Grant Application Made Easy: The Top 5 Software for Grant Contests

By: Tetiana Hanchar Tetiana Hanchar
Date: Apr 23, 2018
Comment: 0
Category: Awards Management

There is the opinion that a grant program can’t be handled by a novice. Yes, a grant program requires tracking thousands of applications, managing reviewers and payments. What’s more, you should always have an answer for grantmakers who ask for metrics and donors who want to see the results as soon as possible. However, with a good assistant, the idea of a novice inherently being overwhelmed can be dispelled. We’ve compiled a list of the top five software tools for grant contests that can make your life much easier.

The top 5 grant contests management software

The second popular myth about the organisation of grant programs is that you have to break the bank to make it work. To prove that you can launch a successful grant contest on a tight budget, we focused not only on expensive platforms but also on affordable and free options for grant contest management tools as well. Apart from pricing, we also considered factors like the key features and the pros and cons based on real users’ reviews that we found on Capterra.

Blue Wren Grants Management

With a focus on pre- and post-award information tracking, Blue Wren Grants Management is a strong, data-driven solution. Grant Research Management (GRM) is successfully used by grant-making organisations of different sizes. Whether it is a quick, one-day contest or a multi-year project, this software has the appropriate modules for every type of event.

Features:

Centralised dashboard where a user can collect, track, and edit information about all active grants
Easy compliance management
Logical organisation of data on every grant, which enables easy review and analysis
Robust financial reports

The availability of diverse pre-made report templates (funding, compliance, scoring, and more)
System for scheduling and sending notifications to a team about upcoming and past deadlines
Grant publications management

Pros and cons (based on user reviews):

“My experience has been positive and productive.”

Easy navigation
No preliminary training required
Visually appealing interface
Excellent customer support
More custom report options needed
Doesn’t allow for submitting an application directly to grant.gov

Pricing: High cost; available on request

Capterra rating: 5/5

Judgify

Consolidating top-notch features for organisers, applicants, and judges on one centralised platform, Judgify is a real all-in-one product in the world of awards management. The great advantage of the software is that it offers a huge range of judging tools, such as judges abstention, criteria customisation, and the flexible management of multiple judging rounds, which simplifies the organisation of grant programs and scholarships with an international outreach. Apart from this, the system supports robust submission collection features. Thus, grant managers have full control over the tracking, filtering, and moderation processes.

Features:

Tools for building a custom grant landing page
A big range of pre-made email templates that may be used to create notifications, order confirmations, and invitations for entrants, judges, or grantmakers
An unlimited number of categories that can be managed simultaneously
Submission collation modules
Payment tracking
A centralised dashboard for managing applications
Creation of custom judges groups
Simplified judges assignment, abstention, and criteria management.
Fully configurable financial, scoring, and submission reports

Pros and cons (based on user reviews):

“Judgify is a great option to automate our awards program.”

Easy data sharing and access
Fully customisable entry forms
Affordable pricing
Facilitates an easy system for interaction with judges
The lack of immediate customer support

Pricing: Basic – Free, Pro – $500/event, Enterprise – Available on request

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

Fluxx Grantseeker

Built as a grant management solution for nonprofit organisations, Fluxx Grantseeker is a free service for setting up an application process, sharing stories through a variety of formats, delegating tasks, and much more. The solution has been developed by a paid software, Grantmaker, with the goal of helping grant recipients manage grant programs online. Simple report building, task management, and tracking, as well as research modules, allow grant seekers to attract funding in no time.

Features:

The system of auto-responses to recurring questions
Knowledge base (a comprehensive guide to software use)
Collaboration features
Easy compliance and documentation management
Dedicated platform for researching current grant opportunities
Custom report building

Pros and cons (based on user reviews):

“Fluxx is an innovative and dynamic system that truly lives up to its mission.”

Different grant page layout options
Convenient use of an internal portal
Easy to share documentation and files
Difficult to set up features if you have no technical background
Limited training materials

Pricing: Free for nonprofits

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

WizeHive

With over 700 clients, WiizeHive is an experienced player in the sphere of grant management and provides efficient application and grant award tracking tools. WizeHive provides a free plan for nonprofits, one of its core target segments. Easily adaptable to any IT infrastructure, the software can be aligned with the needs of your organisation without training.

Features:

Customised application forms
Private workspaces for online collaboration
A branded reviewer portal that allows the management of different contest applications, rounds, and categories on one centralised platform
Real-time report editing
Different options for application collecting (software portal, organisation’s website, social media page, and more)

Pros and cons (based on user reviews):

“Great team to work with, customer support is excellent, program did exactly what we needed.”

No time-consuming installation process
Integrates with Salesforce and other CRMs
Great client support
Inefficient online help function
New credentials necessary every year for applicants to access their applications

Pricing: Free for nonprofits

Capterra rating: 5/5

Optimy

Whether you require a specific grant management solution or full support throughout your event lifecycle, Optimy has versatile custom packages that can fit your needs. Efficient project management, custom forms and reports, and one centralised dashboard help grant managers streamline the process. Robust reporting and statistics that Optimy can generate for you automatically make the post-event activities more meaningful.

Features:

Embeddable calendar that lists projects and deadlines
Budget allocation and cost-tracking features
The possibility to view all projects on an embedded map
Grant opportunity search module
Easy data/reports export
Collaboration notes and task management
Simplified criteria-matching process

Pros and cons (based on user reviews):

“A good software to manage requests and make reports.”

Good solution for systemising all projects
Facilitates easy management of support requests
No self-registration module
No free plan for nonprofits

Pricing: Starter – 49 EUR/user/month. Standard – 149 EUR/user/month, Advanced – 375 EUR/month

Capterra rating: 4.5/5

Conclusion

These top five grants contest management software options provide the most up-to-date functionality packages for grantmakers and nonprofits. Whether you run a one-day contest or an international grant program, it’s hard to tackle this challenge if you’re still using an Excel spreadsheet. Pick a system that streamlines application management, judging, and reporting that also fits your budget to get a sound return on all efforts and investments.