Fluxx | Philanthropy and nonprofit technology news.

Philanthropy is chalked full of legacy institutions, historic processes, and more than its fair share of bureaucracy. So it’s no surprise that the industry as a whole is considered to be a slow adopter of technology, even though improved SaaS processes are known to lead to sector growth. In fairness, the slow adoption often isn’t due to the lack of interest, but rather a lack of funds. A nonprofit attempting to operate under an unrealistic overhead ratio isn’t going to push for expensive new products and platforms, and neither will smaller funders.

But this isn’t the case for industry giant, the MacArthur Foundation. The innovative Chicago funder and Fluxx client we know and love has spent years carving space for technologists to have a seat at the table so the Fund could in turn work as a collective to answer questions including: how can we improve the grantee process for all? How can we save our team time? And how can we leverage technology to solve the problems faced by our communities?

All of the above questions and much more are answered on this week’s Untapped Philanthropy podcast as Fluxx co-founder Kerrin Mitchel sits down with a friend of the podcast and CIO of the MacArthur Foundation, John Mohr, to learn more about his role at MacArthur, his work toward a universal common application, and his advice for current and aspiring technologists and CIOs in philanthropy.

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:

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. 

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.

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.

COVID-19 has brought much of our society to a screeching halt, and within philanthropy it has disrupted volunteering plans across the world and re-focused countless funding initiatives. But as for our work here at Fluxx? We’re busier than ever. We’re rallying around funders old and new to help them tackle COVID-19 in a multitude of ways.

Next year is fast approaching and with it, some major political and social movements. In the same year, U.S. citizens will hit the polls to choose our next president we will all be asked to opt into the 24th census. Even without it being an election year, the census would have been politically charged. We all remember the controversy and back and forth that ensued when the administration tried to slip a citizenship question into the census. 

Philanthropy continues to evolve and expand each day. As funder and nonprofit technology rapidly advances to further connect and enable change, so are new industries pushing increasing amounts of funds towards diverse causes across the globe. In fact, aspects of our society that previously rarely felt the positive effects of grantmaking are now experiencing the benefits for themselves.