How Technology Is Transforming Grant Management for Governments

How Technology Is Transforming Grant Management for Governments

As the number and complexity of government grants grow, many state and local governments need new resources for managing them. Modern grant management technology for governments can facilitate benefits that range from increased efficiency to reduced fraud, but these advantages become clearest when technology is paired with organization-wide transformation efforts.

Technology in grant management is changing the way government awards work, and staying up-to-date requires thoughtful technology selection and implementation.

The Role of Technology in Grant Management

The Role of Technology in Grant Management

While digital software isn’t new, it has evolved dramatically to meet today’s grant management demands. For example, robust automation capabilities can streamline processes that have always been done manually, and data management tools help governments meet new and evolving reporting requirements.

Governments that still use manual processes are disadvantaged in many areas, like accuracy, agility, efficiency and risk management. By offering improvements, technology for government grant management can ultimately help these agencies make more progress toward their goals and create impactful changes.

Some of the valuable capabilities of grant management technology for governments include:

  • Standardized, centralized processing: Disparate processes from different team members can make it difficult to track applications, collect data and increase visibility. Grant management technology puts everything in one place, particularly when using a cloud-based system. Technology also provides repeatable processes.
  • Streamlined reporting: Today’s software solutions can analyze data exceptionally well, collecting data on all your grant management activities and revealing new insights to support your goals. They can create visualizations and sharable reports for exploring areas of opportunity, evaluating grantee performance, complying with reporting requirements and showcasing your hard work.
  • Workflow automation: Automation capabilities are always evolving, allowing government organizations to reduce administrative burdens and focus on furthering their missions. Efficient work processes can be configured to your organization’s unique processes to save time and scale without sacrificing human oversight where needed.
  • Simplified collaboration: Grant management requires significant collaboration with other government groups, stakeholders and grant applicants and recipients. Technology facilitates easy communication with these parties and keeps records of these discussions for others to reference.
  • Data security: A strong approach to security is crucial for any business using digital tools, and a grant management system (GMS) is no exception. Modern technology can provide security tools and audit systems to help protect your grant data.

Despite the expansive capabilities of a GMS, digital transformation calls for more than just adopting the latest technology in grant management. As McKinsey & Company puts it, digital transformation is the fundamental rewiring of organizational operations. It encompasses a long-term effort to change how you work with the integration of digital tools.

Government agencies often use GMS programs to facilitate new processes and methods that ultimately support their goals. For example, building reports manually can be time-consuming and labor-intensive. By eliminating these tasks, governments might free up labor to take on more grants and distribute more funds to the communities they serve. While digital tools support these changes, governments must always consider their effects on impacted individuals, including staff members, stakeholders, applicants and the community at large.

The Benefits of Grant Management Software

We’ve discussed some of the things you can do with technology for government grant management, but how do those features benefit the organization and the people it serves? Here are some of the broader benefits of grant management software:

1. Increased Trust

With a well-chosen GMS, you can easily implement standardized, dependable systems for compliance, assessments, applicant scoring and monitoring. You can also boost visibility and transparency, which are crucial components of many grant programs. The entities you work with know what to expect and can be more confident in your ability to be a responsible steward of funds.

Another way grant management technology can help you build trust is through reduced errors. Computerized processes are typically much more accurate than their manual counterparts. Whether calculating scores, creating reports or communicating with recipients, a GMS can help you avoid errors, strengthening your program’s impact and maintaining your reputation for quality work.

2. Improved Agility and Efficiency

An efficiency-boosting GMS can use features like automation and centralization to help reduce administrative requirements, freeing up time and resources for higher-value tasks.

Working fast is necessary, but successful businesses also need agility. Grant technology supports flexible business practices, so you can pivot quickly to respond to changing demands. From quickly adjusting your risk assessment process to exploring new opportunities through data analysis, technology upgrades can help you make meaningful impacts with shorter turnarounds.

3. Stronger Risk Mitigation

Risk mitigation is often a foundational part of grant management technology. With features like audit trails, compliance tools and reporting options, a GMS can help you minimize various types of risk, such as financial, compliance, legal and reputational concerns.

Stronger risk management is often necessary to maintain good standing with other levels of government. Being seen as a capable grant manager allows you to continue to disperse awards and make more progress toward your goals.

4. Better Experiences for Applicants, Stakeholders, Staff and the Public

The easier it is to interact with you, the more you can increase the likelihood of working with desired partners. An enjoyable application process can draw in more qualified grantees, while dependable, easy-to-read reports might help you build a better reputation with other agencies and stakeholders.

Personalized applications, easy communications and accessible interfaces are a few ways your GMS can provide better experiences.

5. Support for Long-Term Improvements

Digital tools support continuous improvement by facilitating data-driven decisions. With data collection and analysis, a GMS can unlock new insights and identify trends and opportunities. These insights allow you to make effective changes backed by real-world information.

Other features, like streamlined workflows and visibility, also support improvement efforts by empowering workers with valuable resources and giving them more time to spend on the group’s mission.

How IntelliGrants® IGX Uses Technology for Government Grant Management

How IntelliGrants® IGX Uses Technology for Government Grant Management

IntelliGrants® IGX started in 1997, and we’ve been innovating ever since, bringing modern features and technologies to our grant management program for government agencies, criminal justice agencies, nonprofits, higher education, and healthcare institutions. We’ve created a comprehensive tool with all of the features we’ve discussed, designed to help these organizations optimize grant management processes and create positive impacts for the communities they serve.

Technology is at the heart of these changes, and IntelliGrants IGX simplifies access to necessary resources. We offer an easy-to-use, cloud-based interface for users of all abilities, and you can configure the program to your unique workflow and branding requirements. Whether you’re looking for tools to improve your processes or solutions like IntelliGrants IGX, BEPro, or Core CVC to help you transform your approach to grant management, IntelliGrants IGX can help.

Book a demo below to learn more about IntelliGrants IGX and start revolutionizing your grant management technology.