New Salesforce FoundationConnect designed for grantmakers

Salesforce.org has announced FoundationConnect, a grants management system designed to ease the management of the philanthropic lifecycle.

Nonprofits and grantmakers are generally slowed down using antiquated processes, according to Salesforce.org, which is the philanthropic arm of the Salesforce. It claims that 13% of every grant is used to administer the grant.

In an attempt to remedy this, Salesforce.org has introduced FoundationConnect, a CRM platform that includes an application and grantee portal; reviewer portal; grant awards and management; report tracking; outcomes measurement; and payment and budget tracking.

The application and grantee portal allows grantseekers to look for and apply to new grants, communicate with foundation staff and submit status reports. The reviewer portal allows outside reviewers to access applications and provide feedback. Staff can also monitor progress and identify conflicts of interest while using Salesforce FoundationConnect.

The grant awards and management system gives grantmakers a one-stop place to streamline grants management processes and manage relationships with board members, reviewers, applicants, grantees and partners.

In report tracking, grantmakers can monitor scheduled grantee status reports and review reports in real time as soon as they're reported. Teams can also collaborate on expected outcomes, track outputs and report on portfolio performance in the outcomes measurement system.

Additionally, the payment and budget tracking section enables users to set up payment schedules and monitor an organization's grants and program budgets.  

Users can also use Salesforce FoundationConnect to integrate with email tools such as Gmail, Outlook or Office 365. That allows users to view and work in Salesforce in the same screen as their inbox.

FoundationConnect falls under the umbrella of Salesforce.org's Nonprofit Cloud. The Nonprofit Cloud was designed specifically for nonprofits to enable them to gain a complete view of constituents, track and measure impact in real time, raise more resources by unlocking donor data and give constituents a personalized experience. It also gives nonprofits access to the Salesforce CRM at a discounted price.

FoundationConnect is available now.