With a better solution for grantmaking,
all stakeholders, and the community, benefit.

When United Way of Southeastern Connecticut sought and adopted a better
grantmaking solution, the volunteers who review grant requests for the
nonprofit clearly noticed the difference, according to the positive feedback
volunteers provided.

“By far the easiest process we have had in my six plus years on review
panels,” the chair of the Capacity Building Grant Review Panel reported
back after United Way of Southeastern Connecticut’s first cycle
with Blackbaud Grantmaking.

That’s exactly what United Way Community Impact Director Scott Umbel
hoped to hear. “With our grant cycle, in a typical year, we can have as many
as 60 to 80-plus volunteers who are accessing our system,” Umbel said. “We
need to make sure it’s clean and easy to use.”

Backed by three decades of innovation, Blackbaud Grantmaking provides
United Way of Southeastern Connecticut a versatile, seamless, and intuitive
process for all partners in the grantmaking lifecycle including applicants,reviewers, United Way staff, executive leaders, and board members.

As impact director, Umbel serves as the point person for the process even as he handles many other responsibilities in bringing together people and organizations for the betterment of Southeastern Connecticut. Blackbaud Grantmaking helps him get the job done.

Maximizing Grantmaking Capabilities While Striving for User Simplicity

United Way of Southeastern Connecticut switched to Blackbaud Grantmaking
after running into frustrations with a previous vendor’s grantmaking software,
which Umbel said was “super clunky for the applicants” and had a “lousy reviewers’ portal.”

Blackbaud Grantmaking transformed their process, and Umbel said some
of the greatest benefits have come through the customizability of the platform,
which has improved the experiences of applicants as well as volunteer reviewers who play a critical role in providing accountability and transparency.

The nonprofit uses Blackbaud Grantmaking to guide the distribution of $2.2
million in funding for partner programs to more than 40 agencies through a threeyear cycle, as well as additional dollars for shorter-term capacity building minigrants, and Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding from FEMA, which flows to communities through United Way’s across the country.

Umbel invested time in training and set-up on the front end to maximize
Blackbaud Grantmaking’s capabilities while providing a simpler user experience,
and it’s paying off. The advanced search and saved filters are especially handy,
he reported. “Our enormous reports can be run each year with just a few clicks
now.” He has already realized efficiency while repeating two large projects—one
for FEMA-EFSP grants and the other a progress reporting for key Partner Program funds.

“This round I launched each with, and I’m not exaggerating, perhaps 15
minutes of my time to change dates, links to my custom guides, and the fund
codes. Launch. Send. Done.”

With Blackbaud Grantmaking, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut can keep its data in one central database so staff can streamline everything from evaluation and communication to tracking and reporting. “The individual components can be utilized as much or as little as your organization needs,” Umbel said.

Consistency, Customization, and Messaging

Consistency is also key, and for Umbel that includes following branding
standards for United Way of Southeastern Connecticut—logo, colors, font
size—in each component of the application and review process, including
related communications and reports. “Everything is completely customized
to the exact look we want.”

Plus, Blackbaud Grantmaking has proven valuable in collecting storytelling
materials as United Way of Southeastern Connecticut strives to show
meaningful impact. “We require grantees to share a personal story of
success and then upload video or media related to that person or family,”
Umbel explained.

One nonprofit grant recipient shared a thank-you note from a client served
by a program to promote physical, emotional, and mental well-being
for those infected and affected with HIV/AIDS. The client described his
difficulty obtaining healthy food and his related weight gain. “Thank you for
caring enough to assist me with this,” he concluded.

Media permissions to share stories like these are secured when materials
are uploaded, and without having to sort through everything himself,
Umbel can easily share it all with colleagues. “The marketing and resource
development teams went nuts when I gave them 42 programs’ worth of
photos, personal stories, and video,” he said. “They created a whole new
communications campaign from everything our agencies shared!”

That’s just another example of customization and reporting that makes
Blackbaud Grantmaking a powerful tool for Umbel. And moving into the
future, United Way of Southeastern Connecticut is gaining increased
capabilities with a new view and the potential for users to access, create,
and edit important grantmaking data from the convenience of any browser
and any devise, from a desktop to a smartphone.