Grants management is the administrative process of overseeing the full lifecycle of a grant, from application and award through to reporting and closeout. According to the 2026 State of Grants Management and Technology report, many grants professionals currently manage these workflows through manual spreadsheets, email chains, and disconnected data entry across multiple systems. This reliance on manual processes often displaces high-value activities like relationship building and narrative development, creating a structural efficiency gap for government organizations.
This is a structural problem, and according to new data from the 2026 State of Grants Management and Technology report, it’s more widespread than many organizations realize.
Key Takeaways:
- Manual administrative tasks currently consume up to half of the weekly schedule for many grants teams.
- Disconnected data systems create significant structural gaps that hinder overall organizational grants management performance and productivity.
- Increasing grant competition forces organizations to seek better tools to manage complex federal funding requirements effectively.
- Centralized software platforms provide significant time savings by consolidating deadlines, documentation, and reporting into one dashboard.
- Investing in purpose-built technology allows teams to shift focus from manual data entry toward strategic activities.
By the Numbers
39% of grants teams spend 11-20 hours per week on manual tasks such as data entry, documentation, and reporting 14% spend as many as 31-40 hours weekly (nearly a full workweek) on those same tasks.
Why Manual Administrative Tasks Consume Half of the Grants Management Workweek
Let that 14% figure sink in for a moment. Nearly one in seven grants teams is spending the equivalent of a full workweek—every single week—on manual administrative tasks. Not writing grants, managing subrecipients, or building the case for next year’s funding. They’re spending the bulk of their time on data entry, documentation collection, and reporting.
For the 39% spending up to 20 hours on these tasks, it’s not much better. That’s up to half of every work week, week after week, consumed by work that keeps the lights on but doesn’t move the needle.
Every hour your team spends reconciling spreadsheets is an hour not spent writing a stronger application, researching a better-fit opportunity, or building the funder relationships that change outcomes. In a more competitive grants market, that trade-off has consequences for the entire organization.
How Increasing Grant Volume Strains Traditional Manual Processes
Grants aren’t a supplemental funding source anymore. According to the 2026 State of Grants report, 40% of organizations are applying for more grants specifically to fill revenue gaps. Grants have become a core funding strategy for state, local, and tribal governments, especially as federal funding priorities have continued to change in FY26.
At the same time, competition for those grants is building. More than 80% of survey respondents report increased competition for grant opportunities, with many describing the increase as significant. When asked about their biggest challenge, 54% cited limited staff capacity to prepare applications, and nearly half pointed to a lack of a centralized grant-tracking or management system.
So, your team is being asked to pursue more funding, face stiffer competition, meet stricter compliance requirements, and produce higher-quality applications in tighter windows. All while still running the same manual processes that were already stretching capacity.
For many organizations, reactive grants management is making the issue even more challenging.
Why Siloed Data Systems Cause Inefficiencies in Grants Management
Manual work almost always traces back to the same root cause: siloed or disconnected systems. According to the report’s findings, nearly half of organizations lack a centralized grant tracking or management platform, and only 39% describe their systems as highly integrated across departments. Day-to-day, that looks like deadlines living in one place while documentation lives somewhere else. Financial tracking is done in a spreadsheet, while reporting is assembled from emails and shared folders. Every update requires touching multiple systems, and every deliverable requires manually piecing everything together. At lower grant volumes, it’s somewhat manageable, but at higher volumes, it compounds risk. Missed deadlines, incomplete documentation, or delayed reporting can jeopardize funding credibility and trigger audit findings that follow an organization for years. In a time of heightened federal oversight, compliance agility is the new baseline.
How Centralized Grants Management Platforms Reduce Administrative Burden
Grant leaders are starting to invest in the infrastructure that makes sustainable grants performance possible. Organizations using purpose-built grant management platforms like Euna Grants report saving 72% of time and effort on administrative tasks and 70% of time on applications. Understanding how centralized software improves grants management efficiency is critical for modern teams. What does a centralized grants management platform look like for daily workload?
- One place for everything. Deadlines, documentation, financial tracking, and reporting all live in one system. Instead of searching across spreadsheets and inboxes to confirm a submission status, your team can see every active grant, its current stage, and what’s due next from a single dashboard.
- Audit- and leadership-ready reporting. Instead of assembling a compliance report from five different sources, the data is already organized and ready to go whenever a funder, auditor, or leadership asks for it.
- Subrecipient visibility. Rather than emailing subrecipients for updates and tracking responses in a spreadsheet, you have real-time visibility into their progress, milestones, and reporting obligations all in one place.
- Automatic deadline monitoring. Instead of relying on calendar reminders or a sticky note on a monitor, the system tracks deadlines and flags what needs attention before anything gets missed. These operational benefits translate into better applications, fewer audit findings, and better funding outcomes.
Why the Efficiency Gap Between Manual and Automated Grants Management is Widening
While the time savings alone are reason enough to update grants management processes, the teams that have updated their systems are submitting stronger applications, staying ahead of compliance changes, and building the credibility and transparency that keeps them funded. The teams still relying on spreadsheets are competing against that. Manual work has a real price tag. Every hour spent on admin is an hour someone else spent improving their funding application. If your organization depends on grants to serve your community, it’s worth a serious evaluation. Want to see the full picture of where grants management is headed in 2026, including the five signals shaping grants leadership and what organizations are doing to get ahead of them?
Download the 2026 State of Grants Management Report.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many hours per week do grants teams spend on manual work?
According to the 2026 State of Grants Management and Technology report, 39% of grants teams spend 11-20 hours per week on manual tasks such as data entry, documentation collection, and reporting. 14% spend 31-40 hours weekly, the equivalent of a full workweek dedicated entirely to administrative work.
Why do grants teams spend so much time on manual tasks?
Teams using disconnected systems spend more time on manual tasks. Nearly half of organizations lack a centralized grant tracking or management platform, forcing staff to manually piece everything together using traditional grants management methods, including spreadsheets, email chains, shared drives, and separate reporting tools. Every update and deliverable requires touching multiple systems.
How much time can grants management software save?
Organizations using purpose-built grants management platforms report saving 72% of time and effort on administrative tasks and 70% of time spent on applications. In practice, that means less time searching for documents and reconciling spreadsheets, and more time actually writing grants, building funder relationships, and pursuing new opportunities.
How does knowing how centralized software improves grants management efficiency help teams?
Understanding how centralized software improves grants management efficiency helps teams justify the shift from manual spreadsheets to automated platforms. By consolidating documentation and deadline tracking into one system, organizations reduce administrative burden, minimize compliance risks, and allow staff to focus on higher-value activities like writing stronger grant applications.
