Introduction to Grantmaking
Total giving in the U.S. and Canada, in terms of cash and volunteer time, is over $500 billion. The majority of this giving is by individuals, but a substantial portion of this $500 billion is given by foundations (independent, community, corporate, operating) and corporations.Non-profit organizations seeking money from foundations, corporations, and individuals typically go through a multi-step grantmaking process. This process ranges from the very simple to the very complicated, but typically involves the preparation, submission, review and tracking of applications, supporting material and reports between the grantseeker and the grantmaker.
A recent survey found a gap between grantmaker and grantseeker perceptions about the administrative requirements associated with the application and reporting process. Large foundations in the survey (those with a median grant of $50,000) estimated that grantseekers spent a median of 10 hours on the proposal and application process for a typical grant from their grantmaker; in reality grantseekers of large grantmakers spent a median of 20 hours per grant. These respondents also estimated that their grantseekers spent a median of 8 hours per grant fulfilling monitoring and evaluation requirements; in reality the median is 10 hours.
The Common Grant Application provides a simple and easy means for non-profit grantmakers and grantseekers to manage the grant application, grant and grant reporting process online.
General Features
The Common Grant Application has the following general features: |
Online grant management system for grantmakers, an online common application for grantseekers and a data repository for both. |
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No hardware or software to install, support or maintain. Web browser based. |
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Grantseekers and grantmakers can upload and manage information about their organization and programs. |
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Organization and program information is persistent and reusable. Documents may be uploaded, and are also persistent and reusable. |
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Research can be performed on the grantseekers and grantmakers. |
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Grantseekers can apply to multiple grantmakers using the same, or different information. |
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Grantmakers can configure and manage which applications they will accept for consideration. |
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LOIs, applications, grants and grant reports can be tracked, reviewed and managed in real-time. |
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Grantseekers and grantmakers can control the privacy and sharing of their information. |
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Information can be exported for use by other business information systems. |
Learn more about what the Common Grant Application can do for grantmakers and grantseekers.
By The Numbers
A real-time display of some Common Grant Application statistics.| Users: | 8,264 |
| Active accounts: | 5,280 |
| Programs: | 5,058 |
| Documents: | 3,480 |
| Applications: | 4,280 |
| Grants awarded (#): | 269 |
| Grants awarded ($): | $3,282,068 |
Non-profit Ecosystem
The non-profit ecosystem consists of many different constituencies.
Explore additional resources about the non-profit ecosystem.
Giving to Non-Profits (2008)
