Fluxx | Philanthropy and nonprofit technology news.

The COVID-19 pandemic sidelined more than a few well-thought-out grantmaking plans. All year, grantmakers have been forced to pivot to tackle urgent health and safety concerns while also assessing their own diversity, equity and inclusion practices and funding for systemic social justice problems. Couple that with the sharp rise in climate-related disasters we’re experiencing across the world, and it’s starting to look like the only thing we can expect is the unexpected. 

So much has to go into a robust grants management solution in order for teams to successfully understand and leverage their data, and streamline their work. One of the most important factors is if platform administrators can control who sees what, and when. Why? Because grantmaking “takes a village.” It’s a team effort that relies heavily on each player, and when process confusion exists in your workflow, grantees have to wait longer for funds or basic information. Here’s what you want to do:

COVID-19 has been an incredibly challenging experience worldwide, and society will likely be dealing with the ramifications of this pandemic for years to come. But one positive we’ve witnessed in philanthropy is the amount of grantmakers who’ve leveraged their connections, community, and their grants management solutions to spring into collective action to support their grantees and missions.

The killing of George Floyd ignited an immediate resurgence of the Black Lives Matter movement, worldwide protests, and grassroots activism and donations. According to the New York Times, $90 million was donated to bail funds alone. Within philanthropy, the events of this summer added jet fuel to the urgent prioritization of diversity equity and inclusion (DEI). In this first-ever Fluxx Community Insights blog, we will share how our clients are prioritizing DEI within their organization, and with their grantees.  

Consider this your friendly reminder – the new FASB accounting standards go into effect this December 15th! If that sentence gave you a wave of anxiety, don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Earlier this year we released a webinar about what the new standards mean for foundations and their grantees, along with a few examples of how you might interpret and implement the changes in your grants management system. 

Fluxx is a community-focused organization. In fact, one of the reasons many funders come to Fluxx for their grants management solution needs is that our thriving community site acts as a meeting place where hundreds of funders worldwide can convene and share their tips and tricks for streamlining their work. 

If you’re constantly manually moving data across systems you know how time-consuming it is. Even worse, it is the perfect recipe for errors, meaning you will be spending extra time cross-referencing your own data across whatever myriad of systems you’re using. The most obvious solution to this problem? Integrations. At Fluxx, we love them. Why? Because they allow our funders to leverage multiple systems in one place and to do more directly within Fluxx Grantmaker. And most importantly, they help ensure that the data we’re using to make strategic decisions is accurate.

There’s never been a better time to employ trust-based philanthropy practices. The effects of COVID-19 are long-lasting and far-reaching, and for the good of our industry, we hope to see a tectonic shift in philanthropy practices and approaches. The public outcry to further support grantees during this difficult time is reaching a crescendo, and that’s why we’re so proud to feature the following story: 

They say two heads are better than one, and that’s certainly true when it comes to grants management systems and integrations! That’s why our May 2020 webinar is all about a key integration we’re really excited to tell you more about – Fluxx Grantmaker and DocuSign.