For many local, state, and tribal government agencies, managing public sector grants often means juggling spreadsheets, emails, and shared drives. This decentralized grants management approach might feel familiar for city finance teams and tribal grant administrators, but it’s also time-consuming, risky, and unsustainable. As government funding opportunities and regulatory compliance requirements evolve, the pressure on grant managers and finance departments continues to grow.
This article outlines the essential features to look for in a grants management system (GMS), explains how grant management software improves pre-award workflows, and offers practical advice on procurement and implementation.
What Problems Do Spreadsheets Create for Grant Management?
Spreadsheets remain a commonly used default tool for tracking government grants, especially in organizations where budgets are tight. But as the volume and complexity of funding grows, this approach creates more problems than it solves.
One of the most common challenges is siloed grant data. Spreadsheets are often maintained by a single department or individual, with little visibility across the entire organization. Finance may track one set of grant requirements, while public works or community development maintains another. Without a centralized grants management platform, it’s hard for everyone to work from a single source of truth.
This lack of coordination increases the risk of noncompliance. Grant makers require detailed reporting on timelines, spending, and outcomes, and decentralized data makes it harder to meet those obligations. Manual processes also mean more time spent reconciling documents, more human error, and less ability to notice compliance red flags early.
Beyond compliance issues, spreadsheet-based systems introduce daily frustrations:
- Version control is unreliable. It’s easy to lose track of which file is current, especially if it’s not saved to a shared drive or if multiple versions are passed around by email.
- Ownership is unclear. Who’s responsible for updating the spreadsheet? What happens when that person leaves or is out of office?
- Access is limited. If one department owns the document, others may not even know it exists, let alone be able to audit or contribute.
- There are no shared standards. Without defined rules or conventions, teams are left to interpret and update information however they see fit.
These issues limit your government agency’s ability to pursue funding opportunities strategically. When staff are bogged down by administrative tasks, there’s less time to plan, collaborate, or scale impact.
What Features Should I Look For When Evaluating Grants Management Software?
When evaluating grant management systems (GMS), look for a solution that supports the entire grant lifecycle, from pre-award planning to post-award reporting and compliance.
1. Pre-Award Workflow Support
Pre-award tools help government agencies plan programs, identify grant opportunities, and coordinate internally before funds are awarded. Look for features that:
- Define business rules and assign user roles
- Manage user access and authorization
- Identify funding sources with custom search tools and alerts
- Announce funding opportunities to potential subrecipients
- Support public applicant portals
- Set up evaluation criteria and score applications
- Create and manage subawards tied to specific projects or recipients
- Build budgets and performance plans
- Send deadline reminders and offer calendar integration
- Support electronic signature requests and approvals
2. Compliance Automation
Once funding is awarded, the system should help you meet grant obligations without relying on manual processes. Prioritize features that:
- Use templates to prepare and share grant agreements
- Store all executed documents centrally
- Track negotiated changes across the life of an award
- Have dashboards to manage subrecipient monitoring, amendment requests, and documentation
- Flag potential risks with configurable indicators
- Integrate with your agency’s existing single sign-on (SSO) provider for secure access
3. Financial Integration
A grants system should connect with your financial processes, not create even more work for your team. Look for features that:
- Track payment requests, receipts, and authorizations for both you and subrecipients
- Manage reimbursement claims tied to specific projects or deliverables
- Monitor budgets and performance plans across multiple funding cycles
- Integrate with existing financial or human resources systems
4. Comprehensive Reporting Capabilities
Strong reporting tools help your agency stay compliant and make better decisions. Look for a system that:
- Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs)
- Offers pre-built and ad hoc dashboards
- Supports custom reports
- Captures and analyzes award-level data and milestones in real time
How Does Grant Management Software Improve Grant Application Workflows?
Pre-award workflows can be frustrating as deadlines approach, collaboration happens over email (if at all), and staff spend hours tracking down the latest version of a spreadsheet. A grant management system can change that by embedding structure, visibility, and automation into each step of the grant process.
Example: A Mid-Sized City Launching a Community Grant Program
The planning team tracks deadlines in Outlook, shares a draft application packet over email, and manages applicant questions in a shared inbox. Review criteria are listed in a PDF, but reviewers submit their scores in Word documents that someone later has to compile by hand. The finance team builds the budget in a separate spreadsheet, and multiple versions circulate with no clear owner.
With no shared workspace, no version control, and no automated reminders, the team spends more time chasing down files than improving the program’s quality.
With a Purpose-Built Grant Management System:
The planning team sets up the opportunity with deadlines, eligibility rules, and submission instructions. A public portal allows applicants to apply online, while staff access internal tools to assign reviewers, manage scoring, and track progress as it happens.
Reviewers score applications directly in the system using predefined criteria. Budgets and performance plans are built and shared within the platform. E-signature requests are processed automatically. Everyone sees the live status of tasks, deadlines, and assignments, so there’s no guessing who’s responsible for what.
The result?
- A consistent process with fewer handoffs
- Centralized access to updated documents
- Clear roles and visibility across departments
- More time to focus on strategy, not paperwork
These improvements raise the quality of grant applications, reduce administrative stress, and increase competitiveness for government funding.
What’s the Best Way to Purchase and Implement a Grants Management System?
Knowing how to choose and implement the right grant management system is often harder than identifying the need for one. With stakeholders across IT, procurement, finance, and program management, you’ll need a structured approach.
Build a business case
Start by documenting time lost to manual work: spreadsheet management, audit prep, missed deadlines. Use this data to build internal consensus around the need for change.
Define what the system needs to do
Whether you are a grant seeker, grant maker, or both, clarify your priorities. Some basic capabilities to consider include:
- Integration with your financial and ERP systems
- Support for pre-award workflows
- Tools for compliance monitoring and document retention
- Subrecipient management, if applicable
- Role-based access, reporting dashboards, and audit trails
Create a grants management software requirements checklist identifying “must-have” and “nice-to-have” features. Involve key users from departments that will rely on the system, and prioritize tools that align with your long-term strategy.
Choose a vendor with implementation in mind
Software features matter, but so does the vendor’s ability to support implementation. Look for providers who understand government grant processes and can guide your team through system integration, training, and change management.
Ask:
- Do they support historical data migration?
- Is training tailored by role and department?
- Do they support a phased rollout?
Build the right internal team
Form a cross-functional team with members from IT, finance, and grants administration. Assign a project lead, department champions, and executive sponsors to keep things moving.
Define responsibilities for handling system testing, coordinating with the vendor, and supporting internal training.
Plan a phased rollout
Rather than launching organization-wide all at once, start with one department or program. Use the pilot to test, adjust, and refine before scaling to other programs. Keep communication open with regular updates, reference materials, and feedback channels to keep teams engaged.
How Can You Avoid Future Silos with Integration and Cloud Strategy?
Choosing the right grant management software is only part of the equation. To fully modernize how your organization manages grants, consider how the system fits into your broader IT and data strategy.
Plan for System Integration from the Start
Coordinate with your IT department to identify systems that should integrate with your GMS. This typically includes:
- Financial systems (for budget and payment tracking)
- Human resources systems (if staff time is a grant-eligible expense)
- Identity and access management (e.g., SSO)
Ideally, the grant management platform should be able to push and pull data with these systems in real time or on a defined schedule to reduce duplicate entries and keep records consistent.
Align with Your Cloud Strategy
If your organization is migrating systems to the cloud (or plans to do so), your GMS should support that effort. Cloud-native systems tend to offer easier maintenance, stronger cybersecurity, and better scalability.
Standardize Practices Across Teams
Don’t let every department use the system differently. Map out existing workflows, agree on shared naming conventions and standards, and document common processes. Training materials and governance guidelines can keep things consistent without stifling flexibility.
Key Takeaways
- Centralization Matters: Move away from decentralized spreadsheets to a unified grants management platform.
- Lifecycle Coverage: Choose software that supports pre-award, compliance, financial integration, and reporting.
- Strategic Procurement: Build a business case and involve cross-functional teams to ensure successful implementation.
- Seamless Integration: Ensure your GMS connects with financial, HR, and identity management systems for efficiency.
- Standardization: Create shared workflows and training to maximize adoption and minimize future silos.
Where Should You Go From Here?
If your current approach can’t scale, it’s time to look for a system built to handle the full grant lifecycle. Learn how Euna Grants, powered by AmpliFund, supports municipal agencies with purpose-built grant management tools for the entire process.
FAQ
What are the main risks of using spreadsheets for government grant management?
Spreadsheets increase risks of data silos, noncompliance, and lost files for government agencies. Manual processes can lead to errors, missed deadlines, and limited visibility across departments.
Which features are essential in a grants management system for public sector organizations?
Look for pre-award workflow support, compliance automation, financial integration, and comprehensive reporting tools. These features streamline the grant lifecycle and ensure regulatory compliance.
How does grants management software improve collaboration and reduce administrative burden?
A centralized GMS enables real-time document sharing, automated reminders, and clear role assignments. This reduces time spent on paperwork and improves collaboration between finance, IT, and program teams.
What steps should agencies follow when implementing a new grants management platform?
Agencies should build a business case, define system requirements, choose an implementation-focused vendor, form a cross-functional team, and plan a phased rollout. This approach increases adoption and project success.
Why is integration with other systems important for grant management?
Integrating your GMS with financial, HR, and identity management systems reduces duplicate data entry and ensures consistent records. It also supports a more modern, scalable IT strategy for grant management.
