All grants management systems evaluated in this guide share a great deal of functionality in how they address common requirements. In this section, we look at the areas of differentiation among the systems to help you determine what systems might fit your own foundation’s needs more suitably.   

We’ve sorted the systems into eight categories:  

1. Low-Cost Systems 
2. Systems with Out-of-the-Box Functionality 
3. Highly Configurable Systems 
4. Systems with Advanced CRM Features 
5. Systems that Assist Non-Technical Users 
6. Systems with Business Intelligence Tools 
7. Systems for Global Grantmakers 
8. Systems that Facilitate Equity-Centered, Values-Driven, and Trust-Based Grantmaking  

 

Low-Cost Systems 

Small or budget-constrained foundations with simple grantmaking processes don’t need to pay tens of thousands of dollars for an effective grants management system. While not all participating vendors provided sample pricing for their systems, four have packages available for less than $5,000 a year:  

• Blackbaud Grantmaking: Offers a Basic package with pricing that starts at $4,995 per year. Designed to meet the needs of smaller organizations without complex workflows, the Basic package does not include a reviewer portal, budget module, accounts payable functionality, or the ability to create custom integrations. It does include a set number of implementation hours, and clients can add on extra services if they want to expand the scope of implementation. 

• Foundant Grant Lifecycle Manager: Available starting at $4,250 per year, with a two-year contract required. The Basic license does not include eligibility quizzes or advanced automation, and limits file sizes. Implementation is priced separately from the yearly license fee, but includes training and support from an assigned customer delivery team member. 

• Salesforce Grantmaking: Licensing costs are on a per-user basis and include the platform’s Nonprofit Cloud offering. The Enterprise Edition license starts at $175 per user, per month, billed as $2,100 annually. However, implementation costs vary widely and are not included.

In addition, the following other systems profiled in this report offer license options under $10,000:  

• akoyaGO pricing starts at $7,500 per year.  

• SmartSimple starts at $6,000 per year. 

• Submit.com starts at $5,995 per year. 

• NextZen starts at $7,500 per year. 

• GivingData starts at $9,950 per year.  

• Amp Impact offers pricing starting at $5,000 per year based on portfolio size, but also requires Salesforce licenses.  

 

Systems with Out-of-the-Box Functionality 

Smaller foundations and funders without dedicated IT teams to manage systems may be looking for a grants management system that does not need a lot of configuration or customization for them to get started. The following systems all make good out-of-the-box options:   

• Blackbaud Grantmaking: The low-priced Basic system implementation is available for small foundations looking for out-of-the-box capabilities. The system comes with 250 standard reports and is designed to meet the needs of smaller organizations without complex workflows. 

• Foundant Grants Lifecycle Manager: The system includes a predetermined grant workflow with stages that can be turned on and off. Designed for foundations with a one or two stage application process and a simple evaluation process, the system governs user access with six preset roles. 

• Fluxx Grantmaker: New clients who select the Quick Start implementation package receive a best practice-based workflow suitable for a wide range of uses. Customers that grow or that become more comfortable with the software over time can also set up custom workflows within the system without having to upgrade or pay additional costs. 

• Impactfully by Foundation Source: Workflows in the system are focused on the application and review process. Submitted applications have a status of “under review”, while other preset system statuses include “voting required,” “voting complete,” “enter grant,” and “decline application.” The system also includes 38 prepackaged reports that can be edited and saved as custom reports. 

 

Highly Configurable Systems 

Funders with very complex workflows and processes often find that they don’t fit into the confines of many out-of-the-box solutions or platforms built for small-to-medium sized foundations. Systems that allow for a large amount of configuration and customization may be a better fit in these circumstances. However, high levels of configuration can result in significantly longer implementation times and a greater need for in-house (or consultant) expertise to optimize and maintain. The following systems can be considered highly configurable:  

• Fluxx Grantmaker: Depending on the implementation package selected, the vendor will work with new clients during onboarding to build out a series of workflows based on the their grantmaking processes. The system allows for multiple workflows, and workflows can include conditional logic.  

• Salesforce Grantmaking: As the first grantmaking solution built directly into the core Salesforce platform, Salesforce Grantmaking adds grants management objects and components to extend the functionality of your existing Salesforce license. The software includes access to several different automation tools to set up workflows ranging from simple to complex. You can also add on different functionality, like Salesforce’s Outcome Management features or Einstein AI solution. 

• SmartSimple Cloud: As a business process automation tool with grants management capabilities, SmartSimple Cloud uses a series of interconnected modules to provide custom configuration for every client.  

 

Systems with Advanced CRM Features 

While many systems offer some form of relationship management, a few of the vendors profiled in this guide have more advanced CRM capabilities embedded in their systems:   

• Salesforce Grantmaking: Salesforce is the largest CRM platform in the market, and Salesforce Grantmaking is built directly in the platform. 

• Amp Impact: Built on top of the Salesforce platform, Amp Impact leverages the CRM functionality of the platform and brings additional capabilities in the areas of templates and impact measurement to the core Salesforce offering. The system works with any existing Salesforce license. 

• akoyaGO: This grants management system is built on and leverages the CRM power of the Microsoft Dynamics platform. It also integrates with all of the Microsoft Office 365 tools. 

• GivingData: GivingData includes a variety of CRM capabilities that confer benefits both to the foundation and to grantees. Among them is robust interaction tracking, where interactions can be linked to individual contact records, organization records, and grant records. Interactions display as icons along a timeline within each record as well as in tabular format below the timeline.

In addition to systems with native CRM capabilities, several systems have pre-existing integrations with leading CRM solutions. Foundation Cloud has integrations with Blackbaud’s Razors Edge NXT, Blackbaud CRM, Salesforce, and Virtuous CRM, and SmartSimple Cloud offers a SmartSimple Cloud for Salesforce product. 

 

Systems that Assist Non-Technical Users 

Foundation staff bring a wide range of comfort with technology to the table. As grants management systems support more aspects of foundation management beyond just the distribution of grant funds, a greater number of individuals at foundations need to work with the system. That means systems that provide high-touch customer support and features to help non-technical users are in demand, including the following;  

• Foundant Grants Lifecycle Manager: This system provides two levels of customer support. Clients have access to unlimited phone and chat support, with live support available from 7 a.m. MT to 6 p.m. MT. Clients also have unlimited access to a “success team” that provides more in-depth assistance; the turnaround time for assistance from the success team is generally one-to-two days. 

• Impactfully by Foundation Source: Foundation Source has created a number of features in its system to help users. These include a wizard that walks you through the steps of creating an application, including putting together a customizable welcome page, an eligibility quiz, and the application form itself. A variety of in-system help and tool tips are available, including icons users can hover over for explanations or pointers, help videos that pop up for some functions, and sections to provide feedback. 

• Temelio: While still fairly new to the market, Temelio is developing a reputation as a flexible and user-friendly platform. The vendor is very focused on relationship building; new customers are assigned an account manager at the start of implementation who continues to work with the client, even after launch. All clients receive unlimited ongoing support and configuration assistance for as long as they are a customer. Standard response time for support requests is 24 hours. Chat support is available weekdays between the hours of 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern, with 10- to 15-minute response times. Emails and chat support email is available to users of the grantee portal as well. 

 

Systems with Business Intelligence Tools 

Many of the systems profiled in this guide have good reporting tools, with the ability to create some types of charts and graphs and export the data to other tools for more in-depth analysis and reporting. However, foundations that want more sophisticated data analysis and visualization tools available within the platform have several options:  

• akoyaGO: Microsoft PowerBI is embedded in akoyaGO. PowerBI-driven charts and visualizations can display as dashboards and can be downloaded for presentations and reports or shared externally via links. akoyaGO’s Support and Technical Services teams can also help foundation staff create dashboards and reports in PowerBI. 

• Fluxx Grantmaker: The vendor has developed a Grantelligence add-on module built on the Domo platform. Data is sent over to Grantelligence in a daily sync; you can upload files with data from other systems as well. Each Grantelligence instance comes with two pre-built dashboards. You can also build an unlimited number of custom dashboards using a drag-and-drop interface and share them with other Grantelligence users. At this time, you are not able to share charts or data with individuals outside the system, but you can export the charts as PDFs or use them in PowerPoints. 

• Foundation Cloud: System dashboards are created via an in-system integration with Microsoft PowerBI, and are accessed via the Reporting section of the menu. The system comes with one out-of-the-box PowerBI dashboard and one impact tab with geographic heat map as well as the ability to create your own personalized PowerBI dashboards. 

• NextZen: This new grants management platform from WizeHive includes an integrated third-party business intelligence tool available for subscribers to the vendor’s higher-tier package. It can also be added on to their middle tier package for an additional cost. The system comes with five dashboards, but you can use the tool to build additional dashboards that feature a variety of visualizations. The tool uses a drag-and-drop interface to select data, and you can select the type of chart, add filters, and customize the appearance. Charts can be exported as PDF files. 

 

Systems for Global Grantmakers 

Funders who work in multiple countries often face a variety of challenges that their domestic counterparts are less likely to experience. This includes having to communicate with grantees in a variety of languages, make grants and track exchange rates in multiple currencies, and comply with different privacy regulations. The following systems support many of those needs:  

• Amp Impact: Built for the global grantmaking marketplace, Amp Impact is heavily used in the international development sector. The platform leverages Salesforce’s multi-currency functionality and builds additional multilingual capabilities on top of the pre-existing ones in Salesforce. It also includes out-of-the-box tagging functionality for U.N. Sustainable Development Goals on applications.  

• Blackbaud Grantmaking: As a system with a large international presence, Blackbaud Grantmaking accommodates a wide variety of currencies and you can specify on a per-program basis which currency types you want to show. The system does not have exchange rates built into the tool, but the vendor reports it has built simple custom calculate exchange functionality for customers in the past. The applicant/grantee portal accommodates multilingual content provided by the foundation. Applicants can choose their preferred language from the ones enabled by the foundation. An in-system AI translation function can help foundations by taking the first pass at translating the content, which the foundation can then fine tune in the software. 

• Fluxx Grantmaker: Multi-currency support is available through an add-on for additional cost. This includes a native integration with the European Central Bank to capture exchange rates when a grant is submitted, when a grant is made, and when payments go out the door. The grantee/applicant portal and reviewer portal have a Google Translate plugin that can translate the content into a large variety of languages. 

• SmartSimple Cloud: The platform supports true localization functionality for multi-currency tracking and uses Google Exchange as its default currency service. It also supports multiple languages, allowing users to switch from one language to another preferred language. Each field supports multilingual captions, help text, and validation messages. When users selects their language of choice, related language captions are displayed. In addition, the system also provides in-system field level translation features.  

• Submit.com: The Ireland-based software company has a sizeable international client base. The software includes an alternate language dictionary that a foundation can use to create dual-language buttons and labels, as well as strong privacy and data protection controls that help foundations comply with GDPR requirements. The system currency can be changed depending on the customer’s locality, but multi-currency capabilities requires custom development. The vendor reports that it is developing additional multi-language support and translation capabilities, which it expects to release in 2025. 

 

Systems that Facilitate Equity-Centered, Values-Driven, and Trust-Based Grantmaking  

While equity-centered, values-driven, and trust-based grantmaking refers to a series of principles and practices in grantmaking, there are ways in which grants management systems can help facilitate those practices. These include providing a simplified application experience, flexible grantee reporting, and relationship management tools. Many of these features leverage new developments in AI. The following systems fit into this category:  

• GivingData: With good relationship management functionality, this system has a variety of features to help you embed trust-based practices throughout the grantmaking process. Data can be surfaced in grant applications to help minimize the amount of data entry required from applicants, and features like the ability to exchange and update documents with grantees, interactions that are displayed across related records and appear along a timeline, and an exploration feature to help with budget planning help foundation staff conduct relationship-centric and collaborative giving. 

• SmartSimple Cloud: As with many systems, new users can create a profile the first time they log into the grantee portal and enter an EIN to populate their organization profile with basic information. If an applicant already has a profile in the system, the application can be prepopulated with any of the data in the profile. The vendor has been developing a variety of AI-powered features for the system, several of which can be used to help advance equity-centered, values-driven, and trust-based grantmaking. One feature is the ability for applicants to upload PDFs of applications they have submitted to other funders; the AI will parse, map the values to corresponding areas on a different application, and populate the fields. The vendor also offers AI transcription of audio or video recordings, which could allow grantees to upload reports as audio or video files that the foundation can transcribe for reporting.  

• Submittable: The vendor has developed a new AI tool for applicants that’s powered through a Chrome extension. It gives applicants the ability to track their answers to application questions, access a library of their saved answers, and autofill any answers that are recognized. If the tool doesn’t find any matches, it will not autofill the form, but applicants will still be able to copy and use other answers in their libraries. 

• Temelio: The system’s grantee portals and grants applications have a variety of features that can help foundations minimize burdens on grant applicants. One of those features is the platform’s AI assistant, which suggests responses to fields on the grant applications based on the applicant’s previous proposals.

In addition to the features outlined above, three systems have created multi-foundation applicant portals that give applicants one login to access all of their applications and grants with funders that use the software: Impactfully by Foundation Source, Blackbaud Grantmaking, and Fluxx Grantseeker (a separate product not included in this guide). 

 

Systems for Salesforce Customers 

Thanks to its Power of Us program, which provides 10 free subscriptions to qualified nonprofits, Salesforce has a large footprint in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. Foundations have used the platform in a variety of configurations over the years, and now that the vendor is sunsetting its foundationConnect product in 2025 or 2026 and developing a new in-platform solution called Salesforce Grantmaking, organizations that want to use Salesforce as their CRM have new options to consider.   

North Peak Solutions has developed a helpful resource that provides an overview of the different options for grantmakers using Salesforce called “Comparing and Selecting the Right Salesforce Grant Management System for Your Nonprofit or Foundation.” This publication is free to download, though registration is required, and covers the basic architecture and functionality of three options: Outbound Funds Module, Nonprofit Cloud Grantmaking, and Custom Salesforce.  

In addition to those three in-system implementations, several vendors either offer systems built on top of the Salesforce platform or that integrate with the platform. Amp Impact is built on the Salesforce platform and works with any existing Salesforce license. In addition to your Salesforce license costs, Amp Impact is licensed based on the size of the foundation’s portfolio and provides a layer of additional functionality for templates, indicators, targets, and results. SmartSimple is a certified Salesforce ISV that offers the SmartSimple Cloud for Salesforce integrated offering, and NPact’s Foundation Cloud also includes a pre-built Salesforce integration.