I've been experimenting with both Asana, a project management tool, and Airtable, a database tool, for grants tracking - both for the grants we pursue and those we award. Both have free versions so you can experiment, and both would allow you to import your Excel spreadsheet to help build the space. And, tangentially, you can pull the data back out of both of them again in a csv format, if you need to migrate away in the future. They also both offer discounts for non-profits. Both offer the option of sharing spaces if multiple people will be involved in the tracking process. I would think it depends a bit on the goals you have for tracking.
Asana is nice because you can assign various tasks to individuals or yourself, set up deadlines, and pull reports for various elements. Some of the features, like time tracking, are limited to the paid versions. They have a
grant tracking template that might help you get started. Word of warning (having recently recommended this to my spouse): when you set up a free trial, they allow you access to some of the premium features. Be cautious in your exploration since some data points might disappear.
Airtable is more of a database but can be used for project management. They also have grant tracking templates in their template library (one example of a
nonprofit grant tracker). As I understand, quite a lot of the features are available on a free version, but I think there are storage limitations. I'm newer to Airtable than Asana.
Both products do have some learning curve, but the educational resources to learn the systems are really very good. As a lover of spreadsheets myself, I wish you luck finding the right tool for you!
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Joy Banks
Program Officer
Alexandria VA
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-25-2022 11:51 AM
From: Sheena Link
Subject: Grant management tool