Best grant management software for nonprofits: Compare top solutions for grantseekers

The future of many nonprofits depends on securing grants. Many nonprofits are turning to grant management software to effectively and efficiently manage the grantseeking process while maximizing funding opportunities. 

In this guide, we’ll explore the features and benefits of various grant management software solutions to help you find the perfect grant management tool for your nonprofit organization. 

What are grants for nonprofits?

Grant management software is a specialized tool designed to streamline the grantseeking process for nonprofit organizations. Centralizing grant-related information and automating routine tasks allows nonprofits to stay organized, save time, increase effectiveness, and secure more funding. 

Why grant management software is important for nonprofits

Managing grants without specialized software is a daunting task. Think of all the scattered spreadsheets, Word docs, and data reports that not only slow you down but increase the risk of errors. Effective grant management software addresses those challenges by providing a centralized hub for all grant-related information. It allows you to automate routine tasks like data entry or reporting, which can free up valuable time to focus on relationship management and fundraising efforts.

Key features to look for in grant management software for nonprofits

Compliance and auditing

Compliance, security, and auditing is top of mind for nonprofits who’s funding relies on it. Ensure you are staying compliant, maintaining security standards, and build-in readiness for auditing with these tools:

• • Access controls like role-based permissions or multi-factor authentication to ensure only authorized personnel can access specific data, reducing the risk of internal data breaches.

  • Audit trails and system logs provide accountability, assistance in troubleshooting, and resources for internal and external audits.

  • Third-party security certifications like SOC-2 compliance independently verify the software’s security measures and practices, storing your organization’s important data.

Grant tracking

Grant tracking may be one of the most important features in your software. Be sure the tool is intuitive and works with how your organization needs to track grants:

• • Deadline management: The ability to set and track multiple deadlines per grant helps ensure  important deadlines are not missed and improves overall grant success rates. 

  • Budget, revenue/expense tracking: The ability to track spending in real time against budgeted amounts helps maintain financial compliance and aids in accurate reporting.

Application management

Application management should allow you to maintain application documents, research, boilerplate messaging, and more:

• • Document storage and answer library: a centralized repository for grant-related documents and application responses. This streamlines application management and ensures everyone on your team is working with the latest information. 
    

  • Pre-award research: tools to streamline the grant and funder research process, allowing your organization to discover new grants and funding sources.

Reporting and analytics

The ability to report on grant activity, success rates, pipeline, and more is essential to board communications and relationship building - both inside and outside your organization:

• • Dashboards

  • Customizable reports

  • Ability to share and schedule reports 

Having the opportunity to generate customizable reports on various metrics helps facilitate internal analysis and outcome measurements and ensures that your organization is meeting funder requirements. 

Donor and funder management

It is critical that nonprofits build and maintain strong relationships with both donors and funders. Here are a few things to look for:

• • Profiles

  • Relationship tracking

  • Email correspondence

  • Ability to store critical information

  • Track funding organizations for potential grant opportunities

User-Friendly interface

A user-friendly platform not only makes it easier to use day-to-day, but will also help with change management and adoption, as well as efficiencies and productivity. With reduced training time and improved adoption and usage, you can get back to focusing on your mission more quickly.

Integrations

Every platform can’t do everything; that’s why integrations exist. Find out what kinds of integrations you can expect access to with the software you are evaluating:

• • The ability to integrate with other systems, such as CRM or accounting software, is important to reduce data entry duplication and improve overall organization data efficiency. 

  • It is also important to look into industry integrations such as Candid and grantstation that are specifically intended to benefit the needs of a grantseeking nonprofit organization. 

Top grant management software solutions for nonprofits

As mentioned previously, grants management software can be as unique as the organizations using them. Because of this, it’s important that you evaluate each vendor and choose the best solution for you.

We’ve compiled information from publicly available sources such as vendor websites, review sites, and customer input to provide this list of the top six(6) vendors for grants management: 

Foundant GrantHub Pro

Main features

• • Research/pre-award management

  • Integration with Funder Search, powered by Candid

  • Answer Library

  • Grant management

  • Tasks/reminders

  • Funder relationship management with notes and custom fields

  • Email Correspondence

  • Custom Reporting

  • Post-Award grant management/revenue Expenses/Opportunity Budgets

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• • Nonprofit grantseeking organizations and nonprofit consultants 

  • State, Local, and Tribal Governments

  • Educational institutions

  • Healthcare organizations

Customer reviews/ratings

Capterra (4.7 - 65 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 4.6

  • Customer Service - 4.9

  • Features - 4.3

  • Value for Money - 4.7

G2 (4.4 - 12 Reviews)

Pricing:

• • *Slight savings are offered on the annual price of GrantHub

  • GrantHub Pro subscription is billed annually

One-time implementation fee of $500 for GrantHub Pro

Amplifund Grant Seeker

Main features

• • Identifying grant opportunities

  • Grant management

  • Budget and performance plan development

  • Award documentation

  • Tasks/Reminders

  • Custom forms and fields

  • Configured workflows

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• • State, Local, and Tribal Governments

  • Grantseeking nonprofit organizations

  • Educational institutions

  • Healthcare organizations

Customer reviews/ratings

Capterra (4.2 - 19 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 3.8

  • Customer Service - 4.2

  • Features - 3.8

  • Value for Money 4.1

G2 (3.8 - 3 Reviews)

Pricing

• • Not readily available.

  • Starts at $5,000/year according to TrustRadius

Salesforce Nonprofit Cloud

Main features

• • CRM capabilities

  • Fundraising management (donations, gifts, and grants)

  • Program management

  • Outcome management and reporting

  • Accounting sub-ledger

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• • Nonprofit organizations, charities, social housing associations, and social businesses of all sizes.

Customer reviews/ratings

Capterra (4.7 - 39 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 3.9

  • Customer Service - 4.3

  • Features - 4.5

  • Value for Money - 4.5

G2 (4.1 - 81 Reviews)

Pricing:

• *Monthly subscriptions are billed annually

Grantseeker (Formerly Fluxx Grantseeker)

Main features

• • Grant, request, payment management

  • Tasks/deadlines/email notifications

  • Advanced funder search

  • Program budgeting

  • Integrations (Google Drive, Calendars)

  • Custom fields

  • Reporting

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• • Grantseeking nonprofit organizations of all sizes

Customer reviews/ratings 

Capterra (4.1 - 146 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 4.2

  • Customer Service - 4.0

  • Features - 4.1

  • Value for Money - 4.3

No G2 Page

Pricing

• *Slight savings on annual plans vs. monthly plans.

Instrumentl

Main features

• • Grant and Foundation Research

  • Grant Tracking

  • Tasks and Deadline Reminders

  • Foundation/Recipient Profiles

  • Smart Grant Matching

  • Payments/Spenddown Tracking

  • Reporting

  • SSO 

  • Integrations (Salesforce, Blackbaud RENXT, Virtuous, Calendars)

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• Grantseeking nonprofit organizations and grant writing consultant 

Customer reviews/ratings

Capterra (5.0 - 125 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 4.8

  • Customer Service - 5.0

  • Features - 4.8

  • Value for Money - 4.8

G2 (4.9 - 128 Reviews)

Pricing:

GEMS

Main features

• • Grant management

  • Tasks/Deadlines/In-app messaging

  • Funder relationship management

  • Document storage/file management

  • Reporting

Pros and cons

“Best for”

• • Grant writers, consultants, or nonprofit grantseeking organizations.

Customer reviews/ratings

Capterra (4.6 - 17 Reviews)

• • Ease of Use - 4.5

  • Customer Service - 5.0

  • Features - 4.6

  • Value for Money - 5.0

No G2 Page

Pricing:

How to select the right grant management software for your nonprofit

Now that you’ve looked at various options, how do you make a decision. Here are some tips for evaluating software options and choosing the right one for your needs.

If you’d like to dig deeper, check out our guided workbook for evaluating nonprofit software.

Assess Your Organization’s Needs

• • Evaluate your organization needs in grant management software

  • Prioritize most important functionality

  • Which solution offers your high-priority functionality?

Do a Demo or Free Trial

While some solutions will offer a free trial, which you should absolutely take advantage of, others are too complex to make this a useful experience. In those cases, you’ll want a representative from the vendor to provide a demonstration. 

Being able to see the tool in action is essential to choosing a successful solution for your organization:

• • Hands-on experience: a demonstration or trial allows staff to see the software, giving them a realistic sense of its functionality. 

  • Team feedback: key team members can try or see the software live, provide feedback, and ask questions. 

  • Cost-effective: allows the organization to understand the software without making a financial commitment.

Consider Integrations with Your Existing Systems

• • Evaluate which systems you’d need a grant management solution to integrate with 

  • Choose a solution with easy integrations with your current tech stack

  • Consider what industry integrations are available, such as grant databases like Funder Search, powered by Candid

Review Customer Feedback and Case Studies

Top Review Sites:

1. 1. Capterra - Capterra provides detailed reviews and ratings for various software solutions, helping users make informed decisions based on peer feedback.

   2. G2 - G2 offers authentic user reviews and ratings, allowing businesses to compare software solutions and understand their strengths and weaknesses through real-world experiences.

Foundant Nonprofit Case Studies:

• • Explora: Explore how Explora leveraged Foundant's solutions to enhance their nonprofit operations and achieve their goals. Read the full case study here.

  • Consultant Testimonials: Discover how consultants have utilized Foundant's services to support their clients and streamline nonprofit management. Access the testimonials here.

Learn More About Our Grant Management Software for Nonprofits and Grantseekers

GrantHub Pro offers a comprehensive suite of tools to streamline your grant management to centralize grant-related information and automating routine tasks allows nonprofits to stay organized, save time, increase effectiveness, and secure more funding.

Discover how GrantHub Pro can transform your grant management by allowing you to focus more on your mission and less on administrative tasks.