Definition of Grants Management

Grants Management is the comprehensive process of overseeing all activities related to a grant. The process includes managing the major steps of a grant lifecycle: pre-award, award, post-award.

Roles & Responsibilities

• Grant Managers (DRI: Program Analyst/PA): Lead the grant management process, from application to final reporting, ensuring adherence to policies and goals.
• Program Officers (DRI: Program Officer/PO/Primary Staff): Spearhead the development of grant proposals, monitor the implementation of projects, and serve as the primary contact for grantees.
• Finance Officers (DRI: Chief Financial Officer / CFO): Handle the financial aspects, including budget preparation, financial reporting, and audit preparation.
• Compliance Officers (DRI: DOO & PA): Ensure all grant activities comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
• Monitoring and Evaluation Specialists (DRI: Director of Impact/DOI/Secondary Staff & PO/Primary Staff): Evaluate the impact of grant-funded projects, providing insights and recommendations for future grant activities.

Internal Grantmaking Process

This section of the GTLF handbook is focused on internal grantmaking processes and operations. To review descriptions of each step of the process visit GTLF’s Grantmaking Process page of the handbook. Furthermore, for general information on GTLF’s grantmaking and strategies, visit the Grantmaking section of the handbook.

GTLF uses the grants management software GivingData while Google Drive is utilized to support grantmaking operations as needed. You can log-in to GTLF’s GivingData account HERE.

This handbook page provides detailed procedures and instructions for using GivingData, ensuring that all team members are consistent in their approach.

Furthermore, this handbook page is to assist with the practical aspects of managing grant activities within the GivingData platform. General how-tos for GivingData software and its capabilities can be reviewed HERE.

Below you find a breakdown of processes and operations for each step of the grantmaking process. Please note, the steps outlined below correspond with the Workflows in GivingData. As a result, the language used corresponds with the language used in GivingData.

Prospecting

1. Primary Staff meets with organizational leaders and stakeholders.
2. Primary Staff enters the organization they are in conversation with into GivingData in the Grant Pipeline’s Scenario Planning dashboard. Primary Staff lists the organization under the “Exploring” status and enters the following details in the Grant Pipeline’s Scenario Planning Dashboard:
   • Organization Name
   • Request Title
     • 1-sentence describing the specific program or activity that may be supported by a GTLF grant, especially when it is outside of, or more granular than, the recipient organization’s core programs.
       • Example: To support development of chatbots for the Income Stability and Upward Mobility for Hourly, Low-Wage Workers program to increase new hire engagement and retention.
       • Recommendation: Avoid using acronyms in the Request Title. The Request title should be one sentence that can be read and understood by any team member at GTLF.
   • Transaction Type
   • Status (Exploring)
   • Country Code
   • Optional: Secondary Staff, Recommended Amount, Grant Type Code, Strategic Alignment Code.

A Step-By-Step video on how to add an organization and/or request in GivingData can be viewed HERE.

Concept Note Invited

1. Primary Staff goes to the Grant Pipeline’s Scenario Planning dashboard in GivingData and changes the Request Status to “Concept Note Invited”.
2. Primary Staff updates and/or adds in the following information in the Request record:
   • Secondary Staff
   • Recommended Amount
   • Projected Payments
   • Grant Type Code
   • Strategic Alignment Codes
   • c. Transaction Type
3. Primary Staff communicates to the organization’s Primary Contact that a concept note will be invited.
4. Primary Staff sends invitation to complete the Concept Note Intake Form to Primary Contact in GivingData and CC's Secondary Staff and PA on GivingData Concept Note invitation email.

A Step-by-Step video on how to how to change a Request Status to “Concept Note Invited” and how to send a “Concept Note Intake Form” HERE.

Concept Note Under Review

1. PA receives notification from GivingData that the “Concept Note Intake Form” has been submitted.
2. PA imports intake form data to GivingData.
3. Primary Staff adds the organization to the Grants ROI Pipeline worksheet.
4. Primary staff reviews concept note and shares feedback via a phone call with Primary Contact within 3 weeks of its submission.
5. Secondary Staff notifies Primary Staff in GivingData Workflow that a lite impact model has been completed and provides link to model in “Concept Note Decision” task in the GivingData "Concept Note Under Review" Workflow.
6. Primary Staff makes determination on if the organization will be invited to submit a full application. Final Outcome Scenarios:

• Primary Staff declines the Concept Note and changes Request status in GivingData to Declined. Primary Staff marks Workflow Complete.
• Primary Staff changes the Request status in GivingData to “Application Invited” and the “Full Application” Workflow is initiated.

Concept Note Impact Modeling

Occurs simultaneously with “Concept Note Under Review”.

1. Secondary Staff creates a new folder in the Google Drive folder, Grantee North Star ROI (NSROI) Models with the naming convention [Grantee Name] [NSROI].
2. Secondary Staff makes a copy of the ROI Model Notes and Assessment and save copy in the associated grantee North Star ROI folder.
3. Secondary Staff reviews the concept note and complete the Notes and Assessment document, adding questions to follow up on with the Primary Staff and Primary Contact.
4. Secondary Staff makes a copy of the North Star ROI Model TEMPLATE and save the spreadsheet in the associated grantee North Star ROI folder.
5. Secondary Staff uses the information from the concept note and ROI Model Notes and Assessment document to complete an estimate. The estimate will largely depend on the estimate on the number of people impacted due to the grant and the average income change per person created due to the program’s effect.
6. Secondary Staff refers to the North Star ROI Methodology guidance document and previous ROI models as needed.
7. Secondary Staff notifies Primary Staff in GivingData Workflow that a lite impact model has been completed and provides link to model in “Concept Note Decision” task in the GivingData "Concept Note Under Review" Workflow.

Full Application Invited

1. Primary Staff communicates to Primary Contact that a full application will be invited.
2. Primary Staff sends invitation to submit full application to Primary Contact in GivingData and CC's Secondary Staff and PA on GivingData email.

Full Application Under Review

1. PA receives notification from GivingData that the application has been submitted.
2. PA imports intake form data to GivingData.
3. Primary Staff adds the organization to the Grants ROI Pipeline worksheet.
4. Primary Staff reviews the narrative portion of the application intake form and the Organizational Capacity & Program Assessment form.
5. Secondary Staff will link ROI model to the “Full Application Initial Decision” task with in the “Full Application Under Review” workflow once completed.
6. Primary Staff will share the final ROI model with the applicant to provide them an opportunity to provide comments back to the impact measurement team.
7. If narrative and ROI model are approved, the CEO Approval Process begins.
8. If narrative and ROI model are NOT approved, mark the Request as Declined.

Full Application Impact Modeling

Occurs simultaneously with “Full Application Under Review”.

1. Secondary Staff finish completing rest of the ROI Model Notes and Assessment based on the updated full application information.
2. Secondary Staff updates the ROI models based on the new and updated application information.
3. Secondary Staff completes an Impact Risk Assessment.
4. Secondary Staff completes a Living Wage Analysis.
5. Secondary Staff links ROI model to the “Full Application Initial Decision” task with in the “Full Application Under Review” workflow once completed.
6. Secondary Staff discuss any remaining questions with the Primary Staff at next 1:1 weekly meeting or set up a zoom video meeting to discuss the remaining questions.

Due Diligence (U.S.)

Occurs simultaneously with “Full Application Under Review”.

1. PA confirms submission of W9, 990s, IRS Determination Letter, Audits, and financial documents in GivingData.
2. PA reviews W9 and IRS Determination Letter to confirm consistency across documentation.
   1. W9 Form needs to be signed with the last 18 months, ideally within the last 12 months.
3. PA runs submitted EIN through IRS Charity Database to confirm organization’s 501c3 status.
4. PA marks Financial & Compliance status in the GivingData Organizational Record as 'Verified'.
5. PA does a light review of audits and 990s to confirm organization is in good financial standing. PA will raise any questions or concerns to DOO for review and sign off.

Due Diligence (International)

Occurs simultaneously with “Full Application Under Review”.

1. PA logs in to the NGO Source Dashboard and searches database for the organization.
2. If the organization is already in the NGO Source database and received an Equivalency Determination (ED), PA downloads the organization's documents and adds them their Request record. PA Notifies Primary and Secondary staff that the organization can move forward in the process.
3. If the organization is already in the NGO Source database but has NOT received an ED, PA notifies Primary and Secondary Staff and the DOO. If the organization is not in the NGO Source database, PA flags for the Primary and Secondary Staff.
4. Upon completion and approval of the Impact Model, PA logs-in to the NGO Source Dashboard and requests an ED review. Please note, an ED review by NGO Source can take 2-4 months.
5. Upon notice by NGO Source of the completion of the ED review, PA notifies Primary and Secondary Staff and DOO of results. If an ED is issued by NGO Source, the organization can move forward in the grantmaking process. If an ED is NOT issued by NGO Source, the Primary and Secondary Staff and DOO will determine next steps for the organization.

CEO Approval Process ($0-$1M)

*Please note, this process will be updated in FY25 Q3 to incorporate utilization of the Docket function in GD.

After review of the application by Primary Staff and creation of the Impact Models by Secondary Staff, the Primary Staff adds the grant to the bi-monthly grants approval meeting agenda.

After an applicant’s grant has been approved at the monthly grant approval meeting by the CEO, Secondary Staff will update the ROI and DIL on the grant slate document that is prepared for quarterly board meetings.

Secondary Staff updates the relevant grantee’s ROI values, and before the board meeting complete a weighted ROI calculation and other summary statistics as needed. See THIS FILE as reference.

Secondary Staff updates the GitLab Foundation Grantee Impact Data file with the associated grantee ROI values.

Simultaneously, after discussion of the grant at a bi-monthly grants approval meeting Primary Staff changes the Request status to “Grant Approved” or “Declined”.

Post-Approval PO Checklist

1. Primary Staff confirms that following information has been added to the Request Record associated with the approved proposal in GivingData
2. Primary Staff reviews the following details of the approved proposal:

If there are any shifts or changes to these sections after the proposal submission, Primary Staff should inform the PA by detailing the updates in the comments section of the "Grant Agreement Contracting" workflow and tagging the PA in the comment.

1. Primary Staff should identify and confirm any special conditions or contingencies outlined in the grant approval that need to be specified in the grant agreement. Examples include required matching funds or unique reporting requirements. These conditions should be communicated to the PA in the comments section of the "Grant Agreement Contracting" workflow, with the PA tagged for visibility.
2. If the organization of an approved proposal lacks 501(c)(3) status (or, for international organizations, an equivalency determination), Primary Staff supports the organization, as appropriate, in identifying a fiscal sponsor. Primary Staff CCs the PA on all related communications.
3. After all of these elements have been reviewed and completed, the Primary Staff marks the workflow as “Complete”.

Board Memo Development

Forthcoming…

Board Approval Process ($1M+)

Forthcoming…

Grant Agreement Contracting

1. PA confirms the following information has been entered into the GivingData and is part of the grant record:

Viewing Approval & Payout Budgets

GivingData has two main budget dashboards - Payments and Approvals. Each dashboard provides important data about GTLF’s grantmaking. Approvals and payments provide different types of information on their respective dashboards.

• Payments refers to the total grant payments that will be or have been paid.
• Approvals refers to the total grant amounts that have been approved.

To view the budget for Approvals:

1. Navigate to the Payment & Approvals Dashboard: Find this on the top center-right in the orange banner.
2. Select 'Approved Grant Amount' on the left-hand side under the ‘Approvals Dashboards’ heading.
3. Select the Fiscal Year: From the dropdown menu, select the Fiscal Year that you are interested in viewing.

Learn More:

• View a step-by-step video of viewing the approvals budget HERE.

To view the budget for Payments:

1. Navigate to the Payment & Approvals Dashboard: Find this on the top center-right within the orange banner.
2. Select 'Grant Pipeline' on the left-hand side under the ‘Payments Dashboards’ heading.
3. Select the Fiscal Year: From the dropdown menu, select the Fiscal Year that you are interested in viewing.

Learn More:

• View a step-by-step video of viewing the payments budget HERE.

Viewing Requirements Timeline