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Instrumentl is the only platform that brings prospecting, tracking, and management to one place, but there are many alternatives to it.
Working at a nonprofit, we’re sure you have a lot on your plate. This is why we did the heavy lifting of comparing different grants management software for you.
Lacks cohesive grant management
Lacks a matching algorithm
Lacks collaboration and task features
Lacks robust full grant lifecycle features
Lacks smart grant tracking and insights
Lacks robust tracking & collaboration
Lacks tracking & management features
When it comes to comparing different grants management software, you need to ensure that you’re truly comparing apples to apples. Below you can see the criteria you should consider during the vetting process.
Do a cost analysis and estimate return on investment before deciding to subscribe to grant management software.
Make sure the grant tool has all the features you need that allow you to research, manage, and track your grants.
Check if this grants management software integrates with Salesforce, supports calendar integrations, and your existing tech stack.
Evaluate the complexity of the grants tool you’re considering and check the quality of onboarding and educational materials.
Great customer support helps you maximize the use of the grants management software, goes the extra mile, and is responsive.
User reviews can help you understand the pros and cons of using certain grant management software and map out potential shortcomings of the tool.
Prefer to have a single PDF that compares all the features of the most popular grants management software? We got you covered.
There are some similarities in functionality between Instrumentl and alternatives like Foundation Directory Online, FoundationSearch or GrantHub, which can make it hard to compare to choose the best tool for you. So instead of focusing on what's similar, we thought we'd share the unique things you can do with Instrumentl.
Get weekly emails with all your upcoming saved grant deadlines, including opportunities previously won and lost. Eliminate the need to set up separate calendar reminders in Google Calendar or a separate to do list app.
Quickly review active grant opportunities with 990 snapshots and detailed funder insights, all in the same view. With Instrumentl, you no longer need to open and sift through 990 PDFs to find the data you need to assess whether a foundation is a good fit funder.
Get personalized recommendations for foundations based off your project criteria and the award histories of funders. Tell us what you're working on, what types of grants you'd like to see and we'll curate a list of good fit funders in seconds.
Did a funder you're pursuing change a grant deadline? Instrumentl has you covered. We actively notify you via e-mail whenever funders tweak priorities or deadlines for any RFP you've saved. Our Tracker helps you manage multiple grant efforts in one place.
Apply to 1.5X more grants by working smarter, not harder.
Or, if you’re not ready yet, read & watch our customer stories.
Store notes for yourself or a teammate easily to kickstart your next collaboration. Create and assign tasks to the team or a specific individual to ensure your standard grant proposal process is followed across your organization.
Our Standard Plan helps you sift through the important parts of 990s to help you easily find new good fit funders. Get insights like giving patterns over multiple years, past grantees by location, openness to new grantees, and average & median grant amounts.
Most grant tools that help you prospect make you start from scratch each time. With Instrumentl projects, you get saved searches and more. A project is like a workspace with two components: a saved search & your saved grants. Projects typically map to ongoing program areas at an organization.
Create easy-to-read PDF or CSV reports with easy access back to your Tracker to make your next staff or client meeting more productive.
Want a more in-depth view? Check out our blog articles to compare different grant management systems, understand the value you’ll get for your money, and choose the right one.
There are three recommended ways to evaluate pricing when comparing different grants management software. First, look for the features you’d get within each pricing plan and try to assess the value you’d get for your money. Second, search for information about the return on investment and the real business impact the tool can help you achieve. Last but not least, see if there is a free trial that you can sign up for to test the tool before committing to a subscription.
You should always think about the people from your organization who are going to use the grant management software. Try to discuss your individual and collective team challenges to narrow down your choices.
In nonprofit organizations, the decision-making process may include different stakeholders but it’s usually the Executive Director or the Board of Directors that makes the final call. This is why it’s important to vet different solutions internally together before building a case and getting the buy-in from the management.
Different software vendors have different types of contacts. Our advice would be to try the software out through a free trial, to ask their customer success team as many questions as you can think of, and to go through user reviews to see what are the most common complaints. But if you do end up choosing the wrong one, it’s not the end of the world. You can always switch to another grants management software tool that you feel is a better fit.
Instrumentl has a full-time customer success team that regularly runs weekly trainings and ongoing support for customers. We also offer a 30-day guarantee on any plans Standard or above, which you can learn more about here.
It shouldn’t be complicated at all. For example, switching to Instrumentl is easy. You start by creating a 14-day free trial on Instrumentl. Then, you simply log into your old grant tool's account and export your previously saved funders and upload these into your Instrumentl Tracker by clicking Add New -> Upload Many. Our team will do the heavy lifting for you from here!
Instrumentl works best for organizations based in the United States with at least $90K in operating revenue and 501c3 status, or for grant writers / consultancies that serve clients that meet these criteria.
For any nonprofits that meet these criteria, we can serve you well as this often means your organization is at a place where grants are proven to be a sustainable source of funding and you’re ready to scale your grants strategy!
Our customers range from animal shelters to hospital systems, and you can watch and read more of their stories here.
Rather than just tell you we are the best (though we do truly believe that), here's what actual grant professionals in communities on Facebook and on GrantZone are saying about us:
Apply to 1.5X more grants by working smarter, not harder. Or, if you’re not ready yet, read & watch our customer stories.
