As an NGO or nonprofit, you need funding for your organization to keep doing its important work. And for most of you, grants are a critical part of that funding. But I know that grants often feel both overwhelming and tedious.

The solution lies in an effective grants system. (Don’t worry, I am not going to tell you to set up Salesforce… there are much simpler solutions if you aren’t (yet) there!)

I want to show you with a story:

A number of years ago, I worked at a Mexican NGO whose funding came almost entirely from grants. The NGO had been around for 35 years, and you can imagine how many funders were on their radar. Yet we were constantly having to repeat our research on funders because vital information was lost whenever staff members left. For example, we didn’t know which new funders that staff member had researched or who they had been in contact with at a foundation. This disorganization was costing this Mexican NGO a lot of $$ in potential funding opportunities. And it was definitely causing unnecessary stress for the grants team.

The magic ingredient: A grant tracker

Here’s the magic ingredient so this won’t happen to you: a simple system to keep track of all your research.

Fast forward to years after that initial story. I had learned best practices and taught countless NGOs to use a simple, Excel-based grant tracker. One of the NGOs I taught was in Bangladesh. And this one simple tool transformed its reality. Thanks to this, and the other tools they learned and developed with me, they were turning out 3x as many grant proposals as before, in the same amount of time. This has dramatically increased their chances of securing funding. This isn't an isolated case; we've seen similar results across many organizations.

This one tool can save your organization from having to repeat research a year or two later after a staff member leaves, or when you simply forget that you have already researched that funder.

The key is to make the grant tracker your grants team’s weekly tool, your Holy Grail. Save it in a common place. Have it open during every grants team call.

A grant tracker spreadsheet can significantly reduce unnecessary work and keep you sane. If you are a small organization, a simple Excel document will suffice. For larger organizations, a Trello board with each funder as a Trello card and a card template with key fields might be more suitable. Either way, ensure it’s stored in a common place in the cloud, like an Excel file saved on the team’s Drive.

Key fields for your grant tracker spreadsheet

To create an effective grant tracker spreadsheet, or any other format of grant tracker, include in it the following key fields:

Funder name
Mission
Thematic areas (do they fund education? Health? Violence prevention? etc.)
What they fund & what they don’t fund (do they fund programming, events, core support?)
Grant range (what’s the smallest and largest grant size they give?)
Example projects/grantees (this is my favorite way to get that 6th sense of if that funder is the right fit for you– if they haven’t funded other organizations or projects that look like your organization/projects, they probably are not a fit)
Geographic scope of giving (do they give for work in the country where you operate? Do they give to organizations registered in your country?)
HQ location (great to know in case you travel to where their headquarters are and can reach out for an in-person meeting!)
Personal connection (this is huge! But not required)
Application process— deadlines, notes, next steps

By regularly filling out and updating these fields, you are creating a comprehensive database that your team can rely on for accurate and up-to-date information.

Something else this grant tracker spreadsheet will help with

Follow-up is half the game when it comes to grant applications, and this same magic spreadsheet for tracking grants helps with follow up too. Keeping track of deadlines, next steps, and personal connections enables you to do that follow up. And regularly reviewing your tracker to see which funders have not responded and what next steps are forthcoming will keep your team on top of the grant application process.

(For example, if you didn’t hear back after you asked for feedback to a declined notice you received, you need to follow up on that!)

Tools to consider for your grants tracking

Depending on the size of your organization, your budget, and the tools you are already using, a different grant tracking tool might be more suitable. Here are a few options:

Excel or Google Sheets: Perfect for smaller organizations. Easy to set up and use, and can be saved on a shared drive for team access.
Trello: Each funder can be a Trello card with customizable fields. Trello is great for visualizing the grant application process and managing tasks.
Notion: If you already use Notion, then put your tracker there. Use the same fields and structure as for the Excel.

Best practices for using your grant tracker

Once you've set up your grant tracker spreadsheet, there are a few best practices that will ensure it remains a powerful tool for your team:

Regular Updates: After every grant team meeting or new piece of research, add the new information. This means you should be opening this tracker every week, if not every day!
Consistent Review: Schedule regular reviews of your tracker to ensure all information is current and to plan your next steps. We recommend once a month but at the least, once every three months.
Accessible Format: Store your tracker in a cloud-based system so everyone on your team can access it from anywhere.
Detailed Notes: Use the notes section of the tracker to jot down any insights, mention any proposals you submitted to the funder in the past, and note all communication you have had with the funder. This helps maintain institutional memory even when staff turnover occurs.

Get a free grants tracking spreadsheet template

To help you get started, join our (free!) recorded masterclass, where we give you our grants tracking spreadsheet template. This template has each of the above fields plus others that we highly recommend.

Plus, in the masterclass we also cover:

How to find the funders to include in your tracker
How to reach out to those funders
What will make a funder say “Yes!” to your organization

Check out the masterclass to transform your grant application process now and boost your success rate.

Conclusion

While the idea of setting up systems and processes might seem mundane, the impact on your grant application process can be profound. A well-maintained grant tracker not only helps you manage your proposals more efficiently, but also frees up time to focus on crafting compelling proposals. By investing the time in filling out this tool, you’re setting your NGO or nonprofit up for long-term success.

So you don’t miss any of our fundraising & grant writing tips and tools, follow us on LinkedIn and subscribe to our newsletter.

Transform your grant process with a grant tracker