dedicated to researching and developing sustainable models for local news outlets. 

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.

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). 

Fluxx’s Community Manager Shawn Garrison met with Tiffany Ramos, Director of Operations at Pillar to discuss their mission, and how Fluxx has been an integral part of their operation.

About Pillar
Pillar was conceived out of the hardships realized by business from the COVID pandemic. Pillar saw a need to help small businesses survive during the tumultuous economic times by providing grants and loans to the small businesses within the Rainier Valley and Greater Seattle area in Washington state. As a result of their work, hundreds of small businesses are thriving today and continue to be a vital part of their communities.

The Need for Efficiency and Transparency
As the pandemic continued to impact small businesses, Pillar saw an increase in their grantmaking to ensure they kept to their mission within the community. They wanted to find a solution to help fill in some process gaps and be more efficient in their grantmaking. Additionally, they wanted to have greater visibility and control into how they were collaborating on grants and ensuring the right people reviewed the grants at the right time in the process. These needs ultimately led them to Fluxx.

The grants management process can vary depending on the size and scope of your organization. It is not uncommon to start with a simple approach involving simple tools, a combination of systems that are either stitched together or siloed (or for some, no system at all).