-
BI & Report Automation Tools
Hello! Our grants teams is looking to enhance our data visualization and reporting. I have begun researching various tools and platforms to analyze and automate some reporting functions. Curious if there are any folks who are actively using any BI or Automated Reporting tools? Perhaps any tie-ins with Foundant and best…
-
Electronic Signatures
We are thinking of moving to Electronic Signatures for our grant agreements. In the past, we have required physical signatures from the grantee's CEO or CFO so we have not had the grant agreement completed through Foundant. Does anyone use a signature service like Docusign or Adobe sign? I hope you are all well.
-
How are YOU Working Smarter Not Harder? Let's Learn Together!
Hi Compass Community! My name is Rachel Myers and I have been working with the great team at Foundant to create a new learning series in response to this critical question: How can you release some pressure and create more space to work on what is most important to you and your organization? SPOILER ALERT: It is NOT about…
-
Cyber Security Awareness Month: Always enable multi-factor authentication!
No matter what you call it, multi-factor authentication, or MFA, is a security measure that requires anyone logging into an account to navigate a two-step process to prove their identity. By adding one more simple step when logging into an account, multi-factor authentication greatly increases the security of your account.…
-
Cyber Security Awareness Month: Update Often!
Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in unpatched software. One of the easiest ways to keep your information secure is by making sure your software and apps are up-to-date. These updates fix general software problems and provide new security patches where criminals might get in. When new software updates come out to the…
-
Cyber Security Awareness Month: Are your passwords L.U.C.?
It is week two of cyber security awareness month! Don’t reuse the same password across websites. If one of those sites gets compromised, hackers will try that password on other sites as well. No matter the account, all passwords should be created with these three words in mind: Long – At least 12 characters Use the longest…
-
Cyber Security Awareness Month: See it, so you don’t click it!
Happy Cyber Security Awareness Month! We take security seriously here at Foundant, and want to celebrate this month with you. The 2022 Campaign theme, See Yourself in Cyber, emphasizes that while cybersecurity may seem like a complex subject, ultimately, it’s really all about people. This October, we will focus on the…
-
Does anyone have a process they can share for sending electronic tax receipts/acknowledgements?
We are considering going to a hybrid approach of tax receipts/acknowledgement letters and was wondering if anyone was willing to share what they currently do within their organization. I guess my main question is how do you know if the donor has an email already set up in the system or now to know they type of template to…
-
Virtual Site Visits
Hi! I'm new to Foundant and new to the funder side of the non-profit world. I work for several foundations which fund around the country/globe and which have board members scattered about. We are investigating doing virtual site visits. Does anyone have experience with Virtual Site Visits? What worked? What didn't? Any…
-
Amaze your Friends: Tech Tricks & Resources
Favorite Excel Keyboard Shortcuts: Shift+Space: Select an entire row Ctrl+Space: Select an entire column Ctrl+Shift+Plus: Insert a new row or column above or to the left of the selected row or column Ctrl+Minus: Delete the selected row or column Alt+Plus: Calculate the sum of selected cells Ctrl+9: Hide selected rows…
-
Incentivizing Fund Adviser Portal Use?
Colleagues - We are hoping to garner some more enrollment/usage on our Donor/Fund Adviser portal. How have you all gotten higher rates of enrollment? Matching? Prize drawings? Open to lots of options and ideas! Thank you!
-
Video Applications
Hi Everyone! Our organization will soon begin accepting Video Applications from our applicants (they will have a choice to submit applications online, as a hard copy, video, etc). I was hoping to see if anyone could share any tips or best practices around accepting, tracking, and managing these applications. For instance,…
-
Newsletter New Look (and best practices)
New year, new look - share your thoughts on our redesigned newsletters! Does your organization send out a newsletter? Share your best practices!
-
Requests for calls
Reaching out to see what you do when nonprofits request calls with your Foundation. I receive approximately 10-15 requests per month and typically spend 20 minutes with each. These "get to know you" calls can take place over Zoom, in person or the telephone. Is this typical for Foundations to receive this many requests per…
-
Meetings, Events and Anniversaries… what works and what doesn't?!
-Does your foundation host an annual meeting? How do you make it impactful year after year? -What is most important to keep in mind for celebrating big anniversaries? -Do you host special events that have been particularly popular? -How do you engage non-donors in your community?
-
Cybersecurity Awareness Month - "Do Your Part. Be Cyber Smart"
Cybersecurity Awareness Month was launched by the National Cyber Security Alliance and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in October 2004 as a broad effort to help all Americans stay safer and more secure online. I am sharing a resources that I am using for additional internal cyber security awareness training…
-
Video Applications and Reporting
Hi Foundant Community! I am reaching out to see if anyone here has experience with video reporting submissions? We are specifically looking at having our partners submit a video as part of their annual report, more like a programmatic update as to how COVID has impacted their work. We are looking into the logistical…
-
Website Designer
Hello! As we embark on the Foundant transition, one of the items we identified as necessary is to employ a web designer to create the necessary pages to offer the donor portal, grantee portal, donate page, etc. Would anyone be willing to share the web designer they used and their experience? We are located in the Dayton,…
-
Hybrid In-person/Virtual Meeting and Workshop Equipment
Hello everyone! At the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council we are slowly reopening our office and will be holding our first in-person board meeting in September. For the past 17 months we have held every board meeting, panel review, and workshop in a virtual environment via Zoom. As we move towards more in-person events we are…
-
Foundation Directory Online?
Good afternoon all, Do any of my community foundation peers offer grantee access to Foundation Directory Online (either as funding for individual subscriptions or onsite access through the foundation)? We are considering an onsite subscription and I'd love to hear best practices from any of my colleagues. Thanks in…
-
Cybersecurity Policies
Good morning and Happy Friday! We just went through our annual audit and cybersecurity issues were raised and it was suggested we create a policy. I was wondering if any one has addressed this issue and maybe created a policy we could review? Thank you for any assistance. Katie
-
HTML Editor Suggestions Please
We are going to launch a grant catalogue to our Fund Advisors next week and when I look at our finished product in Draft the font of the project descriptions is huge. I've been playing around with an HTML Editor (https://html-online.com/editor/) but the font sizes are fairly limited and I've only been able to shrink the…
-
On-Demand Forms
Hi! Does anyone have a suggestion/best practice for f/u forms that are needed "on-demand"? For example, so of our grantees have received a lot of media attention recently. That prompted us to develop a form for them to use to notify us when media contact occurs. Right now, i just assign a new one, once they use the current…
-
Desktop Scanner
Planning to purchase a desktop scanner. Wanting it to auto feed multiple-sized paper and receipts also wanting double sided scans. What brand and model have you found that works the best for your office?
-
Use of Adobe for Document Signing
Does anyone have experience with using Adobe's Document Cloud for grant contract signing? Is there a way to incorporate Document Cloud with documents delivered to grant recipients through Foundant?
-
Texting Service to Reach Students
Hi Compass Community! Our foundation is considering purchasing a text service so that we can better reach our students (our student advisory committee keeps stressing that this is better than email). I’m going to start doing some research on what options we have, but does anyone have recommendations for a texting service?…
-
Card Testing
Hi All, We've just gone through a major issue with Card Testing. This is where hackers use scripts to verify stolen or generated Credit Card numbers through a donation link. We've had more than 10K of these types of charge attempts. Generally, these donations are at the $1 mark because it flys below most people's radar.…
-
Chat Bots and Texting platforms
Wondering if anyone utilizes chat bots on their website to interact with donors and/or program recipients? We are also exploring text to give and texting program recipients if anyone has suggestions and knowledge in that space! Thanks! Sam Mueller Philanthropy Manager - Park City Community Foundation
-
Remote Work Reminders
Boundaries still count when working remotely.
-
Best Practices for Organizations with Remote Workers
Hi! I am interested in learning what nonprofit organizations are providing to their remote working employees in terms of home office/work station set up allowance (e.g. appropriate chair, key board, equipment, etc.), monthly stipend (e.g. to cover internet, phone, etc.) and so on. What are other nonprofits with remote…
