The following are tips and helpful tech information offered to help make life easier and more efficient for foundations with limited staff capacity (i.e. for an office of one):

Looking to move to a new technology tool?

For grantmakers looking to move to a new technology tool, presenter Marc Manashil of 11Plus recommended that funders keep the following in mind:

• Know Your Own Capacity: If the functionality (all the features of the tool) is greater than your own capacity to utilize it then it’s likely not a good fit considering that you won’t have the time and or ability to take advantage of all it offers.
• Staying Power of the Technology: Has the tool/product/service been around for a good number of years? Have they worked out all the bugs? Are there a good number of current users? Are those users getting the support they need?
• Apply Technology to Technology Issues: Sometimes people look to technology to solve programs that are not technical issues. In other words, technology cannot fix relationship issues within an organization. Don’t spend time and resources on a technology tool if in reality the problem you are trying to solve is a relationship issue.

Can I join the Grants Managers Network if I’m not a grant’s manager?

Any person currently employed by a grantmaking organization who holds responsibility for grants management or a portion of grants management activities is eligible for membership.

NCG Member Tiffany Price, who in addition to being the Director of Assistance & Advising at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation is also on the national board of the Grants Managers Network (GMN), explained how she takes advantage of the GMN network. In her presentation, Tiffany explained that a Grants Manager title isn’t requisite to join GMN. After all, many small and family foundation staff do it all. So anyone who has the responsibility of managing grants can join.

Moving to an online grants management system or considering a new system?

One member who recently switched to a new grants management system shared the following insights when considering a new system:

• Does the system have regular updates? Are they easy to install?
• Is the vendor willing to tweak, i.e. reports or forms? Are those tweaks free or costly?
• How long is the contract term? How long will you be locked into using this product?
• When your contract is up and you want to migrate your data to another system, will they charge you? How much?
• Know exactly what you want out of a system and the application process so that there are no surprise costs for adding on later.
• Will training be easy? Is it just you or your entire staff that will need to be trained?
• Finally, ask for references so you can talk to people currently using the system.

What about other cost-efficient tech tools?

Dana Marus, Director of the High Engagement and Education by Nature Projects for the Frieda C. Fox Family Foundation shared the following tools:

• One-Hub.com. A secure way to store, organize, and share your files, such as board docket materials.
• Lynda.com. An online software training site.

As the program ended members were left with one last thought: In the long run, it’s not about technology. It’s about how you do your work. What audience you are serving. Once you know that, then find the technology that supports those needs.

Last Spring, I attended NCG’s New Grantmaker Institute. Although I had been in the field for several years, I was starting a new role as a Program Officer at a small foundation in the East Bay and was encouraged to attend the 2-day workshop.

The Institute provided me with a solid overview of the sector and a much needed “refresher” in many practical areas of grantmaking which has helped in my day-to-day responsibilities.

It was also a great opportunity to meet a diverse group of individuals working in corporations, large and small private foundations, and community foundations locally and expand my professional network. As I am the only Program Officer at a small foundation, I have learned to rely on many of these colleagues as peer resources to help support my work. I have stayed in contact with many individuals from my cohort over the past year working in various roles who have helped broaden my programmatic and geographic expertise.

The Institute also helped me to “brush up” my grantmaking skills and learn up-to-date information in the field. The session on legal and ethical issues was particularly helpful in clarifying what can sometimes be “blurry boundaries” in the sector. Also, the session on reading Financial Statements followed by NCG’s Financial Analysis for Grantmakers class has enabled me to heighten my comfort level in non-profit finance. As I review hundreds of proposals a year, it is essential that I am confident in my grantmaking skills including understanding how to read financial statements.

I recommend the New Grantmaker Institute not only to new individuals in the field, but also to those who are reengaging in this work and looking to exposing themselves to a new network of peers.

For more information about the 2013 New Grantmakers Institute, please visit the NGI event page.

For an additional member perspective on the New Grantmakers Institute, read NCG’s New Grantmakers Institute is Transformational! by NCG member Jessica Weare.